Race Across The World: Katie and Harrison Interview
Brand new Race Across the World incoming...
Race Across the World is back for its highly anticipated sixth series, returning to BBC iPlayer and BBC One on 2 April 2026. This time, five adventurous teams set off on an epic journey spanning over 12,000km across Europe and Asia — the largest landmass on Earth.
The brand-new route takes competitors through eight diverse countries: Italy, Greece, Türkiye, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia. Each destination brings unique languages, cultures and climates, making this the toughest and most unpredictable race yet.
From scorching Mediterranean temperatures of 30°C to freezing subarctic lows of –20°C, teams must battle extreme conditions every step of the way. And there’s a catch — they must complete the entire journey on a tight budget of less than £26 per person, per day.
Starting in Palermo, Sicily, the race stretches all the way to the remote village of Hatgal, located on the edge of Lake Hövsgöl in northern Mongolia. Along the way, contestants will retrace parts of the historic Silk Road, following ancient trade routes that once linked East and West across some of the world’s most challenging terrains.
Katie and Harrison
Inseparable siblings Katie (21, Account Manager) and Harrison (23, Finance Assistant) from Manchester may do everything together, but they could not be more different when it comes to the race.
Why did you want to take part in the series?
Harrison: It was an opportunity to travel that I wouldn't have given myself the opportunity to do. I would have just gone down the standard life path of work, university, carrying on working and buying a house. I would never have given myself an opportunity to go out there and travel and take that time off from being responsible.
Katie: I think I'm the same as I was a bit apprehensive at first and it was Harrison that gave me the push. I have always wanted to travel, but I didn't see an opportunity in the future where we would be able to do it. So, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and a perfect time to do it.
Have you got a strategy going into the race?
Katie: I think we're going to be quite tight on budget, because Harrison is tight anyway. I think the first few weeks we want to really try because we don't want to get kicked out and we want to be efficient. And then after that, maybe we can enjoy it a bit more.
Harrison: First three weeks, we are going to properly race, and then maybe enjoy the experience side and live it more. Then, hopefully in the last couple of weeks race mode back on again.
Have you picked up any tips from previous series?
Harrison: I've watched them all. I think just communicate as much as you can with locals, ask as many questions as you can and don't be scared to ask questions. You're never going to see these people again so just go for it and get as much information as you can.
Katie: Yes, and be really careful with your budget.
Have you prepared for the trip?
Harrison: I plan so much - everything about my life is planned out. Although this experience is about planning, it’s very much one leg at a time or one journey at a time, so I've not really wanted to plan too much. It’s just so different to what my normal life is. You can't learn every language, can you? It's so difficult to plan when you don't know what you're planning for.
Katie: I got a lash lift, and I got my hair done, so haven't prepared basically.
Would you say that you're both quite adventurous?
Harrison: Katie is, I'm not. Day to day, I'm quite risk adverse and just live in the same routine. So I'm trying to put that aside for this.
Katie: I'm up for anything. I love anything, especially to do with extreme stuff, heights and things like that. I generally have a never say no motto, I never say no to anything.
Have you ever travelled this way?
Katie: No, the closest I've done is I did a week in Italy by myself. I just got a train to a different town every night. Other than that, it's really been either a little weekend trip or a family holiday.
Harrison: I’ve done city breaks but not backpacking.
How do you feel about travelling in that kind of way?
Katie: I think I'm really nervous about the weight of the backpack. Then I got it fitted properly, and I feel a bit more confident now, but I think I'm going to get very sick of it. I'm going to want to kill my backpack.
Harrison: I’ve found it tough already, just living out of it. Anytime you want something, you’ve got to empty everything and then put it all back in. It’s a bit of a pain.
How competitive are you both? Are you in it to win it?
Katie: We are. We are definitely in it to win it, but I think we do understand this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and we don't want to be too narrow minded and ruin the whole experience.
Harrison: Yeah, the motivation isn't the money at the end, it's to try and live a different life for a couple of months and just experience everything, and if we can win it whilst doing it, that is great.
What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are?
Harrison: I think our bond and relationship is a strength. I think we'll be okay, even if one of us gets really down, or we get annoyed with each other, we know we'll come back from that.
Katie: Your obvious strength is money and planning and maths.
Harrison: Your strength is your more social side.
What roles do you think you'll take on in the race?
Harrison: I’m on money control, and then Katie's on snack control, because I'll eat them all. If we've got a long bus journey, I will eat them all within the first half an hour, so Katie's going to ration them for me because I don't have any control on that. Social interaction, I think we'll probably share.
Katie: I think we'll probably share social interaction, but maybe led more by me at the start, and then you'll come into your own. But you will definitely be on the budget.
