Race Across The World star Jo Gardiner has died at 61, twelve months after her son and co-contestant Sam died in a car crash. The pair competed together in the second series of the BBC travel challenge in 2020, travelling through South America. Her family confirmed Ms Gardiner died "following a long and courageous battle with cancer".
They remembered the Manchester physiotherapist as "an intrepid adventurer, brave, kind, witty and endlessly loving". The statement continued: “She had a rare gift for making everyone around her feel more alive. She lived fully, fiercely and never did anything by halves.
Somehow, each one felt as though they were among her very best. She was our family, our joy, our safe place and our absolute treasure. There will never be another her.” New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial.
Plan auto-renews until cancelled. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent. Ms Gardiner is survived by her son Charlie.
Her other son Sam, with whom she appeared in the TV show, died in June 2025 at the age of 24, after his white Volkswagen Golf R estate came off the road and rolled before landing on its side. The landscape gardener had been working on an isolated estate on the west coast of Scotland and was home in Manchester for a family gathering. The mother and son competed on Race Across The World because Gardiner wanted to experience a travel adventure with Sam, who had ADHD.
They competed against four other pairs of contestants racing from Mexico City down to Ushuaia in Argentina. In a statement, a Race Across The World spokeswoman said: “On behalf of the Studio Lambert production team, the BBC and the whole Race Across The World cast, we offer our deepest and heartfelt sympathies to Jo’s son Charlie, and her wider family and friends. It was a privilege to share her story and she will be deeply missed.” Ms Gardiner, who lived with type 1 diabetes, was an ambassador for Diabetes UK and her family has set up a JustGiving page in her name, with all donations supporting Diabetes UK.
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