Borneo to Melbourne. Episode 2: Wednesday 4 November.
Six episodes, Wednesdays at 8 pm on BBC One and iPlayer. Four pairs, no phones, £26 a day each.
Celebrity Race Across the World 2026 started on Wednesday 28 October, and episode 2 is on Wednesday 4 November at 8 pm on BBC One. Four pairs are racing 7,500km from Kuching in Malaysian Borneo to Melbourne, crossing five checkpoints, three countries and two continents, with no flights, no bank cards and a budget equal to the airfare they are not allowed to use.
It is the first time in the show’s history that the race has reached Australia. Here is who is ahead after episode 1, the full schedule, the cast, the route, and who won the previous series.
Who is winning Celebrity Race Across the World 2026?
Ella Eyre and Nana are ahead after episode 1. They were the first pair to reach the first checkpoint, at Pangkalan Bun in Indonesian Borneo, while Princess and Junior Andre finished the episode in last place, about a day behind.
| Leg | Checkpoint | First there |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pangkalan Bun, Indonesian Borneo | Ella Eyre and Nana |
| 2 | A city on Borneo’s east coast | Wed 4 Nov |
Princess and Junior were still on an overnight coach, around 230km short of the checkpoint, when the episode ended. Episode 2 takes the pairs across the heart of Borneo to a modern city on the island’s east coast for the second checkpoint, according to the episode listings.
When is Celebrity Race Across the World 2026 on?
Wednesdays at 8 pm on BBC One. It started on Wednesday 28 October, episode 2 is on Wednesday 4 November, and every episode is on BBC iPlayer the same night.
There are six hour-long episodes. The series took over the Wednesday 8 pm slot from The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn, which finished on 21 October.
Full Celebrity Race Across the World 2026 episode schedule
Six episodes, one a week on Wednesdays at 8 pm, with the final expected on Wednesday 2 December.
| Ep | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wednesday 28 OctoberWed 28 Oct | Aired |
| 2 | Wednesday 4 NovemberWed 4 Nov | Confirmed |
| 3 | Wednesday 11 NovemberWed 11 Nov | Expected |
| 4 | Wednesday 18 NovemberWed 18 Nov | Expected |
| 5 | Wednesday 25 NovemberWed 25 Nov | Expected |
| 6 | Wednesday 2 DecemberWed 2 Dec | Final, expected |
The first two dates are confirmed in the listings. The rest come from the pattern every previous series has followed: six episodes, one a week, no breaks.
Series one ran from 20 September to 25 October 2023. Series two ran from 14 August to 18 September 2024. Series three ran from 6 November to 11 December 2025. All three were six episodes across five weeks, which is exactly what six weekly Wednesdays from 28 October produces, finishing on 2 December.
This page is updated if the BBC publishes dates that differ from the weekly pattern.
Who is in the cast of Celebrity Race Across the World 2026?
Four pairs: Ella Eyre and Nana, Jeff Stelling and his son Matt, Princess and Junior Andre, and Sam Ryder and Kaz.
Brit Award-winning singer-songwriter, best known for Waiting All Night and Came Here for Love.
Fronted Soccer Saturday for nearly three decades. At 71, he is the oldest racer in this series.
The children of Katie Price and Peter Andre, and the only sibling pair in the race.
Finished second at Eurovision 2022 with Space Man, the UK’s best result in 24 years. Kaz is his tour manager.
The line-up was announced on 1 October. Three of the four pairs are family or lifelong friends rather than professional partnerships, which is the format working as intended. The show has always been less about the race than about what two people do to each other after weeks on the road with very little money.
Country and Town House reports that Jeff Stelling is also the joint-oldest competitor the show has ever had.
What happened in episode 1 of Celebrity Race Across the World 2026?
The pairs set off from Kuching, in Sarawak on Borneo’s north-west coast, and raced across the border into Indonesian Borneo. Ella Eyre and Nana got to the checkpoint first, and Princess and Junior Andre were still on the road when the episode ended.
- Ella Eyre and Nana won the first leg, after taking a job helping with farm work in traditional sunhats along the way.
- Jeff and Matt Stelling also reached the checkpoint by the end of the episode.
- Sam Ryder and Kaz collected their maps and the satellite phone at the start line in Kuching.
- Princess and Junior leaned on help from locals, worked on a coconut farm in exchange for a bed for the night, then took an overnight coach on which two other passengers were sick.
Viewers were split on the siblings. Some questioned whether they would finish, while others praised how Junior looked after his sister and thanked the locals who helped them, Entertainment Daily reported.
What is the Celebrity Race Across the World 2026 route?
The race started in Kuching, in Sarawak on the north-west coast of Borneo, and finishes in Melbourne. The first checkpoint was Pangkalan Bun in Indonesian Borneo, and the full route covers 7,500km across five checkpoints, three countries and two continents.
- StartKuchingSarawak, Malaysian Borneo
- Checkpoint 1Pangkalan BunIndonesian Borneo
- Checkpoints5Three countries, two continents
- FinishMelbourneAustralia’s southern tip
The first leg took the pairs about 1,000km from Kuching, across the border into Indonesia, to Pangkalan Bun, The Independent reported. From there the race heads east across Borneo before pushing on to Australia. At 7,500km, the full route is longer than series three’s 5,900km route from Mexico to Colombia.
Tim Harcourt, Chief Creative Officer at producer Studio Lambert, framed it as a study in contrast: “This year’s pairs navigate a journey that lays bare two extremes of today’s world.”
Why is Australia a first for Race Across the World?
The race has never reached Australia before, across either the celebrity or the original series, since the show began in 2019.
Audiences have been asking when the Race might reach Australia.
Jasmyn McGuile, BBC Factual Entertainment and EventsHow much money do they get on Celebrity Race Across the World?
£26 per person per day, plus a map. No flights, no bank cards, no smartphones, and a satellite phone carried for emergencies only.
£26
Per person, per day- A paper map, and no internet
- No flights and no bank cards
- Satellite phone for emergencies only
- Temporary work allowed to boost the budget
The budget is set at the cost of the airfare between the start and finish points, divided across the length of the race. Teams rely on local transport, casual work and the help of strangers.
Read that figure properly, because it is routinely reported wrong. It is £26 each per day, not £26 per team.
What channel is Celebrity Race Across the World on?
BBC One, with every episode on BBC iPlayer after broadcast. You need a TV licence to watch live or on iPlayer, and there is nothing to pay on top.
Episode 1 is on iPlayer now if you missed it, and the three previous celebrity series are there too.
Who won Celebrity Race Across the World before?
Roman Kemp and his sister Harleymoon won the 2025 series. Scott Mills and Sam Vaughan won in 2024, and Alex Beresford and his dad Noel won the first series in 2023.
| Series | Route | Winners |
|---|---|---|
| 12023 | Marrakesh, Morocco to Tromsø, Norway | Alex and Noel Beresford |
| 22024 | Belém, Brazil to Frutillar, Chile | Scott Mills and Sam Vaughan |
| 32025 | Isla Mujeres, Mexico to La Guajira, Colombia | Roman and Harleymoon Kemp |
| 42026 | Kuching, Borneo to Melbourne, Australia | To be decided, final expected 2 December |
We will update this page after each episode with who reached the checkpoint first, and with the 2026 winner after the final.
Is this the same as Race Across the World?
Same format, different cast. Celebrity Race Across the World uses famous names and their family or friends. The original uses members of the public.
The rules are identical. The celebrity version is shorter, at six episodes, and the two run at different points in the year rather than against each other.