What do you think your biggest challenge might be during the trip?
Katie: Mine definitely would be the lack of alone time. I'm super independent, and I just love being alone and having time to myself. So, I think that that might get me.
Harrison: I think mine will be hunger, or not even hunger but just wanting to eat. I think boredom as well on the journeys. Normally you have your phone to fill time, so what do you do?
How do you feel about travelling without a phone or credit cards?
Harrison: We feel okay about not having our phones, I've not missed the actual content on my phone, but it's just not having it there to pick up. It’s an automatic reflex, and if I think of something, I'll just go and google it, but I can’t.
Katie: It will become annoying, especially with tickets and stuff, just wanting to tap or buy a ticket quickly. I think that'll be quite tedious and become annoying.
Would you say that you cope well during a crisis? Are you calm under pressure?
Katie: I think it depends on the crisis, because I think I could be quite calm and laid back, but then I also could just freak out.
Harrison: I'm not going to freak out. I just get very silent, and I'll get a bit more introverted.
How do you feel about talking to strangers? Do you think one of you will be better than the other?
Harrison: We are going to just try communicating the best we can. The majority of people you speak to aren’t going to understand and I think once you've done it five or six times, you will just have to go, ‘alright this is what I've got to do now!’
Katie: I think the worst they can say is I don't want to talk to you.
What's the most unusual thing you've brought with you?
Harrison: A calculator, and I've written down all the Man United fixtures in a notebook, so I know when to ask what the score is.
Katie: I've got my harmonica with me. I can literally only play five seconds of Piano Man, but I thought maybe I'd have time to practice and that might lift the spirits, or I could do some busking. Or it might come in handy if we find an Irish bar. Other than that, I've got my heatless curlers and eight face masks.
Name the top three home comforts you'll struggle to live without.
Harrison: A cup of tea, my phone and biscuits. Custard creams are my favourite, but offer me any, I won't say no.
Katie: Mine would probably be scrolling on TikTok, my bedroom, where I’m by myself, and maybe being in my car and singing to music.
What's the one reason you chose to do this challenge together?
Katie: I couldn't do it with anyone else. I think we'll just have such good time, and I think I wouldn't enjoy it with anyone else as much as I would with Harrison.
What do the rest of your family make of you doing this trip together?
Harrison: They're very pleased and proud that we're going off to do it together. I think you probably don't see most kids that have that close bond to be able to go and do this, so they're happy with that.
Katie: It was mum's idea, so she’s very happy. They're just really proud and excited for us.
If there's one thing that you hope this this race will change about you or your relationship, what would it be?
Harrison: I hope to become a little bit more adventurous and live less regimented and a little bit more spontaneous - have a bit more sense of living a little.
Katie: Maybe just being able to make decisions for myself and doing things for myself. Understand what I want to do, rather than living for someone else. I also think the people aspect; I’m getting better with people, but I still don’t think I’m great with people.
Will there be anything surprising that viewers will learn about you on the trip? Any quirky habits, or anything that we should look out for?
Harrison: They might be surprised at how we speak to each other. We're quite brutal, but there's no meaning behind it, we've just grown up in that sort of environment.
Katie: We're such good mates, but we can be so mean to each other.
What's the most annoying habit of each other's that you're going to struggle with?
Katie: Harrison’s planning and how he doesn't want things to change. If he's got a set of plans in mind, he won't want that to change, and he won't be open to change, and I think that would be really annoying. Then maybe him also being really strict with budget.
Harrison: Katie’s stubbornness to admit wrongdoing. She’s happy to change her mind on a plan and stuff like that, but sometimes she thinks she's right and she's clearly not right. For example, she’s said something wrong and she'll be like, no, I didn't say that, and I’ll be like yes you did. She’s so stubborn with it, it's infuriating.
Are there any funny stories from when you've travelled together before that spring to mind?
Katie: We went to Turkey last year, just the two of us. We spent a week in an all-inclusive hotel, and the air conditioning was spitting out at us in the night, and then the toilet flooded. We still haven’t had a refund or anything.
What are you hoping to get out of this experience?
Harrison: 10 grand! No, I just want to experience as much as I can, as many cultures, countries, different ways of life and to broaden my perspective and hopefully incorporate that into everyday life.
Katie: I think I just want to have fun, maybe become a bit more confident, just have a great time and experience as much as I can.
How do you feel about being it's in Italy, and where the race might take you next?
Katie: We've been speculating. I’m happy to be in Italy, it's a bit more comforting than being somewhere far across the world.
Harrison: Europe tends to be quite similar in terms of the vibe and structure of the city, so it feels a little bit more comforting when we found out we were in Palermo.
