The new series of Celebrity Race Across the World lands on BBC One and iPlayer on Wednesday 28 October at 8pm, and it has one of the show's longest routes yet: 4,660 miles from Malaysian Borneo to Melbourne, crossing three countries and two continents. Four celebrity pairs — Ella Eyre and her friend Nana, Jeff Stelling with son Matt, Sam Ryder with tour manager Kaz, and Princess and Junior Andre — race to the finish using only local transport, a map and a budget of £26 per person per day. That's the real hook for anyone who travels: everything on screen is doable with ordinary buses, trains and ferries.
The starting line is Kuching, capital of the Malaysian state of Sarawak on Borneo — the world's third-largest island, shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei. It's a genuinely rewarding city in its own right. The Kuching Waterfront promenade lines the Sarawak River, crossed by the S-shaped Darul Hana bridge, while the Masjid India Kuching mosque appears to float on the water. Keep an eye out for cat statues everywhere: 'kuching' is the Malay word for cat, and the city leans into it.
Kuching's food scene reflects its mix of Iban, Bidayuh, Malay, Chinese and Melanau communities — Sarawak laksa and Kolo mee noodles are the dishes to order. It's also the standard jumping-off point for Bako National Park, where rainforest trails lead to proboscis monkeys and odd coastal rock formations.
The finish is Melbourne, a fitting contrast: galleries and laneway street art, a serious coffee culture, the National Gallery of Victoria (Australia's oldest) and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. Sports fans time visits around the Australian Open, the F1 Grand Prix or an AFL match, and the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Ian Potter Centre offer a solid introduction to the culture and history of the local Aboriginal community.
If the show inspires you, the route itself is the takeaway — overland travel across Southeast Asia to Australia is slow but entirely achievable, and the £26-a-day constraint is a useful reality check for budgeting a similar trip. Watch for the show's episode-by-episode destination guides as the teams make their way south.
