大象传媒 One鈥檚 Celebrity Race Across the World reached its thrilling conclusion tonight (WEDS) with Radio 2 host Scott Mills and his husband (then fianc茅) Sam, becoming the first to reach the final checkpoint and be crowned the winning team.
In a nail-biting final that saw only two teams in with a chance of finishing first, Scott Mills and Sam Vaughan were the first to make the climb up Osorno Volcano in Frutillar, Chile. Actor Kola Bokinni and his cousin Mary Ellen Moriarty followed 2 hours 20 minutes behind, putting them in second place, while Broadcaster Jeff Brazier and his son Freddy Brazier and Broadcaster Kelly Brook and her husband Jeremy Parisi came in the following day, finishing third and fourth respectively.
After opening the guest book to discover they had reached Frutillar in first place, the pair jumped up and down shouting 鈥榦h my God, we did it鈥�, before embracing each other, overcome with emotion.
Reflecting on their victory, which saw them race 12,500 km from the Amazon Rainforest, all the way to the Andes, Scott said: 鈥淪peechless. When you open that book, and there are no other names in it 鈥� there鈥檚 no other feeling like it.鈥�
Sam added laughing: 鈥淚鈥檓 just glad we flipped the coin!鈥�
He continued: 鈥淭o have a great experience and win, it鈥檚 just the best.鈥�
Scott added: 鈥淚 can confirm it鈥檚 the best feeling ever.鈥� Still marvelling at their win, Sam continues: 鈥渨e actually won鈥� whilst Scott wipes away tears that he blames on the 鈥榗old air鈥�.
Looking back at their time in the race, Scott says: 鈥渋t鈥檚 been exhilarating, it鈥檚 been tough, it鈥檚 been so frustrating at times, but we鈥檝e been there for each other, the good, the bad, the ups and downs. It just proves we鈥檙e a great team 鈥� a winning team.鈥�
Following their arrival at the guest book, Kola and Mary Ellen are elated with Kola saying: 鈥渨e came second Mary, I鈥檓 so pleased with that鈥� before adding 鈥渢his has been one of the best experiences of my life.鈥�
With the remaining two teams arriving the day after, Jeff and Freddy reach the checkpoint in third place with Freddy saying: 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 come first, we didn鈥檛 need to come first. We finished the race and we鈥檝e done it together. Father and son, I mean what a duo.鈥�
Finishing in fourth place, Kelly and Jeremy are happy to have finished with Kelly saying: 鈥渋t means everything to finish. Jeremy wanted to win, I just wanted to finish. To be honest we came last so I feel like we should have had a jolly from day one, it wouldn鈥檛 have made any difference!鈥�
Scott and Sam began the final leg in third place, but with just 39 minutes between all the teams, it was everyone鈥檚 race to play for. Leaving the fifth checkpoint in Tilcara, the teams had a mighty 2,750km to traverse across the Andes to reach the finish line in Frutillar in Chile. Known for their indecisiveness, Scott and Sam decided to toss a coin to determine which route they would travel 鈥� heads, cross the border to Chile early, or tails, continue down through Argentina. The pair flipped tails, leaving Tilcara to travel through Argentina to San Salvador and onwards to Mendoza.
Their journey got off to a shaky start, when due to the Easter holidays, queues were huge and tickets at a premium. Told that the 1.15pm bus was sold out, Scott and Sam faced a potential 9 hour wait at the bus station, a delay that could have cost them the race. Determined to find a way to stay in the running, Sam checked again and found more tickets had been released meaning they could leave on a bus with the other teams.
The second team to cross the border into Chile, Scott and Sam travelled 360km west from Mendoza to Santiago, the capital city of Chile. Travelling on one of the worlds windiest roads, consisting of a steep series of continuous switchbacks, the scenery was jaw-dropping. On reaching Santiago and booking an overnight bus to Frutillar, Scott and Sam were nervous about the budget, so took on one final job to top up their funds, making a Chilean speciality, 鈥楥ompleto鈥�.
