'It's no wonder Celebrity Race Across the World is the number one TV show right now'

When the BBC first announced Celebrity Race Across the World — a celebrity version of one of my favourite shows — I recall being distinctly unimpressed. "The best thing about this format is getting to know the everyday people taking part," I wrote at the time. "Surely if you chuck a bunch of celebrities in they will just spend their time showing off, making it all about them and ruining the joy of the adventure."

Luckily, for the first series the BBC solved this problem by booking people who were not exactly household names/divas and pairing them with friends or family who were even less well-known. This was such a success the Beeb repeated the trick for the second series, which reached its halfway point this week.

I’m delighted to report it has once again worked a treat.

The celebrity version provides the same weekly dose of life-affirming escapism as the civilian version, and I have now added a tour of South America to my ever growing travel bucket list. It’s no surprise to see that it is the No.1 show on TV at the moment.

I have noticed one major difference though. The effect that the lack of prize money has on the celebrity contestants. It definitely takes some of the drama and jeopardy out of proceedings.

In the 'normal' version, although the £20,000 on offer hasn’t been the only reason people have taken part, the big fat cash carrot hasn’t been far from their minds. Consequently the civilian show has usually had more of a competitive edge to it. In some cases, knowing what the duos wanted to spend the money on upon their return to their everyday lives has even made me root for them that little bit more.

For the celebrities it is only the taking part that matters, although, it being a reality TV show at heart, they have also offered other reasons why it means so much to them — aside from the obvious profile boost being on a show watched by 6 million viewers a week can provide.

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For Jeff Brazier and his son Freddy it was all about reconnecting, and reaffirming that parent/child bond. For newlyweds Kelly Brook and Jeremy Parisi it was a chance to go on the honeymoon they didn’t manage to take back in 2022. (I know — top showbiz blagging or what?)

At the other end of the romance scale, brave/foolish soon-to-be-weds Scott Mills and Sam Vaughan saw it as the holiday acid test that every couple should apparently take before saying I do. As for Ted Lasso actor Kola Bokinni and his cousin Mary Ellen, the trip of a lifetime aspect of the show was too good an offer to turn down. (Fair dos. Can’t judge them too harshly for that.)

Watch a trailer for Celebrity Race Across the World

Thanks to the allowed transport options during the first half of this South American trek the teams have certainly been given plenty of time to expand on their motivations. As Brazil’s rail network is not exactly its greatest source of national pride, there has been an awful lot of uneventful bus travel so far. Scott and Sam even endured a buttock-numbing 25-hour stretch in the latest leg of their journey.

Presumably, this left the production team with two choices: Either throw Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves on the buses with them to liven things up a bit, or just accept that you will have to record a lot of post-trip reflection interviews back at the hotels or bus termini to fill the holes in the sixty minute broadcasts. Which of the teams’ stories you choose to zoom in on is down to personal taste, of course.

However, as I like to go for the one which sounds most like the pitch for a romantic comedy, I’ve been keeping a close eye out for any Kelly/Jeremy and Scott/Sam action.

That’s not to dismiss or disrespect the other pairings. I’ve found Freddy’s tributes to his mum Jade Goody just as affecting as I did his older brother Bobby’s on Strictly Come Dancing last year. Also, the little flashes of Jade we see in Freddy are especially poignant. You could well imagine Jade rocking up to a street market in Brazil and randomly shouting "Shall we get a kettle?"

Kelly and Jeremy have provided most of the laughs this series though. Well, Kelly has. She has a happy knack for instantly saying exactly what is in her head whatever the circumstances. I find this particularly entertaining, although I fully appreciate other viewers might instead find it annoying.

In the latest episode, when Jeremy nipped into a stunning cathedral for a quiet prayer Kelly plonked herself down next to him as he prayed and decided this was the perfect time to talk over him and tell the camera crew about how, in her younger days in Rochester, she had seriously contemplated becoming a nun. "I thought oh God, what a lovely life," she said. "I could just wear a habit, make cheese, crochet all day. Then I became a Page 3 girl and it all went downhill."

There was an even bigger laugh later on in the episode as the newlyweds booked into (unwittingly, we must assume) a rooms-by-the-hour motel that looked like one of those sexy time joints you may have read about. To her credit, Kelly immediately — and quite correctly — switched off the in-room sound system in response to the horror of Chris De Burgh’s Lady In Red greeting them as they’d walked through the door.

She seemed quite taken with the room’s other romantic persuasions though, not least the full length mirror opposite the bed. Jeremy was less impressed.

"Does this put you in the mood?" Kelly asked.

His response? "Go. To. Sleep."

To be fair, he was knackered, and still drenched from the sudden cloudburst that had earlier ruined their romantic al fresco dinner. He also wants to win the race, while Kelly clearly has other goals in mind, such as sightseeing and having a nice shower. In a perfect world, Jeremy would get his wish. I can’t see it happening though.

That’s the other problem with the absence of prize money. If you have a team in which both contestants are naturally competitive and supremely capable the other pairs don’t really stand a chance.

Travel machines Jeff and Freddy were so far ahead after the second stage that they could afford to go the long way round and take in the sights of Rio de Janeiro. Despite that diversion they were still ahead by the end of stage three.

At this rate, once it comes down to the race to the final checkpoint in Chile they’ll probably have time to pop back to Brazil to get Freddy’s kettle. And still win by a few hours.

Celebrity Race Across the World airs on Wednesdays on BBC One, and streams on BBC iPlayer.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/celebrity-race-across-the-world-best-show-tv-100426981.html