Liverpool friends Jo Diop and Kush Burman say the Race Across the World finale will be tense as they reflect on fame, friendship and family.
Jo Diop and Kush Burman, the childhood friends from Liverpool competing on the BBC’s Race Across the World , say viewers should expect a tense finale as the series reaches the last stage of its journey to northern Mongolia.
The pair, aged 19 and 20, are the youngest duo in the current series and have become one of its most talked-about partnerships. The programme sends pairs of travellers across a 12,000km route through Europe and Asia without phones and with limited money, with £20,000 waiting for the team that finishes first.
Jo and Kush have not disclosed the result of the final leg, but told BBC Newsbeat the closing episode would be “high stress” and “very tense.” Kush warned viewers not to assume they know what is coming, while Jo pointed to the difficulty of navigating Mongolia, where he said the maps were of limited use.
Their appeal has rested partly on the ease of a friendship built long before television. They entered the show after finishing their A-levels, saying the application began as a joke, but the race has also put more private parts of their lives on screen.
One of the series’ most emotional moments came during a visit to a judo gym in Kazakhstan, where Kush spoke about his stepfather, Matt, who took his own life during lockdown when Kush was 14. Watching that scene with his family was difficult, he told Newsbeat, but he said the public response had been “so heart-warming.”
Kush said messages from people with similar experiences had helped ease his nerves about being so open. Jo’s presence also mattered, he said, because his friend has been there for major moments in his life. Jo said the two know how to support each other when either one is struggling.
The attention around the show has already changed ordinary moments for them. Kush joked that some of his friends’ mothers were more committed viewers than his friends, while the pair said they had recently signed their first autographs after being recognised at a basketball game.
If they win, Jo and Kush said they would split the £20,000 prize equally. Jo said he would spend some on himself and a holiday, but also wanted to contribute one day toward a house for his mother. Kush said the experience had reinforced a lesson about not rushing into choices for other people’s sake.
The Race Across the World finale is scheduled for BBC One at 20:00 BST on Thursday 21 May and will also be available on iPlayer.
Comments (0)