During a ride in a cable car up San Crist贸bal Hill, Scott reflected to Sam on his experience during the race, saying: 鈥渁t the start of this I think I was quite caught up with work, and I think I鈥檝e learnt to spend more time for just you and me. I don鈥檛 want it to be over now.鈥�
Having chosen to cross into Chile early and travel the desert route, Kola and Mary Ellen arrived in Santiago, and arranged an overnight bus to Frutillar, alongside Scott and Sam.
Meanwhile Jeff and Freddy got caught in terrible traffic congestion with were diverted to a smaller city, Rancagua south of the Chilean capital - leaving them with limited choice on how to travel onwards to Frutillar and therefore taking them out of contention to win the race.
Kelly and Jeremy were the only team to venture towards Patagonia and cross the Andes in the south, but ran into problems finding connections. A broken-down bus pushed them hours behind their opponents, and a closed border meant no onward travel, meaning the married couple had to bed down for the night and come to terms with arriving a day later than the others.
In the most epic race to the finish line in Race Across the World history, Scott and Sam and Kola and Mary Ellen鈥檚 GPS tracker directed them to the Teatro del Lago where they were instructed to take a boat or any vehicle 25 miles to Ensenada.
In a last-ditch attempt to secure the win, Scott and Sam took a boat, meanwhile Kola and Mary Ellen secured a lift from a taxi.
At the beach in Ensenada, the teams were told to make their way to the base camp of the majestic Osorno Volcano where there final instruction was to make their way, either by cable car, or on foot to the Chilean flag where they would be greeted by the finish line.
The journey of a lifetime has seen the pairs race across the length of South America, journeying through some of the most diverse terrains and climates in the world. From the heat of the Brazilian drylands, through the wet mangroves of the Atlantic, the iconic carnival coast of Copacabana and the biggest megacities of the southern hemisphere, the cosmopolitan shores of Uruguay, the multi-coloured mountains of Argentina, ending in the mighty volcanoes of Chile.
They have successfully reached the finish line without the use of air travel or any trappings of modern-day life. Stripped of all mod-cons and all luxuries they have had to rely on their skills, cunning, ingenuity, and hard work in order to succeed. Without the use of bank cards, smartphones and a limited budget, extra money had to be earned along the way as well as calling upon the kindness of strangers to help them progress.
Catch up on all episodes of Celebrity Race Across the World on 大象传媒 iPlayer.
Winners鈥� Q&A
How does it feel to have won Celebrity Race Across the World?
Scott: It's ridiculous. It's bizarre. When we were on the top of the volcano, we had a hug and a little cry. People were telling us repeatedly that we had won, but I still could not compute it. I could not get it in my head. I couldn't process it.
Sam: When we got off the bus and ran across the bridge, we had our first instruction to get to the finish line. Scott said to me, 鈥榃ell, there's no point running. We're last anyway鈥�. Even at the very end of the race, we still had it in our heads that we were going to be towards the bottom. In our heads we still didn't think we were in with a chance of winning until we opened that book. It was so weird.
Scott: I was 鈥榥egative Scott鈥� from the beginning. I didn鈥檛 think I was going to do well at this. Then we started doing well and Sam became Mr. Negative. I thought, 鈥楾his is great. We're having a great time. We're doing brilliantly鈥�. I went from negative to positive, and then Sam went negative, and then I went back down to negative. I do actually remember saying to him, 鈥楾here's no point in running, Sam, we鈥檝e lost鈥�.
Can you sum up the experience?
Sam: It was the best thing I've ever done. I've learned so much about myself, about Scott and about the world in the last 30 days than I have in the 30 plus years I鈥檝e been on this planet. I've seen so much of South America and I still can't believe what we've done and achieved.
Scott: I thought I knew a lot about the world, but I didn鈥檛 know as much as I thought I did. It was exhilarating, inspiring and exhausting.
