Ella Eyre and Nana will head into celebrity race around the world without phones, credit cards or home comforts. One and iPlayer have revealed the four pairings for the fourth series, which stretches 7,500 km from Borneo to Melbourne.
The line-up also pairs Jeff Stelling with Matt, Princess Andre with Junior Andre, and Sam Ryder with Kaz. Each contestant gets £26 per person a day, a budget that keeps the format tight even as the route crosses three countries and two continents.
Kuching to Melbourne
The journey begins in Kuching in the Malaysian state of Sarawak in North West Borneo, then runs across South East Asia to Australia. It is the first time the celebrity version has started in Borneo’s Sarawak rainforest, and the route gives the series a cleaner geographic arc than a standard point-to-point race.
Five check points divide the route, which means the teams have to manage pace, transport and cash over a long stretch rather than treat the race as a single sprint. That structure also makes the daily £26 limit more than a gimmick: it becomes the main operating rule for every leg.
Ella Eyre and Nana
Ella Eyre is taking part with her childhood friend Nana, and that pairing gives the series one of its clearest personal hooks. The route strips away the usual backup systems of celebrity travel, so the value of a teammate becomes practical as much as emotional.
Jasmyn McGuile said, “Audiences have been asking when the Race might reach Australia, so we are delighted that they will be able to experience this unique journey for the first time in Celebrity Race Across the World. With an adventurous start in Borneo's Sarawak rainforest, another series first, it makes for an unmissable opener for this year’s celebrity teams.”
Studio Lambert’s 6x60'
Celebrity Race Across The World is a 6x60' series from Studio Lambert, and it arrives with the same stripped-back rules that keep the format distinct from glossy celebrity travel television. Tim Harcourt said, “This year’s pairs navigate a journey that lays bare two extremes of today’s world. We can’t wait to share how they get on. Contestants give unfiltered and honest reactions to the experiences they face that are as demanding as they are joyful. That’s so rare on television and it’s clear audiences love seeing their favourite stars deal with these daring challenges in spectacular worlds.”
The practical test is the point: four duos, one map, no phones and no credit cards. That setup should reward the pairings that manage decisions quickly and travel cheaply, not the names most likely to dominate a standard celebrity format. Roman Kemp on the happiness reset sits on the same logic of pressure changing the way these shows play out.
Celebrity Race Across The World airs this autumn, with Race Across the World returning to One and iPlayer next Spring. The cast is set; the real question now is which duo can turn £26 a day into enough progress to survive 7,500 km to Melbourne.
