Mother and son Caroline and Tom talk about what they plan to do with the prize money and what they’ve learned from being part of the BBC hit show. It’s been an incredible adventure through some of the most stunning landscapes on the planet.
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The contestants travelled 8,760 miles across Asia, starting at the Great Wall in northeastern China and ending at the southern tip of India, passing through Nepal’s Himalayan mountains along the way.
They used bullet trains, boats, and buses to cross steep mountain roads; they also rushed through narrow streets to find “chakkdu” motorbike taxis. And now, after eight weeks, the fifth season of BBC One’s Race Across the World has its winners: mother and son team Caroline Bridge and her 21-year-old son Tom.
It’s a big comeback for them—they ended the first leg far behind the leaders and were close to being eliminated. The stress of the race hit early, with Tom in tears after they spent 24 hours trying to leave Beijing but couldn’t make any progress.
It’s never really happened to me before. When I had a little cry because we couldn’t get our tickets… that never happens. Normally, if I can’t get a ticket, I’ll find another way around it.
he tells me when I catch up with them the morning after the finale
He wasn’t the only one affected, though.
The lowest point for me was, I think, when we came into the first checkpoint. Because I’d been running with the rucksack on my back, going, ‘Come on, Thomas, every second counts.’ And of course, when we got there, we were over a day behind. So it all seemed so pointless. I put my rucksack down and I absolutely wept. But it possibly was the making of us as well. I think it’s what we needed. If we’d started well, we would have thought, ‘Oh, we’re good at this. We’re fine.’ It was tough, but good to have to say, ‘You need to get your a–e in gear, because this obviously isn’t working.
Caroline says and then Tom agrees
They’re back in the familiar countryside of Suffolk. Their home is a converted barn in a small village close to Bury St Edmunds.
It’s in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by green trees and a stream, a country lane, and fields. We’ve just downsized from a small farm. That was one of the other reasons to go on the race, because it had actually been a particularly bad year for us. I didn’t have a horse any more, and I had to have my dog put down. It was the most opportune moment.
Tom tells me and then Caroline adds
The show briefly mentioned Caroline’s husband and Tom’s father, Christian Bridge. It turns out he’s not the type to travel the world with a backpack.
Dad is a bit more of a luxurious traveller, shall we say – like a cruise or going to Vegas. You’d never catch Dad with a backpack.
Tom says
Caroline has a horse again now. She’s an amateur event rider and has won several titles over the years, which might explain her strong competitive nature.
I wanted to win as well as experience the race.
she admits (It was Caroline who talked Tom into applying for the show.)
At one point, Caroline made Tom choose between taking a bus (the cheaper option) or a taxi (which was faster). He chose the taxi because he knew how much winning meant to his mother.
I’m very frugal and I wasn’t going to spend the money. I wasn’t allowed to eat. It was awful.
she admits. He nods with recognition at the word “frugal”.
Over the past eight weeks, we’ve come to know all the contestants well, and each pair has experienced both ups and downs. Retired business owner Brian and his older brother Melvyn were up for anything in their 60s and will likely laugh one day about the time Brian used his bare hands to shovel buffalo dung to earn extra travel money.
Former spouses Yin and Gaz were eliminated early, but they’ll surely remember digging for lotus roots in flooded fields. Sisters Letitia and Elizabeth visited the Taj Mahal and attended an Indian wedding. Teenagers Fin and Sioned left their small Welsh village behind for a sometimes overwhelming look at the wider world—but they found some calm on a detour to a national park before being swept up in the chaos of the subcontinent.
Also Read: Race Across the World’s Sioned Shares Huge ‘Struggle’ as She Breaks Down in Tears
We also saw Tom grow more confident and strong as the series went on. We learned that he had been expelled from school for smoking cannabis.
It made me kind of feel like I was never really going to amount to much, because I think you’re always taught at a young age that to do well in life, you have to go to school, then you do A-levels, then you go to uni, and then you get a job. Travelling has helped me realise that, especially, in today’s world, you don’t need any of that. If you’re good with people, and you can chat to them and you’re friendly, it can take you a long way.
he says
Caroline, on the other hand, was surprised when she started to open up about how 20 years of being a stay-at-home mum had made her feel.
I didn’t value myself at all. Whilst I was useful at home and very loved, I felt I didn’t have any value apart from that. I felt like I was sort of fading away. I knew Thomas would be moving out. And I just thought, ‘Well, what is there for me? I didn’t intend anything to come out like that. I’m quite a private person, and at my age, I’m not used to sharing on social media, but with the relentless travel and the tiredness and the trust you have in your crew, you just feel that it’s time for it to come out. There’s no mask to hide behind any more: you’re dirty, you’ve got no make-up, there’s no home comforts. And you think, ‘I have nothing to hide. This how I feel. My son’s here to support me, and it is the essence of me, and it is the truth.
she told Tom in a quiet moment, as the cameras rolled, she tells me now
The show brought back her self-confidence, and a much more relaxed version of her came out – one who cheered with joy while leaning out of a moving train near Mumbai. Tom also began speaking openly about how cerebral palsy has affected the use of his right hand.
I’ve had it all my life, and if there’s something I can’t do, I’ll work around it or try and cover it up. I was a bit worried that it would kind of define me and I never wanted it to. And then in the race, there was a time where it became apparent… On a home stay with an Indian family, he was expected to eat with his right hand, according to custom. I couldn’t really cover it up, so I had to explain it. I didn’t really enjoy talking about it.
he says
But later in the series, he says that when he worked with a carpet weaver, he shared that information for the first time, and seeing how easily it was accepted changed how he felt about it.
I’d built up this wall in my own head. Now I’ve had so many messages from people who have similar things, and they found it really helpful, and knowing that I’ve done that just by talking about it makes you feel so much better. I’m not really shy about it any more.
he says.
A message from a family friend saying how much it had helped even brought him to tears.
I think everyone needs to just start sharing stuff, because it takes such a weight off your shoulders.
He’s even putting some of his prize money into a small business with a friend—selling hand-woven rugs from the same workshop. Caroline bought him the rug he worked on during the show as a gift for his 22nd birthday. She is 61.
In some ways, they’re not the kind of contestants we usually see on BBC reality shows these days… maybe a bit too “privileged”… did they worry that viewers might dislike them for being “posh”?
I wasn’t, and I didn’t realise I would be viewed that way, because being judged by how you speak is no better or worse than being judged by how you look or your colour or your height or anything else. But actually, you are a subject to prejudice because of that, and you’re put in a box, which is a shame. I can’t change it, and I’m not embarrassed by it, as it’s me. I thought that that was going to be the case, just because I know that’s what social media is like. And I was just hoping that people would look a bit deeper and see that we are just exactly the same as anybody else.
Caroline says and then Tom admits
In fact, all the contestants have grown close and become good friends since the series ended.
We’re meeting up again shortly, they are the loveliest people. There are times where you just think, ‘Oh, for goodness sake, why is this camera in my face right now?’ But it’s all part of the fun. And we got this experience of a lifetime, so it’s all worth it.
Caroline says. Even the camera crew who travelled with them have stayed in touch
Source: Telegraph.co.uk