14,000km, a dizzying compendium of cultures and languages, and the planet's most menacing mountain range will sweep five pairings off on an adventure of a lifetime in "Race Across the World" season 5, beginning at the Great Wall of China and ending at Kanniyakumari, the southernmost tip of India and, fittingly, a pilgrimage town.
Here's how to watch "Race Across the World" 2025 from anywhere with a VPN — and potentially for free.
"Race Across the World" 2025 premieres on Wednesday, April 23 at 9 p.m. BST on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Episodes air in the same slot each week.
• WATCH FREE — BBC iPlayer (U.K. restricted)
• Unblock BBC iPlayer — Use NordVPN (risk-free trial)
Don't let the knockout format and £20,000 cash prize fool you — "Race Across the World" is a journey of discovery that has the potential to change these participants' lives forever.
Amidst the quarrels, mislaid plans (and passports) and general discomfort, somewhere along the way the ultimate penny will drop: our lives are intertwined, and a little bit of kindness and empathy can make all the difference in the world.
Ex-husband and -wife Gaz and Yin, living together again after Yin's last partner, Chris, died suddenly, have more to chew over than most. Elizabeth and Letitia and Melvyn and Brian are, in their own ways, polar opposite siblings, the sisters being respectively extroverted and introverted, and the brothers well-heeled and austere.
Read on for how to watch "Race Across the World" online and from outside the U.K.
Watch 'Race Across the World' 2025 for free in the U.K.
"Race Across the World" 2025 premieres on BBC One at 9 p.m. BST on Wednesday, April 23. Episodes air at the same time each week.
Watch "Race Across the World" live and on-demand on BBC iPlayer.
New user? Sign up to BBC iPlayer: Use your email and a U.K. postcode (e.g. W12 7RU).
Traveling abroad? If you're outside the U.K. when "Race Across the World" is airing, you can use a VPN to unblock the iPlayer geo-restriction and watch your favorite British TV shows from anywhere.
Watch 'Race Across the World' 2025 from anywhere
Away from home at the moment and blocked from watching "Race Across the World" on BBC iPlayer?
As mentioned, a VPN (Virtual Private Network) could be the solution. The software allows your devices to appear as if they're back in your home country regardless of where in the world you are. So ideal for reality TV fans away on vacation or on business. Our favorite is NordVPN. It's the best on the market – read our NordVPN review to find out why.
Using a VPN is incredibly simple, just follow these steps.
1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite.
2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're in the U.S. and want to view your usual BBC stream, you'd select U.K. from the list.
3. Sit back and enjoy the action. Head to BBC iPlayer and watch "Race Across the World" 2025 online as if you were in the U.K..
Can you watch 'Race Across the World' season 5 in the U.S.?
Britbox is home to "Race Across the World" in the U.S., but at the time of publication only two seasons of the show are available to stream. A Britbox subscription costs $8.99/month or $89.99 for a year.
For the time-being, you could make do with "The Amazing Race" season 37.
U.K. citizen visiting the States? You can download a VPN to watch "Race Across the World" 2025 for free on BBC iPlayer.
Can you watch 'Race Across the World' season 5 in Canada?
As in the U.S., "Race Across the World" is available to watch in Canada on Britbox, with a subscription costing CA$10.99 monthly or CA$109.99 annually.
However, "Race Across the World" season 5 is unlikely to arrive for a long while yet.
However, Brits traveling in Canada can catch "Race Across the World" 2025 online on BBC iPlayer by using a VPN, such as NordVPN.
Can you watch 'Race Across the World' season 5 in Australia?
"Race Across the World" hasn't found a home in Australia.
Brits traveling Down Under can still catch "Race Across the World" season 5 online on BBC iPlayer by using a VPN like NordVPN.
'Race Across the World' teams 2025
- Gaz and Yin — former husband and wife
- Elizabeth and Letitia — sisters
- Fin and Sioned — partners
- Brian and Melvyn — brothers
- Caroline and Tom — mother and son
How the 'Race Across the World' participants have prepared
Gaz and Yin
Gaz: We went to the Lake District. We quite like out of bounds holidays anyway. It was chucking it down with rain, we went on hikes, and we took the bags. We’ve also been going out for walks just to get some exercise, but also with our backpacks and all our gear on. We’ve been going to the gym and generally keeping fit and getting used to the weight on our backs. We've also cut down our intake of food!
Elizabeth and Letitia
Letitia: I’ve just done a 100k walk on the South Downs, we walked for 27 hours. That was a big challenge but i feel like this is going to top it. It helped me to prepare for this because it was like an endurance test. And in Race you have to endure a lot. So I think mentally it's kind of prepared me to keep on going. I’ve also started to fast a little bit because I can be very hangry sometimes.
Fin and Sioned
Fin: I've been going on a lot of hikes. We’ve been on some walks together. Sioned was trying to learn a bit of Spanish, although that's totally out of the window here!
Sioned: It's been mainly fitness preparations. We did try to do stuff without our phones — try to direct ourselves, but it was hard as our phone was always in our pocket so I'd always reach for it but now we don't have a choice.
Brian and Melvyn
Brian: A couple of things that we're taking with us are a whiteboard and some coloured pens. We have got a calculator because we think a calculator is needed, a little mini one. A compass because neither of us have any sense of direction. Neither of us own a watch, so we bought one because we thought we'd need to know the time. We bought a couple of iPods, I've got a classic iPod that I've had to download songs on from CDs.
Melvyn: Also a magnifying glass, because my eyes are not very good at the minute.
Caroline and Tom
Caroline: I started walking and walking really quite seriously, timed walking. Then I joined a gym and got myself really fit and that really helped me mentally. That's helped me prepare a lot more. Thomas already is in a very good place mentally and he's travelled before. He actually stayed with me before this and it's made us closer because we have more of an understanding of our preparation together. So we’ve got ourselves fitter and in doing so I think it's calmed us down mentally as well.
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Disclaimer
We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
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