Jo Gardiner, Race Across the World star, dies at 61

Jo Gardiner, a star of the second season of the BBC travel competition series Race Across the World, has died at the age of 61. Her passing on August 24, 2026, followed what her family described as a long and courageous battle with cancer. The news comes approximately one year after the death of her son, Sam Gardiner, who was her teammate on the show and died in a car accident in June 2025.

Gardiner, a physiotherapist from Manchester, and her son Sam became fan favorites during the 2020 series, which saw pairs of contestants race across Latin America without using phones or planes. They competed because Gardiner wanted to share a travel adventure with Sam, who had ADHD. The mother-son duo finished fourth in their race from Mexico City to Ushuaia, Argentina.

In a statement, her family remembered her as an intrepid adventurer who was brave, kind, witty, and endlessly loving. "She lived fully, fiercely and never did anything by halves," the statement read. "She was blessed with countless friends, drawn to her extraordinary magnetism. Somehow, each one felt as though they were among her very best. To us, she was more than all of these things. She was our family, our joy, our safe...