Celebrity Race Across The World is not what I was expecting – which is a huge relief-Adam Miller-Entertainment – Metro

Your Celebrity Race Across The World line-up (Picture: BBC)

Ironically the series about a gruelling journey had it own perilous adventure to make it on screen, but Celebrity Race Across The World is finally here.

Initially set to launch In 2020, the BBC’s best gem was mid-filming its first star-studded edition before the pandemic struck and I don’t need to bore you with the details of what happened next.

Regardless, three years later and a surprisingly impressive line-up of famous faces and their family members are making the 10,000 kilometre pilgrimage from Marrakesh in Morocco to Tromso in Norway.

McFly star Harry Judd and his mother Emma, All Saints singer Melanie Blatt and her mum Helene, Good Morning Britain weather reporter Alex Beresford and his dad Noel, as well as Formula One ace Billy Monger and his sister Bonnie complete the first ever celebrity line-up for Race Across The World and make sure it’s packed with the right balance of heart and tension which ultimately is the secret to the ‘civilian’ version’s success.

I wasn’t initially on board with a celebrity version of RATW.

Of course, the actual challenge is the star of the show, the relentless trek for thousands of miles on a tiny budget, working jobs one never imagined doing to bank and handful of cash with the desperate hope of making it to the finish line.

Ultimately though, the charm comes from the contestants; their bond which grow so much stronger through the process, their intimate bickers and subsequent reconciliations and personal journeys are what makes it such a unique unscripted show in a sea of reality television which has become so shallow.

Would that same warmth come through with celebrities? I wasn’t so sure.

Thankfully I was so wrong.

After spending most of his live on the road with McFly and a team booking his every hotel, making sure every step he takes is meticulously planned out for him, Judd takes the plunge to backpack with his wildly entertaining mum.

Blatt has also already travelled the world, albeit it with a first-class ticket and budget.

McFly’s Harry Judd is on the adventure of a lifetime with his mum (Picture: BBC)

Judd’s mother shares how her pride that Judd became a superstar overnight In one of the most successful UK bands of noughties came with the heartbreak that her youngest flew the next sooner than she imagined.

He went on two have children of his own and as a mother and son, their time together became so limited – or in her own words ‘empty’.

Blatt’s mother trained in the army and was used to travelling and slumming it while her chart-topping daughter really wasn’t. It becomes clear quickly Blatt is not a money-saving expert.

Both popstars have a unique opportunity to bond and learn from their parents on a trip neither of them would ever have imagined.

Beresford and his father have very different strategies when it comes to the game, and overcome their traditional father-son roles they’ve become accustomed to. in episode one alone the TV star learns to take the reins from his parent.

Three weeks before his 18th birthday, Billy crashed into a stationary car during a race at Donnington Park.He was put into an induced coma and almost lost his life, but woke three days later as a double-amputee.

His relationship with sister Bonnie is Race Across The World is bonding at its best as they work together, at one point taking on the grimmest job there’s ever been on Race Across The World.

My fears Celebrity Race Across The World wouldn’t have as much depth and heart as its ‘civilian’ counterpart were totally misguided.

Of all the reality TV series which have taken on a celebrity version, Race Across The World might even do it better than anyone else.

Celebrity Race Across The World launches September 13 at 9pm on BBC One.

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