Following the huge success of the first series of Celebrity Race Across the World, BBC Factual announces Studio Lambert’s BAFTA award-winning format will return for a second series of the Celebrity version on BBC One and iPlayer.

The first series of Celebrity Race Across the World, which reached its thrilling conclusion last month, saw well-known faces, McFly drummer Harry Judd and his mum, Emma; British racing driver and pundit Billy Monger with his sister, Bonny; singer and songwriter Mel Blatt and her mum, Helene, and broadcaster Alex Beresford with his dad, Noel, leave behind their lives of luxury to embark upon an epic and arduous race from Africa to the Arctic.

Heart-warming and inspiring, viewers were captivated in record numbers, and gained a unique insight into the lives of the celebrities and their relationships with their nearest and dearest. Facing the same hardships and twists and turns as the regular series, the famous faces and their loved ones undertook the gruelling yet rewarding journey without the use of smartphones or credit cards and learnt how to travel smart and on a limited budget.

The series was highly acclaimed by reviewers and proved a ratings winner: it is the BBC’s biggest factual entertainment brand of the year to date with the first episode averaging 6.2m viewers, making it the joint top episode of the brand so far (alongside episode one of series 3 of Race Across the World) and the biggest factual entertainment episode this year across the market for a new series.

Tim Harcourt, Creative Director, Studio Lambert says: "Audiences seem pleased that the difficult and disarming undertaking of the Race was not watered down for well-known personalities and their loved ones. We are thrilled to be making another series for the BBC."

Catherine Catton, Head of Commissioning, Factual Entertainment and Events, BBC says: "We would like to thank our cast for putting their heart and soul into it, and we are delighted with the reaction, particularly from young audiences on iPlayer. We are very much looking forward to working with Studio Lambert on the next series"

Celebrity Race Across The World for BBC One and iPlayer is made by Studio Lambert, part of All3Media. It was commissioned by Catherine Catton, Head of Commissioning, Factual Entertainment and Events. The Commissioning Editor is Michael Jochnowitz. The Executive Producer is Tim Harcourt, Sophie Beck is Production Executive.

All3Media International is distributing Celebrity Race Across the World and Race Across the World globally.