It鈥檚 made Sam and I鈥檚 relationship even stronger. I knew that Sam was the one but this whole experience made me absolutely realise without a shadow of a doubt that he was the one. We might never have this amount of time again when we are absolutely disconnected from the world. I very much doubt that it will ever happen again in our lives. It will remain special forever.
Has this experience changed the way your travel in the future?
Scott: There have already been weekends since we filmed the show where I have left my phone. I'll just put it away in a drawer. We鈥檙e going away in October for our belated honeymoon. I've already told people like my agent, my mum, and people that I speak to regularly that I will not be on the phone all week. I did it for five weeks, and it was brilliant. We didn't even want our phones back when we were allowed to. We said, 鈥極h, actually, can we do it tomorrow鈥�? We went from, 鈥極h my God, how are we going to live without our phones鈥�? to 鈥業 don't really want it back now鈥�. It was really bizarre, because you would think, after five weeks, the first thing you would say is, 鈥極h my gosh. Give me my phone鈥�. We thought, 鈥楲et's have one more night where we can all just meet up and share our experiences and not be on our phones鈥�. I'm so glad we did.
I've also realized that you don't need to spend a fortune when you go away. Even if we go for a quick city break, I book a really nice hotel, but you really don't need to.
On a holiday you would not get to go into people's homes. I think this show will make it more popular. I now think that in previous holidays, maybe we've missed a trick by not speaking as much to local people, being amongst them, or staying with them, because that is when you feel like you're having the authentic experience.
What advice would you give to future contestants taking part?
Scott: I want to put Rylan on the list immediately. Also Alison Hammond.
Sam: If you don't ask then you don't get so just approach everyone and just ask. Don't be scared to ask people, because when you're in a situation and you can't see a way out of it somebody there will help you. It happened to us loads of times. Back at home, we're used to people with their heads down looking at their phones. If you stop and ask people, people will spend the time to try and find a solution for you, to help you. I think my biggest thing would be to ask. Just ask everyone.
Sam: As soon as I got back to London, a tourist asked me at one of the tube stations how to get somewhere. I jumped on the train with them and mapped it out and told them where they needed to get off and how many stops, because I realised, a few weeks ago I was in that position, probably in Sao Paulo.
Also take a calculator, that鈥檚 one thing I regret.
Scott: We did take an old school alarm clock and that was an actual Godsend.
Sam: The crew don't wake you up so if you need to be up at five o'clock to get a bus at half five, you haven't got a phone to set your alarm. A calculator is important because when you're trying to convert money and trying to work out how much everything is, it鈥檚 very confusing. My notepad is full of my own mental arithmetic. One Real is $1 and I'd always refer to that, but if I had a calculator, that would鈥檝e helped me.
Scott: The alarm clock was a stroke of genius. It was such a cheap alarm clock 鈥� an old school one with the bells on the top. When you're in that situation, you don't even know what day it is. The days just roll into one another. You don't know what date or day it is and you don't know what time it is, a lot of the time, and then you'll miss a bus or you'll miss your wake up time, which can put you so behind in the race. So having something with the time on it, is something I would highly recommend.
What鈥檚 the reaction been like from your Radio 2 listeners?
Scott: You get everyone that you speak to asking 鈥榳ho鈥檚 won鈥� followed by 鈥榥o don鈥檛 tell me鈥� they want to know but they don鈥檛 want to spoil it, that鈥檚 a really common thing! The nation is obsessed with this show. I knew it was big but it is an absolute monster.
I鈥檝e had so many messages from listeners saying it鈥檚 inspired them to go on a road trip of their own, obviously they are not going to race but I really think this show has opened up the world of travel to people, so many people have said to me I love the show so much that I am now going to go on my own adventure - how amazing is that!
People are so into the show and they do not miss a beat, things that I haven鈥檛 even noticed, I鈥檝e had messages like how come so many of you are left handed, because they see us signing the book, people do not miss a trick!