One of the shows that always takes over the Cosmopolitan office when it's on is Race Across The World. Like many viewers, we all think we could smash the BBC challenge which sees pairs race check point to check point without a phone, air travel and relying on the help of strangers, who they often have a language barrier with. But while we've got the no phone thing down (top map readers over here), the one thing we would struggle with is the small budget.
Each pairing is given a budget equivalent to the cost of a flight from their start to end destination per person. This is what they have to use to pay for their food and transport and any activities they want to do along the way. They can top it up by working, but if it runs out, that's it, they're out of the race.
As each budget varies per season depending on the flight cost, some seasons have been luckier than others. So which season of Race Across The World has had the best budget and who has had the lowest? Here's how it's changed over the years.
The Race Across The World budgets over the years
Season 1
The series that started it all, season one saw the contestants travel from London to Singapore.
Their budget was £1,329 per person, bringing their total budget to £2,658.
Season 2
The second season upped the number of race legs, increasing it from six to eight. However, the budget didn't change that much.
The contestants journeyed from Mexico City, to Ushuaia in Argentina and their budget per person was £1,453 per person, bringing their total budget to £2,906.
Season 3
The third season had the biggest budget of all the seasons. It took place in Canada, due to the pandemic, the contestants were restricted to travelling in one country.
They started on the west of Canada in Vancouver, before ending at St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Their budget per person was £2,498.13, meaning in total they had just under £5,000. Maybe that explains why Kevin got so many taxis.
First celebrity series
The first celebrity version of the show took place in late 2023. The four pairs of contestants travelled for only six legs rather than the usual eight, but they still had one of the best budgets of the show.
Travelling from Morocco to Norway, they had £1,947 per person, totalling £3,894.
Season 4
Last year's show saw contestants travel across Asia from Japan to Indonesia. This meant they had a budget of £1,390 per person, totalling £2,780.
Second celebrity series
The second celeb version of the series took place in 2024, and featured the lowest budget of all the seasons.
They travelled for six legs, which explains the lower budget, and raced from Belém in Brazil to Frutillar in Chile.
They were given just £1,100 per person, which totalled £2,200.
Season 5
The current season airing on BBC One, has the second lowest budget of the show, with the pairs being given £1,140 per person, totalling £2,280. This works out to around £22 per day.
The pairs are racing from the Great Wall of China to Kanyakumari in the southern tip of India.
Race Across The World continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer
