contestant

I've had a sneak preview of the new series, which starts on Wednesday, and can tell you that the contestants are thrown in at the deep end from the start.

In the initial stages, stand-ins perform the 37 entries, allowing participants to review staging, choreography and lighting cues before contestants arrive in Switzerland at the start of May.

The aim is to be the first contestants to reach the finish line at the southernmost tip of India, in Kanyakumari, without using smartphones, bank cards or flights.

But Ms Bethel is still close to some of her fellow contestants, who she fondly refers to as her "sorority".

Race Across the World is as much about its contestants as the race and travelling.