Celebrity Race Across the World 2024 stars have shared the things their teammates do that will annoy them the most on the show.
The once-in-a-lifetime experience sees four teams travel from Belém, Northern Brazil — the gateway to the Amazon — through five checkpoints across the length of South America to the finishing point in the Andes, Frutillar in Southern Chile.
Tensions can be high as the stars compete against each other to race to the finish line while on a tight budget and the stars must leave behind the luxuries they love and creature comforts while coping on a small budget, little sleep and even food rations. Inevitably rows can — and do — break out.
In a series of interviews before filming the BBC show, the stars opened up about their partnerships. Answering honestly, father and son Jeff and Freddy Brazier, married couple Kelly Brook and Jeremy Parisi, cousins Kola Bokinni and Mary Ellen as well as then-engaged couple Sam Vaughan and Scott Mills shone a light on their close relationships.
Freddy and Jeff Brazier: Manspreading and passive aggression
Tactical youngster Freddy, 19, said he didn’t think his dad was "very annoying" but he did point out what gets on his nerves when they do have a row. He said: "I don’t think Dad’s very annoying. When we’re arguing, he’s not very aggressive, not very shouty, but he does it in a very passive-aggressive way, a very calm way and that kind of gets in my head."
Jeff didn’t mind admitting that his son’s "man-spreading" annoys him as well as his habit of jumping to conclusions with a negative outlook. On the flip side, the dad said hopefully by seeing the world differently it will be "useful" on the trip and will see them compromise too.
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He said: "I would say with Fred there’s an element of man-spreading, sometimes arriving at a negative conclusion before we’ve even tried anything. Hopefully, that’ll be something that changes and that’ll be something that I’ll have to be very patient with. I always like to see the possibility and opportunity. I think it might be useful we see things differently and we can meet in the middle."
Kelly Brook and Jeremy Parisi: Boredom
Brook and Parisi have been together since 2014 so it’s no wonder they know very well what will annoy them about their partner on the trip. One big difference between them is that the Italian model is an early bird.
"I’ve been a bit jet-lagged today and Jeremy was literally up at 5am and because he doesn’t have his phone, nothing will occupy him, so he was jumping up and down like an excitable child, opening windows, wanting me to get up, he’s like a coiled spring," Brook explained.
However, this certainly goes both ways as Parisi admitted it will be annoying waiting for his wife to get ready because he is an early riser. He said: "I think I’ll be waiting for Kelly, as I wake up early, I’ll be waiting for her to get ready."
This is something they will face time and time again on Celebrity Race Across the World because getting up earlier can be the difference between catching that bus or train or mode of transport to get them to the checkpoint earlier.
Kola Bokinni and Mary Ellen: Temperatures
Cousins Kola Bokinni and Mary Ellen admitted they were "bickering" while even doing the interview as they addressed head on what annoys them about the other. "She likes stuffy and smelly," Bokinni said.
Mary Ellen hit back: "He likes dry cold air. He loves the air con and I don’t. We're already bickering. He likes to be borderline getting the flu."
But that’s not the only thing they differ on. Ellen further explained organisation is a sticking point for the cousins. She said: "Another one would be his organisation. I’m already having to pick up the pieces after him and I didn’t realise how bad he’d become at organising or even looking after his stuff."
Scott Mills and Sam Vaughan: Comfort and planning ahead
Scott Mills and Sam Vaughan filmed Celebrity Race Across the World just two months before getting married, saying it would be like the "holiday test" except it would be "times thousands". While the DJ said they don’t argue in normal situations, the couple agreed they would be disagreeing over some of the choices that could come up on the show.
Vaughan said: "Scott will probably go for ease and comfort over budget, so he'll push for taxis or maybe better trains. I think that's something that will annoy me, Scott will just go for the easiest option on this route."
Mills added: "That’s true. Sam likes to over-prepare. For instance, I don't know what I'm doing next week. He's so organised and I'm not, but that's what I think makes us a good team."
Vaughan is a planner, meanwhile, Mills will just live in the moment. The couple know this could cause tension during the race. Vaughan further explained: "I like to have everything planned, so if you ask me what me or Scott are doing in three week’s time, I'll know. Whereas if you ask Scott what he's doing, he's like, 'I don't know. I live by the day.'"
Vaughan admitted this will likely annoy his partner. He added: "I think I’ll probably annoy you because I need to know the route we’re going." His DJ star partner agreed saying: "That’s it, he needs to know everything, He wants sometimes to know answers to things that haven't got answers yet."
Celebrity Race Across the World returns to BBC One for series two on 14 August at 9pm.
