Race Across the World leaves out mum Caroline's huge everyday life success

Yahoo

12-06-2025

Race Across the World's winner Caroline is an eventer at horse riding competitions but that fact has missed the cut of the BBC show.
The mum, 61, has raced across the world with her son Tom, 21, starting at the Great Wall of China and finishing in Kanyakumari in India. Along the way, the contestants have the chance to open up about their lives both the good and the bad.
On-screen Caroline has spoken about giving up her career to become a mum and how Race Across the World has given her the chance to do something for herself.
What hasn't make the cut of the BBC show is that Caroline is a successful eventer.
Race Across the World is edited to fit eight one hour slots, plus a one hour reunion show. It would be impossible for them to capture absolutely everything in their everyday lives of those taking part. But horses and eventing is clearly something Caroline is very passionate about.
In her everyday life, the Race Across the World winner has a number of achievements when it comes to horse riding.
Just before filming the show, she won the 2024 British Eventing BE80 grassroots league when riding 14-year-old horse Really. Caroline has had Really for almost a year now, according to British Eventing.
Since Race Across the World came to an end, the horse lover has returned to eventing and she has continued to make a success of it. This season, Caroline topped the British Eventing's BE90 March/April OBP League.
While promoting Race Across the World, Caroline has spoken about her love of horse riding and eventing.
In May, she told The Horse and Hound: "It's lovely to be back and I'm looking forward to the championship. Eventing has got a little bit of the challenge of Race Across the World because you have to be prepared, fit, determined and have an aim in mind. I'm glad to have eventing because otherwise I would have wanted to go straight back out and travel again.'
Being a horse person, Caroline felt put her in good stead for taking part in Race Across the World.
"Horsey people are generally quite grounded and extremely tough. You can put up with being dirty and grubby and you just get on with it, and that really helped because dignity goes out the window very, very quickly," she also told the publication.
"You don't mind getting your hands dirty in both senses of the word. And I was quite fit, which was probably the biggest help for me in the long run."
From competing in eventing to the race, Caroline revealed what spurred her onto the rollercoaster ride of the BBC show.
She told Yahoo UK in May: "Do you know, I can't actually put my finger on it. It's just something I felt inside that actually just pushed me so strongly, and I couldn't resist it. I just had to do something for myself that didn't involve looking after other people and it involved me proving that I could be independent...
"Tom said 'yes' apparently just to keep me quiet because I was already obsessed. I was determined to get on and I was just going to give it my all. I know it doesn't look like that at the beginning of the programme. I just had to do it and I don't know why.
"I think because I had just been looking after other people for so long and had never had to make decisions or never been consulted that this was something that I could choose to do for myself."
Yahoo UK approached Race Across the World representatives for further comment.
Race Across the World's final is on at 9pm on Wednesday on BBC One.