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'Race Across the World a huge culture shock'

Eleri Griffiths
BBC News
Race Across the World "was so much harder than we thought"

A young couple from Carmarthenshire have swapped small-village life for a global adventure.

Fin Gough and Sioned Cray, from Nantgaredig, are the youngest of five pairs competing in the fifth series of BBC One's Race Across the World, which starts on Wednesday night.

"It was a really good challenge to push ourselves into the deep end," Ms Cray told Radio Wales Breakfast.

The show will begin at the Great Wall of China, and will see teams racing 8,700 miles (14,000km) through China, Nepal, and India using only the cash equivalent of airfare, without flights or smartphones, for a £20,000 prize.

BBC/Studio Lambert Fin and Sioned smiling looking at the camera. Both are holding onto their travel rucksacks. They are stood in front of the Great Wall of China.BBC/Studio Lambert
Fin Gough and Sioned Cray, from Carmarthenshire, will appear in the fifth series of the hit BBC One show

Despite being together for five years, Ms Cray said they had "never really done anything outside of this little relationship in Wales".

She initially applied for Race Across the World after her mum suggested doing it with her brother, but she did not think that was a good idea - so she asked Fin instead.

Mr Gough, who had never watched the show before, found out they had been selected while in the shower.

"I ran downstairs in a towel to answer the call - they said we were in, and I couldn't believe it," he said.

"You apply for something and just hope for the best but we didn't actually think we'd get on but here we are, we've done it and it was incredible."

Ms Cray said the whole experience was "so nerve-racking but also so exciting," and still felt surreal.

BBC/Studio Lambert The five couples standing in one line smiling whilst looking at the camera. All are wearing/holding their travel rucksacks. Sioned and Fin are standing in the middle. Behind them is a picturesque view of mountains. BBC/Studio Lambert
The Welsh couple are the youngest of five pairs competing for a £20,000 prize

The pair were just 18 and 19 when they took on the challenge, which was filmed in October 2024, and Tenerife in the Canary Islands was the furthest they had ever travelled together.

Mr Gough said: "We'd never been outside of Europe together.

"So to then go somewhere like China, where the language and culture are completely different - it was just us, relying on each other for the first time."

Ms Cray described the experience as a "huge culture shock", admitting the early days were filled with bickering as they adjusted to the intense demands of the race.

BBC/Studio Lambert Fin and Sioned sat down on a step in the middle of the Wall of China reading a letter. Both are smiling. Fin is sat on the left holding the letter with his rucksack beside him. Sioned is on the right and reading the letter. Both are wearing walking boots. BBC/Studio Lambert
Fin and Sioned were just 18 and 19 when they took on the "unique experience"

She said it was an opportunity to learn more about each other, and learned "Finn needs space while she prefers to talk things through".

"We were a bit naive going in - it was so much harder than we imagined, mentally, physically, emotionally," she added.

Despite the struggles, Ms Cray called it a "unique experience" and "something special" they now share.

"Not many people get this kind of opportunity, so we knew we had to take it, hold on to it, and really cherish it," she said.

Series five of Race Across the World begins on BBC One at 21:00 BST on Wednesday 23 April.