As the fourth series of BBC One’s Race Across the World starts tonight, we take a look at where the previous winners are now and how they spent their prize money
After crossing the finishing line, one couple spent their £20,000 winnings on a ‘gap decade’.
While Love Island winners have gone on to become influencers and TV presenters, winners of Race Across the World have returned to their old lives and spent their cash on very wholesome things. Some of them have donated money to charity, gifted it to family and friends and, of course, bought plane tickets to travel more.
As the fourth series of the popular BBC One show begins tonight, the Mirror takes a look at the previous winners, where they are now and how they spent their £20k cash. Remember husband and wife Elaine and Tony, and best friends Tricia and Cathie? Here is everything we know about them since they appeared on our screens…
Series one: Elaine and Tony
Husband and wife Tony and Elaine Teasdale, both 67, won the first series of the show in 2019, travelling across 21 countries on a shoestring budget of £1,329. The former PE teachers surprised themselves by winning the £20k prize as the oldest duo on the programme, as they were the first to reach the Marina Bay Sands hotel in Singapore.
After winning, the married couple used some of the money to buy themselves electric bikes to drive around the dirt tracks near their home in North Yorkshire. They donated a chunk to charity, gave some to their family and spent the rest on travelling the world. They’ve since been to Antarctica, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Patagonia, and New Zealand.
Tony previously told The Tab: “We invited our grandkids and three children to watch the final episodes, they didn’t know we’d won so we cracked open all the champagne and got the cash out and we chucked it all up the air. The kids got what they could and we gave some to charity.”
In a recent interview, Tony revealed: “We always said we would have a gap decade once we retired, and we’re trying to do that… Because of Race Across the World, we rough it, we stay in youth hostels, we don’t do it plush. If we go somewhere, we go for two or three months and indulge ourselves in the culture.” Though they do occasionally splash out on rooftop bars.
Series two: Emon and Jamiul
Uncle and nephew Emon and Jamiul Choudhury won series two of the show in 2020 after trekking across South America on roughy £26 a day. Shortly after, they announced they’d be donating half of their £20k prize to charity after witnessing children sleeping rough in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
They later told the Mirror that they donated 75 percent of the pot and gave the remaining £5k to Emon’s family orphanage in Bangladesh. Emon said during the Covid pandemic: “Ideally we’d like to go back and physically hand over the money ourselves to see how it’s been spent and how it’s going to help them.”
Viewers discovered that Emon and Jamiul had not spoken for a decade before the trip due to a family estrangement and saw their bond grow strong again over the race. Jamiul said in 2020: “In terms of my relationship with my uncle, that has changed drastically, not only for myself but the wider family also… We talk almost every day and have a bond you can’t break now.”
Emon is a charity worker and ambassador and his social media is packed with news from the marathons and races he’s fundraiser for. He received recognition for his work in 2022 and won a regional Pride of Britain Award. Meanwhile, Jamuil is an architectural designer and has a YouTube video where he occasionally uploads footage of his life.
Series three: Tricia and Cathie
Series three winners, best friends Cathie Rowe and Tricia Sail, were left in shock after defying the odds and reaching the final checkpoint, the Lighthouse on Cape Spear, first in 2022. After filming ended, Cathie recalled: “I remember just shouting, ‘We won!’ at the top of my voice to no one. It had to be done. I was elated, mixed with a bit of disbelief.”
The experience was life-changing for the pair of them. Tricia, 49, returned from filming and quit her job at a bank last year for a role with the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). Meanwhile, the travel bug hit Cathie, 50, hard and she went trekking through the rainforest in Thailand. She said last year: “I’ve got more interest in doing a bit more exploring and seeing a bit more, rather than just lying on the beach.”
- Race Across the World returns tonight on BBC One at 9pm.
