The secrets to getting on Race Across the World as 100,000 people apply
The BBC's Race Across the World is one of the most popular shows on TV, and it seems to be one of the most transformational experiences that reality TV can offer, so it's not surprising that the producers get inundated with application to
The show received 100,000 applications last year. From the slush pile, TV bosses have the tricky job of choosing the line-up for the travel show. It begs the question, just how is Race Across the World cast? And how easy is it to get on the show?
Production executive Kezia Walker and producer Lucy Curtis from Studio Lambert, the company behind the show, have shared some insight into their process in a new masterclass — presented by Televisual and Sony at The Producers — shared on YouTube.
Of course they have a wish-list (although the producers explained that the best stories are often the ones they didn't know they were looking for).
"It's a travel show and I think people love — no doubt — they love seeing the locations and the you know beautiful GVs (general views) and the places we travel through but at the heart of it, it's about the people taking part," Curtis said.
"It's a challenging casting job because the contributors have to sustain. It's eight episodes. The civilian version is eight episodes. I mean one of the things that I don't think anyone realised when they watch it, is quite how gruelling the process is to go through. It's a physical challenge and also a mental challenge as well."
There is a special in-house casting and welfare team who work with the contributors from the very beginning of the show until way after they have left.
These are some stand out qualities they are looking for when casting the Race Across the World series.
Those hoping to take part in RATW must be "physically and mentally robust", the TV bosses explained. The application asks for a medical letter from their GP confirming their fitness.
Also there is a tough audition where the participants must escape the Studio Lambert offices to a mystery location without their phones or credit cards.
Talking in the masterclass, Curtis said: "So we have to make sure that the people who take part are really sort of physically and mentally robust. So that's a big part of the casting process. Everyone has to take part in what we call the escape challenge which is where they start from the Studio Lambert offices.
"We give them a location in London, somewhere they won't have heard of and they have to get there without their phones or their credit cards. And then you sort of see the dynamic between the pairs unfold much more naturally when they've got a task to do."
The casting crew are also looking for an interesting dynamic and relationship that will play out over the eight-week journey. Immediately former married couple Yin and Gaz, who are now best friends after the breakdown of their 30-something year marriage, will have caught the attention of casting bosses.
Walker said: "You want that relationship you know? Something that often people can relate to whether it's siblings or parents or friends. It's something when you're watching as a viewer you relate to and making sure you've got a broad range of people from all sorts of backgrounds."
She added: "We take them through the journey of the race, that you're learning something unusual ,or surprising about them that maybe on other TV shows, you don't have time to do that."
Other than the relationship element, perhaps the most important part of the casting process is that the individual has a story to tell.
The race element of filming is unpredictable. However, they can plan for the documentary style moments where the contributors share their life stories and experiences with viewers.
"We've got these rich interesting stories to tell, and we can think about... we don't want to tell all their stories in episode one," Curtis said. "We don't want to lean into their backstories right at the top. We want to tell them slowly over eight episodes. So we can plan a little bit for for when those stories are going to come come out."
The producer used the example of two stars from Race Across the World series four.
"Alfie in series four who lost his mother when he was very young," she said. "We knew he was going to be going to Hoi An and in Hoi An they send these lanterns down, go on boat trips and send these lanterns down the river. So we knew that that might be — if he was comfortable doing it there — a really lovely place to tell the story about his mum."
She added: "And then with Betty and James... Her story was that she suffered from this condition called MRKH which is she was born without a womb. And she was on just only comfortable talking about that with her brother in leg seven.
"So episode seven, which is right at the end of the series. So it feels sort of quite different that we would be landing this huge story about her which is this huge thing to know about her right at the end of the series. But that was when she was able to talk about it with her brother — that was the honest and right time to tell it."
The Race Across the World application asks if contestants have applied for other TV shows. The TV bosses don't want someone who is attracted to the bright lights of fame.
Curtis explained: "And I think that's the thing with Race Across the World and and lots of other Studio Lambert shows is it's the type of people you might not usually see on television."
Race Across the World: The Reunion airs at 9pm on BBC One on Wednesday.
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