THE third series of BBC’s Celebrity Race Across The World aired its first episode last night, but eagle-eyed fans spotted something suspicious.
On the programme five familiar faces – Roman Kemp, Dylan Llewellyn, Anita Rani, Tyler West and Molly Rainford – began their 5,900km journey jetting off across the globe with a loved one.
The rules of the show state that the participants do not know where they are heading in advance, only learning the destination at the airport, but some fans called this into question while the launch episode was airing.
Upon reaching their first destination – Isla Mujeres, the easternmost point of Mexico – viewers noticed some of the contestants seemed to speak Spanish far too well.
In one scene, Derry Girls star Dylan, who is competing with his mum Jackie, is seen is walking around, guidebook in hand.
The pair are practising their Spanish, nervously scouting out a local to ask for help with directions.
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Dylan’s mum glances at the book and repeats a phrase to her son, with sound pronunciation.
After Dylan tries to repeat the phrase, his mum asks a local if they speak English, in Spanish.
Taking to Reddit, a number of users commented on how the celebs must have known where they were going and took time to brush up on their Spanish.
“Everyone’s Spanish seems to be quite decent here. Were they told in advance?,” queried one user.
Another replied: “Might have got a clue from their visa’s in their passports.”
Others didn’t find it surprising that everyone seemed able to speak a degree of Spanish, however, as it’s a common language throughout the globe and it would have been sensible to learn some before going on the show.
“I think if you were going on RATW, Spanish is a sensible language to brush up on before setting off,” commented another Redditor.
“Realistically, you can assume you’re going to either the Americas or Asia. [In] Asia there are about 136 languages spoken per square mile. Conversely, most of the Americas speaks Spanish.
“I seem to recall in an interview about series 2, a couple of people had strategically packed a Spanish phrasebook for the above reason, and had it confiscated by production at the start line.”
This is only the beginning for the four travelling teams, who have to make it through five checkpoints to reach the finish line on the Guajira Peninsula.
While celeb couple Molly and Tyler are teamed up together, Anita is working with her dad Bal and Roman is paired with his sister Harley Moon.
Last season, presenter Jeff Brazier, model Kelly Brook, Ted Lasso, actor Kola Bokinni and Radio DJ Scott Mills were documented racing across South America.
Their journey was punctuated by many adventures, including navigating their way from Northern Brazil to Southern Chile, as well as grim moments where stars got ill.
Ultimately Scott and his husband Sam Vaughan finished in first place on the hit programme.
Celebrity Race Across The World is available for viewing on BBC One on Thursdays at 8pm.
