RACE WIN PALS
Race Across The World winners revealed after most nail-biting final ever and smash hit ratings
Scroll to read which BBC legal mystery series is returning for a second series
A BEST friend duo took home the cash prize after a tense Race Across The World final last night (Weds) - but they’ve admitted they’ll be lucky if much of it lasts the summer.
Alfie and Owen, who became the show’s youngest ever winners after travelling 15,000km across Eastern Asia, lifted the trophy after a sprint finish across Lombok’s sands.
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And bagging themselves the £20,000 cash prize, the pair have plans to splash some of their cash heading off again on trips around the globe.
Owen said: “I’ll take my parents away and do something nice for them, and treat my brothers.”
Alfie joked: “I’m going to the Caribbean! And then I need to go and live somewhere.
“I’m sadly going to have to be responsible with it… if it makes it through the summer.”
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The pair beat mother and daughter duo Eugenie and Isabel who came in second eight minutes behind, ahead of siblings Betty and James, and husband and wife Stephen and Viv.
It proved an emotional series for the best friends, who early on in the competition left viewers 'broken' as Alfie broke down over the death of his mother, who died when he was five years old.
In the fourth episode, as the teams crossed into Southeast Asia, through Vietnam and Cambodia, Alfie revealed his heart-wrenching story watching the floating lanterns of Hoi An.
Speaking of his mum's stage four breast cancer, and how she was given six weeks to live, he lit up a lantern in her memory.
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He opened up: "It was her number one aim, she said, 'Well, if I'm going to die, I'm at least going to die when he's in school,' so she managed to take me to school on the first day, I think it was a very proud day for her.
“It was genuinely a deterioration from there, and I think she'd kind of pushed it as far as she could in terms of battling on. She kept hanging on.
Untold Truths of Race Across the World: Contestants’ Reveal All
"I was five when my mum passed away in December of 2008.
"it was the first opportunity I've had on the race to think about my mum.
“I'm just inundated with emotions I've genuinely not felt since I was a little kid. I just kind of want that sensation of being able to see her again."
The series, which last month won a BAFTA, is the BBC’s biggest factual title of the year to date - with the first two episodes viewer by 7.1million fans each.
A whopping 66 per cent of the 16-34 audience tuned in for the same episodes, which pushed the series into the top five biggest shows on iPlayer this year.
The series and the reunion are available on iPlayer now.
Sarah's new ITV thriller
SARAH Phelps, the writer behind hit BBC drama The Sixth Commandment, is working on a new thriller for ITV.
It tells the story of two mums at war over bullying.
Daughter, which is yet to be cast, sees a teen friendship turn toxic, tearing families apart and sending shockwaves through the community.
Helen's Bakeoff drop fib
HELEN Skelton has spoken of the time she served food up from the floor on The Great British Bake Off.
The Countryfile presenter took part for Comic Relief with Alistair McGowan and Rochelle Humes a decade ago, trying to impress judges Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry.
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She told the Off Menu podcast with Ed Gamble and James Acaster: “When I got kicked off, I got thanked for bringing the comedy element. I dropped all my cakes and didn’t realise there were cameras everywhere. I picked them up and put them on the table.
“They asked if I dropped them, I said, ‘No, no, it’s fine’. I didn’t think anyone had seen. But they were like, ‘You’ve just dropped them, dusted them off and then offered them to Mary’.
“I wouldn’t have stuck to my lie if I’d have known.”
Maya's slow-mo secret
MAYA Jama has declared this £1,575 black cut-out dress from Monot her best Love Island look.
But pricey frocks are not the only secret behind her famous slow- motion walks.
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Maya said: “My tip is smize, like squint and smile, and pretend you’re walking towards a guy you really fancy.
“We do three takes and they do different angles to get the perfect slow-mo strut.”
I’ll have to take your word for it Maya.
Not buff enough, Ciaran
RUGBY-playing Love Islander Ciaran Davies is not looking quite as buff as he would like.
The Welshman was unable to pump his muscles in the gym, after suffering a sporting injury on the same day he discovered that ITV wanted him in the villa.
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It meant he had only a few days to lift weights before jetting to Majorca.
Ciaran said: “I think it was a Saturday morning that I found out, then I had a rugby game and I cracked my collarbone.
“All I have done is make sure this is better, which it is. It’s been cleared and it’s completely fine.
“I had about a week before I came and I have never trained so hard in my entire life – just to try to get into shape, get the abs showing as much as possible.”
I hear you, Ciaran.
A second showing for trial
BBC legal mystery series Showtrial is returning for a second series with a host of new cast members.
Climate activist Marcus Calderwood (Barney Fishwick) dies in a hit-and-run, which police officer Justin Mitchell (Michael Socha) is assigned to investigate.
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Defence solicitor Sam Malik, played by Adeel Akhtar, and prosecution lawyer Leila Hassoun-Kenny (Nathalie Armin) will battle it out in the courtroom as public outrage over the crime hits fever pitch.
And with a growing interest in the officer’s history, which is packed with trauma and revenge, a fair trial looks increasingly impossible.
Game Of Thrones’ Joe Dempsie, Heartstopper’s Fisayo Akinade, Silent Witness’ Tom Padley, Blue Jean’s Kerrie Hayes and Bafta-winner Francesca Annis also join the cast.
The five new episodes will air on BBC One and iPlayer later this year.
Turkish murder plot comes to Beeb
A TURKISH crime thriller will head to the BBC this year.
Based on the Turkish Detective books, the eight-parter set in Istanbul follows Cetin Ikmen and his partner Mehmet Suleyman as they solve a series of twisted crimes.
It is described as a mix of “emotionally charged mystery and family drama”.
Back on the farm
FORMER Emmerdale actor Kelvin Fletcher and his brood will return with more adventures from their life on the farm this summer.
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I revealed last month that ITV1’s Fletchers’ Family Farm had been given the go-ahead for a second series.
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Viewers can see former Strictly champion Kelvin, his wife Liz and their four children tackle the lambing season and work with a new herd of cows.
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