BBC viewers were left in tears at the ‘best moment in TV’ all over again last night as the lad involved gave his thanks to the crew.
Leading up to a pretty intense final last night (29 May), the past eight weeks have seen teams of people compete in Race Across the World.
And like every season of the popular TV show, we all grew pretty fond of the racers, rooting for them and getting hooked on their stories.
While this year saw the likes of mates Alfie and Owen winning the race with mother and daughter duo Eugenie and Isabel just eight minutes behind, brother and sister Betty and James arrived in third place the next day.
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But the pair had already moved viewers to tears in one of the previous legs, as their new-found closeness really became clear on the BBC show.
During the seventh episode, the 25-year-old opened up about being diagnosed with Mayer Rokitansky Küster Hauser syndrome (MRKH) at 16 after discovering she didn't have a uterus or womb and only had one kidney.
And this emotional heart-to-heart was a first for the siblings, who hadn’t really chatted about it before.
It was the moment that followed that really had viewers sobbing, as James broke down in tears.
The 21-year-old really struggled to carry on chatting for the camera as he began to cry and asked: “Can someone just come and hug me please?”
One of the film crew could then be seen appearing before the camera, comforting James as he cried into his shoulder – something we don’t normally see happening on the show.
As viewers at the time said the siblings both made them cry and called it a ‘moving moment’, the reunion episode last night saw the lad reflecting on it.
He explained it was a ‘point where he just couldn’t do it anymore’ and how the camera guy ‘put the camera down and came over to hug him’.
James then took to X after the show to write: “A moment of raw and true emotion. Just a massive thank you to Chris, the hugging cameraman! He put up with us through blood, sweat and tears and we can’t thank him and the rest of the team enough! What a great series!”
Fans responded, calling it ‘the best moment of TV in a long time’ and the ‘TV moment of the year’.
Another echoed: “What an incredible young man! Being able to ask for support well done to the team that supported him! This is a TV show but these are real people and their mental health needs during the show have obviously been addressed. I can imagine how proud Betty and James’ parents must be.”
You can catch up with Race Across the World on BBC iPlayer.
Topics: BBC, TV, Health, Social Media, TV and Film
Jess Battison