Alex Beresford and his dad Noel triumph in Celebrity Race Across the World final
Fighting off tough competition from the other two pairs, Alex and Noel were the first to arrive at Tromsø’s Fjellheisen cable car Observation Deck in tonight’s (25th October) nail-biting finale.
Harry Judd of McFly and his mother Emma, and Melanie Blatt of All Saints and her mother Helene took the second and third spots, respectively.
After opening the guest book to discover they had reached Norway in first place, the competitive father and son duo were overcome with elation.
Reflecting on their victory, which saw them travel across 24 countries and over 10,000km from the starting point in Marrakesh, Alex said: “It feels fantastic. We feel like we’re on top of the world right now.”
While Noel said: “It was something else. 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!”
Alex 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.”
Alex and Noel began the final leg in the lead, despite having never previously reached a checkpoint in pole position [race leaders Billy and Bonny Monger had to leave the competition for personal reasons].
Beginning at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate with more than 2,000km to the finish line in Tromsø, the father and son pairing decided to travel via Sweden where they stopped off in Stockholm to replenish their dwindling budget by working to shovel snow at one of Sweden’s lakeside saunas.
After travelling from Sweden to Finland in order for Alex to fulfil a childhood dream of visiting Lapland, the duo headed on to Norway, where they found themselves travelling on the same bus from Narvik to Tromsø as Harry and Emma. Meanwhile, Mel and Helene travelled on a fast highway towards the Norwegian boarder, unaware their fellow teams had ended up neck and neck.
After a 233km journey of winding roads, Harry and Emma and Alex and Noel departed the bus and began the final race on foot to the finish line. The teams’ GPS trackers first directed them to The Arctic Cathedral. In a last-ditch attempt to secure the win, Harry and Emma jumped on a bus to the Cathedral, meanwhile Alex and Noel secured a lift from a passing car and late arrivals Mel and Helene spent their last €20 on a taxi.
Once they reached the Cathedral, the teams were then instructed to take the Fjellheisen cable car to the Observation Deck where they would be greeted by the finish line.
All episodes of Celebrity Race Across the World are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
