Race Across the World series 5: meet the teams for 2025 - and what to expect

• Race Across the World is running back onto our screens.
• Five new teams will race from China to India.
• But who are the people taking part?

Race Across the World returns this week for its highly anticipated new series. It will see the teams try to make it from the Great Wall of China to the southernmost tip of India.

Once again a jackpot of £20,000 is up for grabs - but first the players will have to make it across 14,000 km. Remind yourself of when exactly the new season starts on the BBC.

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Before the new season begins, the teams have been chatting about the show. Here’s all you need to know:

Meet the Race Across the World teams for series 5

Gaz and Yin

Head-strong Yin and pragmatic Gaz are an unlikely duo who will use their unique, dynamic and combined skills to win. Supporting each other through highs and lows, this formerly married couple expect to embark on journeys of self-discovery throughout the race.

Yin said: “I think it came from me. I saw the advert, and in that moment thought, you know what? I really want to do that. The last year has been quite a personal journey for me. Gaz and I, although we used to be married, we've been separated for about three years.

“And then when we split up, I found another partner, but he passed away suddenly in September. The last year has been tough, but one of the things that Chris gave me was a real sense of adventure, and he really liked traveling. We talked a lot about traveling and so when this came along i thought why not, something inside me made me fill out the application form.”

She continued: “I said to Gaz when he got home because I was living with Gaz at the time, because he was looking after me during my grieving period, and I just said ‘do you fancy going on Race Across the World with me’. He was like yeah, whatever.

“He probably just said it more to amuse me, because he obviously knew what I was going through at that moment. But before we knew it, he’d filled out the application and the journey had begun.”

Elizabeth and Letitia

Extroverted Elizabeth and introverted Letitia are ready to spend some quality time together after almost a decade of living in different countries. The sisters tackle life very differently and are keen to learn from each other’s strengths.

Letitia saidL I think I signed up for this mostly for the challenge. I think I just wanted to push myself to finish something, to accomplish something big. I think on this race, it's a good opportunity to grow as a person.

“I always strive to push myself to grow and see where my strengths lie or just to know myself. Also doing this with my sister will be fun. I don't know if I could do it with anyone else.”

Elizabeth added: “The reasons why I wanted to do it are similar in terms of wanting to push myself. I feel like I haven't been challenged in a very long time. I've been quite mundane with my life and just going with the flow of things. But also getting back into travelling because I haven't travelled for a while as well.”

Fin and Sioned

Young couple Fin and Sioned want to swap their small-town life in Wales for an adventure across the world; learning more about themselves and each other along the way.

Sioned said: “I wanted to travel anyway, so it's a great start for that, but along with discovering more about myself and Fin, just strengthening that bond in a very real and authentic way. We've not really been together just the two of us before so this is something where we will have to rely and depend on each other, we don’t have another choice.

“A lot about self-discovery I think as well as seeing more of the world in the process.”

Fin added: “It’s a way to see if me and her can be together basically, if it can work forever. A challenge to see if it will make or break us.”

Melvyn and Brian

Brothers Melvyn and Brian were given very different opportunities in life. Despite their ‘have and have not’ differences, they have always looked out for one another. They would love the chance to reconnect and have fun together, like they did when they were children.

Melvyn said: “I saw the first series and thought I could do that, and it was as simple as that, and then I thought who would I want to do it with? And that was Brian. We want to create some new memories.”

Brian added: “I watched the first series and thought this will be fun, exciting, and an adventure with an opportunity for us both to meet up, because we don't meet up that regularly at home, and spend a bit of quality time with each other, as we used to do when we were kids.

“It was an excuse to get together, and relive some of our old adventures when we were teenagers and young children.”

Caroline and Tom

This mother/son duo are unlikely travel companions – Tom has travelled, whereas Caroline has never had the opportunity. Caroline wants to prove that she’s more than just ‘mum’, and Tom wants to show her the world through his eyes.

Caroline said: “I saw the South American series and absolutely knew that that was the programme I wanted to do with Thomas.

“I’ve never applied for anything like this before, I've never done anything like this, I've never done anything out of my comfort zone or ever arranged any travel and I just knew it was made for me and the perfect person was Thomas. Thomas felt the same. We were made for it, or the programme was made for us.

Tom added: “Exactly the same as mum, I love travelling – I never thought I'd travel with my mum, but the fact that I get to travel and see the world, and do it with her is just perfect.”

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