BBC/Studio Lambert
Series 4: Meet the Teams
Predictions for RatW Series 4 are now open - but if you want more then a 'lucky dip' chance for predicting the first round, you'll want to know a little about the 5 new teams.
So here's a who's who of the teams in Race across the World Series 4!
Best Friends - Alfie & Owen
BBC/Studio Lambert/Pete Dadds
Alfie
- Age: 20
- Location: Hertfordshire
- Occupation: Football Referee
Owen
- Age: 20
- Location: Hertfordshire
- Occupation: Trainee Pilot
Alfie & Owen describe their strategy as:
Alfie: The strategy is, in very loose terms, earn first and race later. So, particularly in the first leg just try and not eat into our spending too much. We think that everybody in the first leg is going to be quite ‘Gung Ho’ and perhaps aren’t going to have that much headspace, they’re going to be a little bit erratic, so we’re going to try and take advantage of that. But I think as soon as that klaxon goes that might all go out the window!
Owen: We also thought that strategy would be a good idea so we have a bit of extra cash if we need it to fall back on. If we do find ourselves coming last on one of the legs or at a checkpoint we will then have a bit of cash so we can leapfrog if we need it.
They also describe themselves as very competitive - and highlight finances and 'staying sane' as their biggest challenges.
Owen: We are competitive. We’ve always played sports throughout our whole lives, and we still do as well. So, I think we will carry that competitiveness over from that and bring it into this. We want to win.
Alfie: Obviously, finances is the tangible challenge, and I just think as time goes on we’re going to get more and more dragged down, particularly if we’re low on sleep, low on food, low on money, it’s going to add up very quickly. We’re both quite young so we’ve still got that drive in us, but we’ll see how that looks in week six with no sleep.
Siblings - Betty & James
BBC/Studio Lambert/Pete Dadds
Betty
- Age: 25
- Location: Yorkshire
- Occupation: Social Media and Events Manager for a Gym
James
- Age: 21
- Location: Yorkshire
- Occupation: Sales Consultant
Asked if they had a strategy Betty & James said:
James: No. I think it’s probably for the best as I thought it would be better to keep a clear head. It's so unknown there’s no point really trying to make a fixed plan because it could change in an instant. So, we’ll try to keep it logical: when it gets to it, don’t do anything rash. Do everything with measure, but we also have no set plan.
Betty: Absolutely not. I think part of our strategy is just being nice to people, speaking to locals and using the fact that we are approachable and can speak to people as a sort of tool, I suppose. But in terms of a set plan, no. Also, coming from Yorkshire, naturally our motto is "It’ll be reet". Our nanna's motto is "Onwards and upwards", no matter the challenge, so we’ll be keeping that in mind in the race.
They claim their background in sports has given them a spirit of competitiveness - but it sounds like they'd be happy just getting to the end, rather then going all out for the prize:
James: We’re both very competitive. We’ve grown up in sports backgrounds and that’s all you do in sport isn’t it? Try and win. I grew up playing quite a lot: football, cricket, tennis. Mostly cricket till a few years ago, I still play football but it's very much a weekend ruin-er if you lose on Saturday.
Betty: I played rugby for Yorkshire when I was younger and then I was doing ballroom and Latin dancing at the same time but I kind of had to pick one because they didn’t go together, and I picked dancing. I think the last rugby match I played I ended up in a neck brace and I thought “that’ll do”. So, I stopped playing sport at kind of 16, 17 but sports been your life really.
James: We just want to complete the race. We don’t want to get chucked off or eliminated or anything.
Mother & Daughter - Eugenie & Isabel
BBC/Studio Lambert/Pete Dadds
Eugenie
- Age: 60
- Location: Barking/Birmingham
- Occupation: Teacher
Isabel
- Age: 25
- Location: Barking/Birmingham
- Occupation: Trainee Clinical Scientist
Eugenie & Isabel have focused a lot of their strategy on comunication:
Isabel: We learnt loads of languages that are now pointless.
