Race Across The World winners Alfie and Owen have admitted they “completely blew the budget” during their stays in luxury hotels while on the show.
Trainee air traffic controller Alfie and trainee pilot Owen, both 21, won the latest series of the popular BBC show.
Five teams of two were tasked with racing to the island of Lombok in Indonesia through a series of checkpoints in a grueling eight-week challenge.
Each stage of the show is divided into checkpoints where you can regroup and stay in posh hotels. These hotel stays are not filmed to appear on the show.
And friends from St Albans tell us how they made the most of the luxury accommodation and at one hotel in Cambodia even had 24-hour room service.
Race Across The World winners Alfie and Owen admitted they “completely blew the budget” during their stays in luxury hotels while on the show.
Trainee air traffic controller Alfie and trainee pilot Owen, both 21, won the latest series of the popular BBC show.
Alfie told him The times: ‘Well, we definitely did laundry, but we didn’t go crazy anywhere except in Phnom Penh, where there was 24-hour room service.
‘They gave us a three-story cart. It was just food. Lots of food. It was around 2am and I was on top of the world.’
Owen then added: “That was ridiculous.” We’ve absolutely blown the budget!’
It comes after past contestants and crew members revealed behind-the-scenes secrets of the show last month.
Season four winner Alfie, 20, confirmed that teams can stay in secret hotels for up to two days at each checkpoint – something that is not broadcast during the episodes.
Alfie spilled the gossip on a Facebook group dedicated to the show, revealing they had to stay at the hotel for “security reasons”.
He said: “This changes depending on finishing times to ensure no one leaves at an absolutely ridiculous time, mainly for safety.”
Meanwhile, season two contestant Jen, who took part with her husband Rob, also revealed that the teams are accompanied by team members at all times.
Each stage of the show is divided by checkpoints where you can regroup and stay in posh hotels. These hotel stays are not filmed to appear on the show.
Five teams of two were tasked with racing towards the island of Lombok in Indonesia through a series of checkpoints, with friends Alfie and Owen ultimately taking the win (pictured LR Stephen & Viv, Sharon & Brydie, Eugenie & Isabel, James & Betty & Owen and Alfie)
And now friends from St Albans tell how they made the most of the luxury accommodation and at one hotel in Cambodia even had 24-hour room service.
While he insisted that “there’s not much that viewers can’t see,” the two producers traveling with the teams are not revealed to viewers on screen.
Jen also revealed that there is a ‘local repairman’ and a doctor who travels about an hour behind them in case of an emergency.
She told the i: ‘You’re always with two crew members and a doctor, with a local repairman in tow. The crew doesn’t really contribute, despite what people think, no matter how absurd our decisions may be.
“I remember crossing into a different time zone and almost missing a vital transport link, and the crew had to move on. The same goes for our jobs directory – all the real jobs on offer in the local area, just compiled together. ‘
When asked if it was really as hard as it looks on screen, Jen said, “People always ask me if it was really as hard as it looked.” In short, YES. He was convinced that once the cameras stopped rolling, they would take the cart out of the buffet and hand over the keys to the luxury hotel, but he was wrong. I really had to sleep in that hammock. In my case, ignorance was a blessing.’
Jen said the team traveled with them constantly and there always had to be space for them at various transportation points, such as buses.
He explained that they could only travel if at least one crew member could accompany them, but insisted that this never affected their route.
Executive producer Mark Saben told the BBC: “They had to make the same journey as them, sleeping next to them on the bus.
‘So they were almost like a family, with their ups and downs. And while we were doing reconnaissance, the teams found parts of the world that were totally surprising.’
Mark informed Broadcast that visas and vaccinations for “every conceivable country” are arranged in advance, and that “all options, costs and likely bus and train connections” are investigated.
He said: “It’s all very well doing it theoretically, taking into account schedules and stuff,” before adding “but until someone actually does it, you don’t know where the difficulties may be.”
“We developed protocols that established rules for how teams could hitchhike, travel at night and cross borders safely.”
Despite having a repairman and doctor on hand, Mark revealed that they are instructed to keep their distance to make their experience feel authentic.
He said: ‘How they made their journey was up to them. This meant that, as a production, we had to react to their decisions, no matter how absurd they were.
‘It was a nightmare for production management, as the competing participants decided how and where to go. “You can’t underestimate how challenging the journey can be at times.”
MailOnline contacted Race Across The World for comment at the time.
The final episode saw a thrilling end to the 15,000km race across East Asia as two couples approached the finish line side by side.
After arriving at the penultimate checkpoint in Jakarta just 12 minutes apart, both Alfie and Owen and Isabel and Eugenie were eager to take the lead on the final stretch.
Both couples met several times on their trip from Jakarta to Lombok, before having to travel by boat to a small island off the coast at exactly the same time.
After finding speedboat rides, the couples dashed across the sea before preparing to race the rest of the way on foot.
The race ended with a spectacular sprint along the beach as best friends Alfie and Owen made the record book first and took home the £20,000 prize.
Behind the school friends were Eugenie and Isabel, mother and daughter, who finished just eight minutes later.
In third place were beloved siblings Betty and James, who arrived a day later after overcoming a shrinking budget and setbacks.
Married couple Stephen and Viv finished in fourth place, with a whopping £180 left in their budget.
The final episode saw a thrilling end to the 15,000km race across East Asia as two couples approached the finish line side by side (Isabel and Eugenie, who came in second place).
Alfie said: “Well, we definitely did laundry, but we didn’t go crazy anywhere except in Phnom Penh where there was 24-hour room service.”
Owen then added: “That was ridiculous.” We’ve absolutely blown the budget!’
The dramatic final scenes saw Alfie and Owen race along the Indonesian beach surrounded by glistening tropical waters before reaching the book and discovering they had won the race.
‘We’ve done it,’ they shouted, before hugging each other.
Owen said proudly: “We came, we saw and we did it.”
“Best time of our lives,” Alfie added. ‘Without a doubt. I can not believe it.’
Eugenie and Isabel opened the book and discovered that the boys had surpassed them by minutes.