Race Across the World is back with a new location and five sets of contestants vying to win a huge cash prize.

This time, the race covers 14,000 kilometers across three of Asia’s most diverse countries: China, Nepal, and India.

The journey kicks off at the iconic Great Wall of China and ends at the finish line in Kanniyakumari, the southernmost tip of India.

The teams include: sisters, Elizabeth and Leтιтia; former married couple, Yin and Gaz, brothers, Brian and Melvyn; teenage couple, Fin and Sioned and mother and son, Caroline and Tom.

Without the use of their smartphones, the internet or bank cards, the contestants will be pushed to their emotional and physical limits like never before. 

With the new series launching on April 23 on BBC One, only one team will cross the finish line first and take home the £20,000 cash prize. 

Race Across the World is back with a new location and five sets of contestants vying to win £20,000

Alfie and Owen were the latest winners of Race Across The world 

Race Across The World first aired in 2019, with contestants racing from London to Singapore. 

The second season took them through Central and South America, from Mexico to Argentina. 

In the third season, the journey was across Canada, from Vancouver to St. John’s, while the fourth season followed a route from Japan to Indonesia. 

It comes after season four winner Alfie Watts travelled back to Japan to pay for the meal a waiter gave him for free when he was worried about his budget on the award-winning BBC show.

The star from St Albans was intent on remaining frugal after he and his pal Owen Wood were only given a budget of £1,100 each to make their way from northernmost Japan to the idyllic Indonesian island of Lombok.

In the second episode, Alfie and Owen, who have been best friends since year seven, reached the cosmopolitan port of Kobe – famous for its melt-in-the-mouth beef.

After an initial disappointment at the expensive price of the beef when they sat down to try it at a local restaurant, the Hertfordshire school mates were left ecstatic when they were offered to try it free of charge.

It comes after Alfie travelled back to Japan to pay for the meal a waiter gave him for free when he was worried about his budget on the award-winning BBC show

Alfie went to the partner restaurant to find the waiter who had gifted him the free Kobe beef a year earlier (pictured: his reaction)

A year on from filming, kind-hearted Alfie has travelled back to Japan to pay for the meal – and documented it on his TikTok account

Now, a year on from filming, Alfie has travelled back to Japan to pay for the meal – with viewers branding it a ‘lovely gesture’.

Sitting pretty with his newly-earned winnings, Alfie has been reminiscing about the people that helped him and Owen win the BBC travel show.

‘If you’ve watched Race Across the World, you’ll remember a certain scene where me and Owen got gifted some free Kobe beef,’ Alfie said to his nearly 50,000 followers on TikTok.

‘I am back in Kobe and I am on a mission to pay for the Kobe beef.’

With ‘the power of BBC iPlayer’, Alfie found the restaurant he ate at a year prior and showed staff the Kobe beef clip.

But the good-natured waiter who had offered him the dish free of charge was not there.

Alfie said: ‘The team basically told me that the original waiter wasn’t at the restaurant I was in so I followed them to their partner restaurant to thank and pay the guy in person.

At first, the waiter refused to take the money but Alfie insisted and bowed as a sign of his graтιтude.

Alfie (left) and Owen Wood (right) were only given £1,100 each and challenged to make their way from northernmost Japan to the idyllic Indonesian island of Lombok

He said: ‘This is something I have wanted to do for so long and the fact that I’ve been able to do it was so exciting.’

‘Just remember always pay things forward,’ Alfie added. ‘I do believe in paying your way.’

Read More Race Across the World winner Alfie Watts finally pays for free Kobe beef given to him in Japan

Sitting down at a local restaurant, trainee pilot Owen realised that Kobe beef cost 120,000 yen, or a whopping £1 for every five grams.

‘We’ve got about thirty seconds to decide if we’re running or buying something,’ Alfie said in the episode, which aired in April.

Football referee Alfie, who was visibly concerned about their budget, then attempted to negotiate a discount with the waiter before asking for ‘just one’ serving of the sought-after dish.

‘I’m not impressed with the budget situation,’ a sulking Alfie said, to which Owen replied: ‘We don’t want to go home with regrets.’

The pair tasted the dish and described the ‘tender’ beef as ‘the best we’ve ever had’ but Alfie still didn’t seem to think it was worth the hefty price tag.

In a kindhearted gesture, the waiter recognised their limited financial situation and offered them the Kobe beef free of charge.

An overjoyed Alfie jumped up from his seat and pulled the man in for a hug.

Later in the episode, Alfie said: ‘I’d like to apologise for any misery and discontent that I may have displayed during this moment. It is a moment of regret.

‘Look if this costs us later down the line, it is not value for money.’

But the beef-tasting pitstop did not hold back the childhood friends who eventually went on to win the show.

After racing nearly 9,000 miles over seven weeks and through seven countries, Alfie and Owen crossed the finish line in Lombok, with just one percent of their budget remaining.

The 21-year-old friends took home the £20,000 prize between them.

Race Across the World begins Wednesday April 23 at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.