Eugenie: Isabel was doing the Spanish speaking, then German between us and I was doing the French.
Isabel: Just the who, what, where, whys. I think now, our strategy will be trying to utilise Mum’s Makaton and other communication tools that she’s had to use with the children with special needs she works with. Mum knows how to simplify things better for people, so I think that’s where we’re going to go.
Eugenie: We were just thinking that in terms of the senses, people can be quite visual, so as well as using gestures, we’re going to have to speak English but it might be that we could draw some visuals in terms of trying to find different modes of transport for example.
They describe themselves as very competitive - but their biggest challenge might be Eugenie's sense of direction... and working together as a team:
Isabel: Patience with one another, that’s the key.
Eugenie: I’m very patient. It’s Isabel being patient with me because I have no sense of direction.
Isabel: And you refuse to improve it.
Eugenie: I don’t refuse to improve it! She doesn’t believe me, nobody believes me! And Isabel’s biggest challenge will be anything with more than two legs.
Isabel: I’m ok with animals, I’m just not the biggest fan of insects. But I think I could cope.
Mother & Daughter - Sharon & Brydie
BBC/Studio Lambert/Pete Dadds
Sharon
- Age: 52
- Location: Kent
- Occupation: Cleaner
Brydie
- Age: 25
- Location: Kent
- Occupation: Snowboard Instructor
Sharon and Brydie's described their strategy as 'winging it' with a reliance on each other, indicating a strong relationship:
Sharon: The only thing we’re doing, we're Mum and Daughter so we’re sharing everything. So, one’s got shampoo, one's got conditioner, you know, to lighten the load.
Brydie: I think that’s our best strategy, our relationship, because we’re really tight.
Sharon: She’s doing it for me and I’m doing it for her so, we can’t let each other down.
Brydie: And when you’re Mum and Daughter I think you’re even tighter, you want to make each other proud and happy. So, I think we’re deadly, one to watch out for.
While being confident of their abilities with a budget, Sharon and Brydie come across as a bit of an underdog after revealing their biggest challenges for the race:
Brydie: Geography and directions. We’re not very good at naming capital cities.
Sharon: In fact, how embarrassing was this? I don’t know if I should confess this but when we were told we were going to Tokyo, I thought that was a country in itself! So, yes, I hope we don’t come across really stupid. But it’s all about education, everything’s a learning curve.
Married - Stephen & Viv
BBC/Studio Lambert/Pete Dadds
Stephen
- Age: 61
- Location: Rutland
- Occupation: Retired
Viv
- Age: 65
- Location: Rutland
- Occupation: Retired
Stephen & Viv describe their strategy as:
Viv: I think we’ll just do our best.
Stephen: Yes, I think we’ve just got to do what we can, as fast as we can, as cheap as we can We’ve talked about it and we can’t make any plans till we know how we’re going to get going or anything else. I think there are strengths that we bring and there are weaknesses that we have so add that all together and it becomes a strategy I suppose.
Viv: One strategy we could do is that whoever of the other couples look like they know where they’re going or what they're doing, we’ll run after them!
They describe themselves as competitive, and seem keen to win.
Stephen: We wouldn’t be here if we didn’t want to win it. We want to finish, to finish is important to us, we’d just be embarrassed to go home early, the kids would never live it down, it would just be awful, they’d just mock us mercilessly. Yes, of course we want to win, who wouldn’t. We’ll just do everything we can, within the rules, to make that happen.
And consider their age and being “have a go” type people to be their core strengths:
Viv: Yes, I think we do what needs to be done, don’t we? We don’t panic, we don’t run around like headless chickens.
So with a bit more idea of who's who, do you think you can spot our first leg winner? Think you can predict who'll make it to the final finish line in Lombok, Indonesia just on these profiles? Predictions are now open - get yours in before 9pm Wednesday when the first episode will be broadcast!
