Overview
- The BBC travel race, which premieres Thursday, April 2 on BBC One and iPlayer, sends five two‑person teams 12,000km from Palermo, Sicily to Hatgal on Lake Hovsgol in northern Mongolia for a £20,000 prize.
- Teams must go overland without mobile phones, flights, bank cards or luxury stays and live on less than £26 per person per day using only the cash equivalent of the route’s airfare.
- The route spans eight countries, taking racers through Italy, Greece, Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia.
- The line‑up pairs Jo and Kush, Katie and Harrison, Andrew and Molly, Puja and Roshni, and in‑laws Mark and Margo.
- Press materials spotlight the human stories, with in‑laws Mark, 66, and Margo, 59, rebuilding ties after caring for Mark’s late wife Julia, while others describe split‑second decisions as a core strain of the race.