{"id":183613,"date":"2025-06-14T11:19:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T11:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/183613\/"},"modified":"2025-06-14T11:19:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T11:19:12","slug":"race-across-the-world-12-filming-secrets-you-didnt-know","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/183613\/","title":{"rendered":"Race Across The World: 12 Filming Secrets You Didn\u2019t Know"},"content":{"rendered":"

Race Across The World<\/a> might not have the Bushtucker Trials of I\u2019m A Celebrity\u2026 Get Me Out Of Here!<\/a> or the physical demands of SAS: Who Dares Wins,<\/a> but there is no doubt it is one of the toughest shows on TV \u2013 both for the contestants and the production team. <\/p>\n

Now five seasons down and with a batch of famous faces getting ready for the third celebrity series<\/a>, most viewers are now familiar with the rules of the BBC show.<\/p>\n

As the title suggests, five pairs are tasked with racing across the globe, from a designated start point to a finish line in another country over the other side of the world.<\/p>\n

On their journey, the teams cross various checkpoints, and are not allowed to use a smartphone or credit card, with only the cash equivalent of a one-way economy air ticket to their destination to pay for all travel, food and accommodation.<\/p>\n

But what about all the rules that we don\u2019t know about, and the planning that goes into making the show? Well, allow us to lift the lid\u2026<\/p>\n

1. The routes are tested out before the show<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"TheThe route for Race Across The World’s third season saw the teams traversing Canada<\/p>\n

If you thought bosses just came up with a route for the contestants and hoped for the best, you\u2019d be wrong. In fact, a whole team of people test it out beforehand. <\/p>\n

Line producer Maria Kennedy told Radio Times<\/a>: \u201cYou get some really brave people out on the road for a couple of months [from the production team]. [They tell us], \u2018Here are going to be the sticking points. This is quite tricky. This bit is amazing\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cThey do it all on a budget as well so they\u2019re not like going out and spending loads of money and having a great jolly. They\u2019re literally looking at the budget and seeing if it\u2019s possible to get by on less than 50 quid a day.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. For the producers, the trip is perhaps even harder than for the contestants<\/strong><\/p>\n

According to the Guardian<\/a>, only two producers go on the dry run, only one of whom actually knows the route and which way they are going.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other person has no idea and that person is in charge of making the decisions,\u201d series producer Lucy Curtis said.<\/p>\n

3. A number of other unseen people travel with each team<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"TheThe teams who took part in the third series at the starting point<\/p>\n

Mackenzie Walker\/BBC\/Studio Lambert<\/p>\n

Each time travels with two members of the production crew, a local fixer and a security adviser, but they apparently keep enough distance to \u201cmake the trip feel authentic\u201d, the Guardian<\/a> reported. <\/p>\n

Executive producer Mark Saben also told BBC News<\/a> that a medical support vehicle also travels an hour or so behind the teams in some countries.<\/p>\n

4. There\u2019s another team of people involved in capturing all the B-roll footage, too<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mark Saben told Broadcast<\/a> that a director of photography and a series director follow all the teams, capturing the atmospheric camera shots that showcase the destinations. <\/p>\n

He explained: \u201cNot only did they shoot those big sweeping drone shots that capture the beauty and scale of their surroundings, but also the on-the-ground shots that convey the hustle and bustle of travelling, so viewers would feel immersed in the competitors\u2019 journeys.\u201d<\/p>\n

5. No one is allowed to interfere with the teams\u2019 decisions<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"WhileWhile the teams are followed, production is not allowed to influence their decisions<\/p>\n

The production team have to stay quiet, even when it is clear that the teams are making mistakes.<\/p>\n

Mark told Broadcast<\/a>: \u201cHow they made their journey was up to them. This meant, as a production, we had to react to their decisions, however nonsensical.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a nightmare for production management, as the competing contributors decided how and where to go. You cannot underestimate how challenging the journey could be at times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Executive producer Stephen Day also told The Telegraph<\/a>: \u201cWe will intervene if they\u2019re in danger, and we have a real duty of care.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf contestants \u2013 and there have been some \u2013 who are so focussed on budget that they\u2019re not eating then you have to get them to spend money on food.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, producers accompanying the participants on the road are not allowed to outright give them food, either.<\/p>\n

6. None of the production team get special treatment <\/strong><\/p>\n

Praising the embedded crews, exec Mark told the BBC<\/a>: \u201cThey had to do the same journey as them, sleeping alongside them on the bus, they weren\u2019t given a five-star hotel. So they were almost like a family, with its ups and downs.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd while we had done recces, the teams found bits of the world which were totally surprising.\u201d<\/p>\n

