Celebrity 2024 - Episode 5 recap

The penultimate leg is always a bit of a scramble as teams try to get a good position for the final and also build up their funds so they’re not limiting their travel options next week. This episode however brought up more than a few surprises along the way.

We started with a brief glimpse of the checkpoint stay as the teams caught up with each other's trials from Episode 4. Kelly’s shocked face at Scott and Sam’s $200 for a ferry was only beaten by her astounded face two seconds later when Kola mentioned losing his passport!

The checkpoint route was another surprise, taking the teams north for the first time as they journeyed to Tilcara, much further north west in Argentina than their start in Tigre.

Leading the way were last weeks surprise winners Scott & Sam, who seemed slightly uncomfortable in this unfamiliar role. Feeling the pressure of being first they were keen to play it safe, saving money by avoiding tourist routes. They did however then decide to head south to Buenos Aires, before a bus on to Empedrado.

There they worked washing cars before taking a joyride around the sand dunes, an experience that Sam loved and Scott at best tolerated.

It’s been interesting watching the two of them together this series as Scott often seems quite different in personality to Sam. But they’re both willing to adapt to the others needs - Scott here realising Sam needed to do something fun and exciting and happy to try the sand buggy out to please him.

The plan worked to that extent, but the ‘off the tourist path strategy meant little options for hotels, leaving them paying an accommodation bill that wiped out their car cleaning gains.

Kelly & Jeremy departed 6 hours later then the boys, but seemed quicker in settling on a plan - spotting a job at a vineyard near Cordoba. 

While the wine work seemed to keep them happy, they discussed their plans (or concepts of a plan) to move to Italy, but it wasn’t clear if they ever hit an agreement.

Sparks were also flying as they tried to book seats on an overnight bus and Kelly's desire for a bed over a chair was met with Jeremy's desire to not spend money. 

They’re actually in a decent position financially, although that is down to Jermey’s cautious eye on the budget, while Kelly seems keener to spend on hotels and luxuries rather than faster travel.

Far less financially astute are Kola & Mary who started with a meager 19% budget remaining (less than two teams will go into the final with) and so were keen to find work fast.

Avoiding the capital, they found a late bus to El Talar where they went on to work at a ranch trying sheep shearing and then some recreational horse riding.

This gave us another look at ‘quiet Kola’ - less confident with horses then he’s been in a lot of the race (missing passport section aside) it also gave him some time to reflect on the death of his father from dementia.

Both of them seem to gain from the more reflective moment, and really picked up when they got to Crrientes and met race leaders Scott and Sam in the bus station!

Jeff & Freddy as the last to leave were in a bold mood trying to catch up from the start. Leaving just before midnight they had to rush by taxi to El Talar, before somehow finding an overnight bus to Cordoba. The hardest part of their travel for Freddy though seemed to be his dad's discussion on what he was going to do, and where he might live long term if Jeff moves out of their current city life.

They took on some housekeeping work near the Salinas Grandes salt flats where Jeff tried to keep the conversation going, but they bonded more over the sunset and reflections of the land and their relationship.

As they moved on Jeff pushed for moving north to Frias, rather than the more connected Cordoba. Despite checking with Freddy when they ended up somewhat stranded in Frias Jeff felt compelled to fix it, sorting out travel further north by luck and the help of another traveler's English speaking mum!

With the varied routes and work surprisingly all the teams ended up very close together. Kelly & Jeremy narrowly missed Jeff & Freddy at San Salvador de Jujuy, while Kola & Mary and Scot & Sam had been following the same plans since Corrientes, both teams somewhat copying the others' ideas!

All four couples ended up in Tilcara at the same time, leading into a tense footrace as they tried to navigate the customarily confusing GPS coordinates bit.

Kola & Mary managed their first win of the show narrowly beating Jeff & Freddy by a slight seven minutes!

Scott & Sam and Kelly & Jeremy wern’t far behind though with all teams arriving within 40 minutes, giving a very open position for the final leg as all the teams come together:

The budgets however tell a different story, Kola & Mary now on only 10%, while Jeff & Freddy are siting high on nearly three times as much with 28%!

Scott & Sam and Kelly & Jeremy are in the middle with 17% and 20% respectively, so really any of them could win it, but some might have to get more lucky with ticket prices than others!

1st	Kola & Mary	-	10%
2nd	Jeff & Freddy	+7m	28%
3rd	Scott & Sam	+15m	17%
4th	Kelly & Jeremy	+39m	20%

Remember with the final the points are based on all the tokens you’ve placed throughout the show. Jeff & Freddy might look the most promising, but if you’ve not got any token on Kelly & Jeremy maybe you want to hedge your bets? Whatever you decide get your prediction in before the final episode starts tonight!