Broadcaster Alex Beresford and his father Noel have been crowned the winners of Celebrity Race Across The World 2023.
The TV presenter and weatherman, 43, said it was the “toughest experience” he has ever had but one he will “cherish” as he was able to do it alongside his father.
Across the course of the series, they travelled through 24 countries and more than 10,000km from their starting point in Marrakesh, Morocco to reach the final checkpoint in Tromso, Norway.
They also saw off tough competition from McFly drummer Harry Judd and his mother Emma, who came second, and All Saints singer Melanie Blatt and her mother Helene, who placed third.
British racing driver and pundit Billy Monger and his sister Bonny, who had finished the previous stint in first place, had to withdraw at the beginning of the final episode due to a family emergency.
The 24-year-old commented on their departure on X, formerly Twitter, saying: “Bon and I were gutted to have to leave the race. A close family member had a bad accident so we had to get home. Thankfully all ok now. We loved the journey!”
Reflecting on their victory, Beresford said: “It feels fantastic. We feel like we’re on top of the world right now.”
He added: “This is the toughest experience I have ever had. But we got to travel together, as men, and that isn’t something that every father and son get to do, and for me, that’s why this has been unforgettable and something that I will cherish for the rest of our lives.”
Meanwhile, his father Noel described the experience as “something else”, adding: “Alex kept saying to me, ‘come on dad, come on dad’ and I said ‘I’m right behind you’.
“He just kept pulling me along and it’s all worth it now.”
During Wednesday’s finale of the BBC show, the pair began the final leg in pole position for the first time during the trip.
They took off from Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, with more than 2,000km ahead of them to the finish line, travelling through Sweden along the way.
The father and son duo stopped off in Stockholm to replenish their dwindling budget by working to shovel snow at one of Sweden’s lakeside saunas.
I’ve been reminiscing these last few weeks of Race Across The World and so thankful for special moments like this. I can’t believe it’s the final leg tonight😢 pic.twitter.com/lPHjAWE4Mg
— Alex Beresford (@alexberesfordTV) October 25, 2023
After travelling from Sweden to Finland, in order for Beresford to fulfil a childhood dream of visiting Lapland, they headed on to Norway where they found themselves travelling on the same bus from Narvik to Tromso as Judd and his mother Emma while Blatt and her mother travelled on a highway towards the Norwegian border.
After leaving the bus, their GPS trackers directed them to the Arctic Cathedral and finally they were instructed to take the Fjellheisen cable car to the observation deck where they would reach the finish line.
Beresford and his father hitched a ride from a passing car for the final stint while Judd and his mother took a bus and Blatt and her mother spent their last 20 euros on a taxi.
Following their arrival at the observation deck, Judd and his mother congratulated the winning pair, with the McFly star adding: “We were so close, but we gave it our all.
“We left it all out there … It doesn’t matter about position. I’m so proud of mum, what she did was incredible.”
After arriving in third place, Blatt and her mother said: “We finished, and that’s the most important thing. No regrets.”
The journey saw the celebrities and their family members embark on a race through North Africa to seaside ports and beaches of the Mediterranean, to historic cities, the Alps, the Baltic States and snowy Scandinavia, without air travel or a phone and with only a limited budget.
All episodes of Celebrity Race Across The World are available to catch up on BBC iPlayer.
