Roman Kemp says Celebrity Race Across the World altered his whole perception of happiness. After the 5,900km race with Harleymoon, he said it left him thinking that life is really worth living sometimes.
He made the comments on The Runna Podcast after the journey across the Caribbean and the Pacific coast of Central America. The race sent teams from Mexico’s Isla Mujeres to Colombia's Península de La Guajira without air travel or smartphones, turning every leg into a test of endurance rather than convenience.
5,900km with Harleymoon
Kemp did not frame the experience as a simple holiday or TV assignment. He said, “my whole perception of happiness was altered,” which is the sort of line that lands differently when it comes from someone reflecting on a race built around distance, fatigue and constant decision-making.
During Celebrity Race Across the World, he trekked through jungle and tribal cemeteries before chopping down trees, and he said he got quite emotional during one leg. That sequence gives the clearest picture of why the trip hit harder than a standard competition: the route demanded physical work in places that offered no shortcuts.
Roman Kemp on difficult times
He also drew a direct line between the race and his own history. “You know, I've been through times in my life where I don't wanna be here anymore and things like that,” he said, before adding, “Oh, you know, life's really worth living sometimes.”
That makes the comment more than a feel-good aside. Kemp has previously spoken publicly about depression and panic attacks, so his reaction reads as a personal marker rather than a promotional quote, and it gives the show a human cost beyond the scoreboard.
What the race changed
The practical takeaway for viewers is simple: the race did more than produce a finish order. It gave Kemp a public language for describing how a 5,900km route, no smartphones and no air travel forced a reset in how he measured happiness.
What remains most interesting is the sequence that triggered that shift. Kemp has already described the jungle, the cemeteries and the tree-chopping, but the exact moment that turned the experience inward is the part he has not spelled out yet.
