Derry Father and Daughter Join BBC Race Across the World Series 6

What began as a scrolling distraction on Andrew Clifford's Facebook page ended with a father and daughter navigating 12,000 kilometres through eight countries while keeping the entire venture secret from everyone who knew them, including the local parish priest.

Andrew Clifford, 54, a geography teacher at St Patrick's College in Maghera, Co Derry, and his daughter Molly, 23, a junior doctor, are among five two-person teams competing in the sixth series of Race Across the World, which premiered on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on 2 April 2026. The pair had been watching a previous series together when an advert appeared on Andrew's Facebook feed. "We put an application in thinking nothing of it, and it's kind of just been a whirlwind since then," Molly said. Both now describe it as "a joke gone too far."

The race sends contestants from Palermo in Sicily to Hatgal on the shores of Lake Hövsgöl in northern Mongolia, covering 12,000 kilometres through Italy, Greece, Türkiye, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolia. Smartphones, internet access, bank cards, and flights are all forbidden. Contestants navigate by maps and local knowledge on a budget of less than £26 per person per day, a figure the BBC notes is equivalent to the cost of a one-way airfare to the finish line. The winning team takes home £20,000.

Filming ran through September and October 2025, and for a junior doctor and a secondary school teacher, managing weeks away from their professional lives without explanation made the secrecy considerably more complicated than the logistics of the race. Cover stories were constructed for family, friends, and colleagues alike. Even Fr Paddy Doherty, the local parish priest, was kept in the dark. "The secrecy was the hardest part," Andrew said. "The white lies, they just snowballed." When filming finally concluded, Andrew sent a single message to his circle: "This will answer a few questions."

The reaction at home proved worth the effort. "The place is buzzing at the minute and that's lovely," said Andrew, known to his students at St Patrick's College simply as Mr Clifford. Molly's grandfather, apparently unclear on how television is made, "invited everybody around the house when we left because he thought it was live on TV."

Andrew, originally from Dundalk, described the venture as the fulfilment of something long deferred. "I am living a dream here. This is what I've always wanted to do but never had the willingness to do it, nor the money or the circumstances," he said. His wife, he noted with some affection, would consider the whole enterprise "her ultimate nightmare," but still dispatched Molly on a covert mission to ensure her father packed in a coordinated manner.

The pair carried sunflowers in memory of Andrew's late friend Marie, and the colours of their local football clubs. "It's very Irish of us to support our colours and be proud of where we're from and who we're doing this for," Molly said.

Their four rival teams are best friends Jo and Kush, both 19 and from Liverpool; siblings Katie and Harrison; cousins Puja and Roshni; and in-laws Mark and Margo.

Produced by Studio Lambert and narrated by John Hannah since its BBC Two debut in 2019, the show moved to BBC One for its third series. Both Cliffords remain sworn to secrecy on whether they won the £20,000 prize. Since returning, Molly says she "hasn't stopped looking at flights," and Andrew and his wife are already planning a kayaking trip to Norway.