BBC Race Across the World cast: Exes who remained friends to competitive brothers

Race Across the World gives viewers a bird's eye view of five duos racing around the globe on their quest to bag the £20,000 winner's prize. This year's will see the teams attempt to travel 15,000km from China to India with £1,390 to spend and as usual, without the help of their smartphones, bank cards or the internet.

The tough challenge has proved a ratings hit for the , with last year's final watched by more than seven millions viewers, a record across all the series. Best friends Alfie and Owen proved victorious, becoming the youngest show winners as they reached the final checkpoint in Lombok, Indonesia.

This time around, the contestants include a , a grandmother determined to prove age doesn't matter and brothers who admit they'll be disappointed if they don't win. We take a closer look at the five pairings...

READ MORE:

Gaz and Yin

This duo used to be a married couple until they separated three years ago. When Yin's new partner Chris died in September she asked Gaz, who supported her in the grieving process, to team up with her for the show in honour of her late beau who loved to travel.

"I wouldn't probably do this with anyone other than Yin," explained Gaz. "I know that sounds , because we're not together, we're not husband and wife but we're still best mates. And I think even now, could I do this with my brother? No. Could I do this with any other mates? No. And Yin was pretty much the same."

"I definitely see it like a gift from Chris," added Yin. "I know he's gone, but I do think that he has had a meddling hat in this. He would be laughing hysterically but also cheering us on, wishing he was there, seeing all the different things and getting the new experiences. This whole process so far has also been a vehicle for us to talk about when we were married, but in a really nice way."

The teammates have set themselves "mini goals" and say their strengths for the challenge include conversation and formulating plans. "It's a great memory for our daughter," said Yin. "She'll see us as us and not as mum and dad. She'll see how we interact in the wider community and she can show her children and their children, long after we've gone."

Elizabeth and Letitia

The sisters feel they have different strengths when it comes to taking on the mammoth challenge, with Elizabeth an extrovert to Letitia's more introverted personality. "I think I'm quite social so I think there will be a strength in the race," said Elizabeth.

"I'm not afraid to ask people for help or try and talk in a different language or things like that. So I think that can help me be able to get some help and get some advice of things. I think my weakness could probably be my indecisiveness."

"I think I can be logical in the decisions that I make," said Letitia of her own strengths. "I can see the bigger picture and plan for that. I like to plan things. I like to have a step by step plan, process. That can come in handy. Weaknesses, I think, maybe I can shy away from things or get overwhelmed."

Time remains to be seen if the sisters, who are travelling together for the first time, will make a dream duo in the epic challenge but they are looking forward to the experience as much as the potential of winning. "Anything that we get out of this experience, I'll be so grateful for," said Elizabeth. "But I think just exploring the and really pushing ourselves to the best of our ability."

Caroline and Tom

This travel-mad mother and son duo feel Race Across the World was made for them, and as avid fans of the show, they've picked up a few tips from watching previous series. "I bought a little white board because if we can't speak the language, perhaps we can draw something and for hitchhiking and signs of where we want to go possibly," said Caroline.

"Another thing we bought sleeping bags more for the buses because we've seen on previous series, they look like on some of the buses they will wrap up and it looks like they could do with having a blanket of some sort," added Tom, who feels his biggest challenges will be the lack of food and sleep. "We know we are going to struggle with the budget because Thomas needs to eat a lot - a huge amount!" said his mum.

Caroline feels Tom's easy-going and adaptable nature will be strengths for the challenge, with her son spending six months backpacking around South America last year. She calls herself competitive and determined, saying however bad it gets the couple will be able to "push on and push through".

"I would like to prove that age doesn't mean you're getting older and slower necessarily and that you can still have the same opportunities and still grab them," added the mum. "I can still go travelling, even though I'm 60 and maybe a grandmother's age, but I'm still capable and can go out with a rucksack, I can keep up." Paul's strategy is simple: "Just to be as nice as possible to people and hope they put out a hand to help you."

Brian and Melvin

These brothers are hoping to recreate some of the childhood fun they had together on their journey of a lifetime. "Not only have we not spent this amount of time together as adults, we've never spent this much time away from our partners either," said Melvyn. "I've been married 44 years, Brian's been married 38 years, so that's a big wrench for us."

Brian's main worry is being the first contestants to leave the show, saying "my children wouldn't let me live it down" but Melvyn joked that: "The other worry from our families at home is that we shouldn't embarrass them. So we're going to go all out to embarrass them."

The siblings say they are very competitive and will be disappointed if they don't win the show. But the pair only recently discovered their shared passion for architecture and history, with Melvyn admitting: "If we get a chance to visit the Great Wall of , the Terracotta Army, if it means missing a bus to go and see something like that, then I think we miss the bus."

"We need to grasp this experience because we haven't got time to do it again," added Brian. "If you're 18, 20, 30 years of age, you've got time to do it. We haven't got time left to do it. So we've got this one experience."

Fin and Sinoed

This young couple feel they will balance one another well on the challenge - while Sinoed is the best at map reading for example, Fin is better at remaining calm under pressure. "I think it'll be Sioned with the passports and the money and me probably doing the haggling, trying to get the best deals," said Fin.

The loved birds admit they both have annoying habits to put up with from their other halves, with Sinoed saying: "He takes all my stuff. Like my food and water. I'm happy to share it, but it's when I'm really rationing it and I'm like, okay, that's annoying. Also . That is annoying, but I can sleep through it so all good."

"Talking," says Fin. "It gets to a point where i just want to be quiet and chill and she'll not stop. She'll only be quiet after she gets offended, and then I have to say sorry because she was offended, because I've told her to be quiet!"

But overall, the couple hope their strong bond will get even closer as they see more of the world together. "I hope it'll make me step out of my comfort zone," said Fin. "Experience new things that I haven’t experienced before and share some amazing times with Sioned."

Watch the show tomorrow, Wednesday April 23, on BBC One at 9pm