Harry Judd reveals Celebrity Race Across the World was 'harder than he remembered'

Harry Judd has said seeing Celebrity Race Across the World 2024 has reminded him how "hard" the BBC show is.

Speaking on behalf of Sky Vegas, the musician told Yahoo: "Watching the last episode of Celebrity Race Across the World reminded me of how hard it can be. Kelly was talking about not being able to wash and that feeling of not having a shower, you’re so tired and you’re eating bread after bread after bread. You just feel so rough. It’s challenging."

Last year, the McFly star competed in Celebrity Race Across the World with his mum Emma and they came in second place after winners Good Morning Britain weatherman Alex Beresford and his dad Noel. They embarked on the journey of a lifetime that saw them trek from the North African city of Marrakech to the icy Tromsø, in Northern Norway. Along the way, they saw some amazing places including seaside ports and beaches of the Mediterranean, the Alps and the Baltic States and more.

Read more: 'It's no wonder Celebrity Race Across the World is the number one TV show right now'

While often it may look picture-perfect on screen, Judd revealed the BBC series can be "challenging" for those taking part and even leave them feeling "so rough". "The show reaffirms that you just can’t have everything your way," he said.

"You have to be patient and you have to accept that you can’t control everything in life. It also reaffirmed how much of a legend my mum is. It’s also the life lesson of not taking anything for granted. These are beautiful countries they’re travelling through, and we are really lucky."

Who is finding Celebrity Race Across the World the toughest?

Seeing Kelly Brook complain about not being able to shower brought back memories of the race for Judd. He added: "Watching the last episode reminded me of how hard it can be. Kelly was talking about not being able to wash and that feeling of not having a shower, you’re so tired and you’re eating bread after bread after bread. You just feel so rough. It’s challenging."

With his own experience of the show behind him, Judd revealed which celebrity pairings that he felt were finding the show the toughest so far in the 2024 series. The drummer said he felt Scott Mills and now husband Sam Vaughan as well as Kelly and her husband Jeremy Parisi were struggling the most.

He explained: "Jeremy is really competitive and Kelly is wanting to have a bit more of a good time. I think he’s even more competitive than me and that can be a struggle but I think she’s a really upbeat person, so she’ll be fine.

"Scott is a really sweet guy, but I think he struggles with being positive. I’m purely saying this because I can relate to Scott and Sam and Jeremy and Kelly as we are a similar age, bit when you get to that age, you just really want your home comforts."

By comparison, Judd revealed why he didn't think Freddy and Jeff Brazier as well as Kola Bokinni and his cousin Mary-Ellen were struggling as much. "Freddie has youth on his side, when you’re that young you don’t tend to get as tired and Kola and Mary just seem to be on a real kind of adventure," he said. "I’ve always been competitive, and I think it’s fair to say I get a bit from my mum. It’s a blessing and a curse in this show to be competitive."

Harry Judd was tearful on Celebrity Race Across the World

As well as being tough at times, Celebrity Race Across the World can be incredibly emotional. Heartbreaking scenes left fans "broken" as Freddy Brazier spoke about the death of his mum Jade Goody which happened when he was just four years old.

Judd praised the youngster for being "emotionally intelligent". "It was a poignant moment," he said. "I thought it was very emotional. He’s very emotionally intelligent. He summed it up perfectly when he said he’d take the pain so he could remember the memories, it was beautifully put.

"One of the reasons why the show is so brilliant is because people can relate to it. Kola has also lost his mum and there will be people watching who have lost a parent or a loved one and can relate to what Freddie is saying. It was very good of him to talk about it so eloquently."

Read more: Celebrity Race Across the World fans 'broken' over emotional Freddy Brazier scenes

From his own personal experience, Judd was very tearful when he received letters from his children while competing on Celebrity Race Across the World. He said: "I was very emotional in the first episode and the beginning of the second episode as I read out some letters from my kids. I was very tearful.

"I think it’s a mixture of emotion and tiredness, but I think its powerful to be able to open up and show your emotions. Even though it’s much more talked about these days, people still struggle with it. It’s another element to the show that makes it enjoyable to watch and powerful."