7. One of the production team was pretty unlucky during the making of the first series <\/strong><\/p>\n

Having done the initial recce before filming began, executive producer Mark Saben told BBC News<\/a> that \u201cone of the poor sods had to do the actual trip again\u201d, this time with the real contestants.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was very stoical and didn\u2019t tell them until the very end, though. As much as possible, we wanted it to feel like a dry run,\u201d Mark added. <\/p>\n

8. A lot of planning goes into each series<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"TheThe contestants from Race Across The World series two<\/p>\n

Prior to filming, exec producer Mark said the first series was \u201ca year in the making\u201d, but added to the BBC<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s all very well doing theoretically, looking at timetables and things. But until someone does it for real, you don\u2019t know where the difficulties might lie.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things like visas and vaccines \u201cfor every conceivable country\u201d were sorted in advance. <\/p>\n

He added to Broadcast that they also \u201cresearch every likely bus and train option, cost and connection\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe drew up protocols that set rules for how the teams could hitchhike, travel at night and cross borders safely,\u201d he added. <\/p>\n

9. While the contestants are not allowed to use phones, there are exceptions <\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIf there was a significant issue at home, we might allow them to speak to a nominated person but we really try to keep them in the bubble as much as possible,\u201d Maria Kennedy explained (per Radio Times<\/a>). <\/p>\n

10. Bosses do not create any job opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"TheThe contestants can work to earn more money while they are travelling<\/p>\n

While the pamphlet of job ads is created by bosses, all the jobs are 100% real.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t go to any of those places and say, \u2018For the purposes of the show, can you provide this kind of service?\u2019\u201d BBC commissioner Michael Jochnowitz said, according to Radio Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose are real jobs, real places, real money or accommodation and things like that so again, because they don\u2019t have access to a phone or the internet, we basically just give them a guide of potential opportunities in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Executive producer Mark Saben added: \u201cWe use as a rule of thumb, it\u2019s like what you\u2019d find on a board in a hostel or something like that so we want [it] to feel absolutely as authentic as it possibly can be.\u201d<\/p>\n

11. The contestants are also not given any extra food off camera<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"SeriesSeries two winnerds Emon and Jamiul Choudhury<\/p>\n

With budgets extremely tight, eating can become a real issue for the teams, and while you might think they are being given extras off camera, this is not the case. <\/p>\n

Series two winner Emon Choudhury \u2013 who triumphed with his nephew Jamiul \u2013 said they would often ask strangers for food and water. <\/p>\n

He told the Daily Express<\/a>: \u201cI lost over a stone, a stone and a half and the same with my nephew, he lost quite a bit as well. The food was an issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always think on these TV shows, you get a sandwich off-camera or water or a little snack here or there but no, it wasn\u2019t like that!\u201d<\/p>\n

Series one winners Tony and Elaine Teasdale also told the Telegraph<\/a> that during one leg, they \u201cwouldn\u2019t eat unless somebody fed us or we found super-cheap street food\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d buy little packs of rice for 20p each, then eat those for three meals a day. I went down a dress size from 14 to 12!\u201d Elaine said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWater is more important. We took chlorine tablets, so we didn\u2019t have to buy bottled water. That saved both money and time because we never had to find shops. Kebabs in Europe, rice in Asia, and we never bought any drink.\u201d<\/p>\n

12. There was a reason why season three was contained to one country<\/strong><\/p>\n

While season one of Race Across The World saw contestants travel from London to Singapore, and season two saw them begin in Mexico and end in Argentina, the third series was contained to just one country \u2013 Canada. <\/p>\n

This was because when the show was filmed, there were still many Covid travel restrictions still in place, which would have been an added complication for the teams and the production. <\/p>\n

The third season and the celebrity edition were originally planned to air much earlier, but production was pulled early into the pandemic. <\/p>\n

Season three winners, Tricia Sail and Cathie Rowe revealed<\/a> that they first applied for the show in 2019, but didn\u2019t hear anything back until 2021 because of Covid.<\/p>\n

Race Across The World concludes with the reunion special on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One, with a celebrity version due to air later in the year<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Race Across The World might not have the Bushtucker Trials of I\u2019m A Celebrity\u2026 Get Me Out Of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":183614,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3937],"tags":[192,77,40349,382,16,438,75384,15,75383],"class_list":{"0":"post-183613","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-bbc","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-race-across-the-world","11":"tag-tv","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-uktv","14":"tag-uktvreality","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-we-love-tv"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114681450788380385","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=183613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/183613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/183614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=183613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=183613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=183613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}