'We applied for Race Across the World as a joke'
BBCWarning: This article contains spoiler alerts of series six of Race Across the World.
One evening, Kush Burman was scrolling through Instagram when he saw an advert for the popular TV series Race Across the World.
He sent the link to his best mate Jo Diop to see if he fancied the challenge.
The pair had just finished their A-Levels and were hoping to travel the world before deciding what to do next.
"I'd never watched the show personally, but my mum and my brothers did," said 19-year-old Kush from Liverpool.
"It was a bit of a joke, a bit of boredom. I was like 'let's apply for this'.
"I sent it to Joe. He was the most obvious person to apply with and one thing led to another and then here we are."
This series sees five teams embark on the journey of a lifetime, racing more than 12,000km (7,450 miles) across Europe and Asia.
The teams will race from Palermo on the island of Sicily all the way to the remote village of Hatgal on the shores of lake Hövsgöl, in northern Mongolia in a bid to claim the £20,000 prize.
The childhood best friends - who are the youngest contestants on this series - had grown up together so Jo was sold on the idea straightaway.
"It didn't cost anything [to apply] and it was just a little joke in a way, and then it actually got real," said the 19-year-old.
He added that he was "genuinely shocked" when he was told they had made the cut, receiving the call when he was at home with his family.
It was impossible to hide his excitement from those who know him best.
But for Kush, he needed to show a bit more discretion.
"Because I was in work, I took a deep a breath and I held my breath and went 'thank you' as that's all I could I say," he said.
"I had to contain all excitement because I really didn't want people to start grilling me on what I had just found out."
The pair applied in January 2025 and eight months later they were on a plane to the start line.
"It was such a cool experience to be able to go to all of them places and the activities that we do are genuine, they're real people," said Kush.
"Getting an insight into that was such privilege.
"But it was also a race and it's super tough especially the elimination leg."
Last week's episode saw the pair begin the third leg of the race in last place.
The team in that position by the end of the episode would be eliminated.
"The stress was high, because it was like, go hard to go home at this point," said Jo.
"Like that feeling of being last is horrible, and I think it was kind of like a wake up call."
Now six months later, they are reliving the experience as each episode airs.
You can watch the latest episode on BBC One at 20:00 BST or on BBC iPlayer.
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