Who are Stephen and Viv? Meet the Race Across the World 2024 contestants
Stephen and Viv remain in the competition for another week!
Race Across the World is set to enter its seventh week, as the remaining pairs all compete to make it first at their final checkpoint.
Among the duos taking part in the epic adventure is husband and wife Stephen and Viv, who have proven to be skilful throughout the competition.
The pairs have travelled a phenomenal length of Southeast Asia, visiting the likes of Thailand, Cambodia and even South Korea as they all aim to make it to the checkpoints on time and ideally, first.
As the race continues, here's everything you need to know about this pair, who bicker like an old married couple because, well, they are one.
Who are Stephen and Viv?
Relationship: Married
From: Rutland
Jobs: Retired
Stephen, 61, and Viv, 65, are proving that age is just a number when it comes to undertaking a thrilling adventure, as the pair say they're "gung ho" enough to give anything a try.
"I think we’ll have a go at most things," Stephen said. "We’re not really passive people, I don’t think, we’re quite 'get up and do something'.
"And we have an active lifestyle. I keep saying we’re not fit people, but I think we’re active people. We like sports, we play tennis, we go bowling every week. We have a ballroom dancing class every Thursday evening, and we have a group of friends that we dance with, and it’s just become quite a big part of the week."
"In addition, I do line dancing and I do a fit steps class, which is like ballroom on your own," Viv added.
So, will the pair dance their way to victory? Perhaps, but they think their ages work in their favour.
"We’re sort of perhaps less imposing than some of the youngsters, less threatening than perhaps some of the youngsters might be by approaching strangers, we’re not a threat to anybody," Stephen noted.
"But, certainly, it’s literally the same thing as a weakness - we’re not going to beat anyone in a footrace, that’s for sure."
Read more:
- Race Across the World 2024 route: Season 4 locations
- Race Across the World pair explain clever strategy to beat competition
Why did Stephen and Viv want to take part in Race Across the World?
The pair are pretty committed fans of the programme, with Viv revealing that she's watched previous seasons "three or four times".
"We are competitive," she added, while Stephen affirmed, "We wouldn't be here if we didn't want to win it. But it doesn’t matter either - we’ve seen the show, the success, the failures and the taking part.
"We want to finish, to finish is important to us, we’d just be embarrassed to go home early - the kids would never live it down, it would just be awful, they’d just mock us mercilessly.
"Yes, of course we want to win, who wouldn’t? We’ll just do everything we can, within the rules, to make that happen."
When is Race Across the World 2024 on TV?
Race Across the World is next on BBC One and iPlayer on Wednesday 22nd May at 9pm, and will continue every Wednesday after until the season comes to a close.
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Race Across the World 2024 continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer every Wednesday at 9pm.
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Authors
Charlotte Colombo is a Freelance Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, focussing on reality and competition shows. She previously worked at The Digital Fix, covering film and TV, and has an MA in Journalism.
Katelyn Mensah is the Entertainment and Factual Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.
