Who are Ella Eyre and friend Nana? Meet Celebrity Race Across the World 2026 contestants

Just when the waiting for a new season of Race Across the World — arguably one of the best shows on television — was becoming unbearable, the BBC has saved us all from the autumn blues by confirming the upcoming celebrity version.

The show, which kicks off tonight (28 October), will see the contestants starting off in Borneo, making their way through a series of checkpoints in South East Asia on their way to the finish line in Melbourne, Australia.

As with previous seasons of the show, the celebs are not allowed access to smart phones or the internet and are given only a very limited budget.

Joining this season's celebrity cast is singer Ella Eyre, who is bringing her friend Nana along for the ride. Here's everything you need to know about the pairing ahead of the first episode.

Relationship: Childhood friends

From: London

Instagram: @ellaeyre and @nana__pep

Ella Eyre is a 32-year-old singer-songwriter who rose to prominence in 2013 with the single Waiting All Night in collaboration with Rudimental, which won the Brit Award for British Single of the Year.

Born Ella McMahon in London in 1994, she studied at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, until she was discovered by a manager through her vocal coach.

A record deal followed in 2012, and since then Eyre has had several top 10 singles and collaborated with some of the biggest names in UK music.

She has released two albums, Deeper and Feline, the latter of which reached fourth in the UK Albums chart. Eyre has supported Olly Murs, Little Mix and The Script on tour, and has written for artists such as Sigma and Paloma Faith.

In 2018 she was in series 1 of The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer, competing against Tim Minchin, Jamie Laing, and Ruth Davidson but ultimately did not win the Star Baker title.

Ella is doing the race alongside her childhood friend Nana. They met each other over 20 years ago at school and never got to do a gap year, and so now is their time "to have that fun".

"There really aren’t that many people I could spend [several] weeks solidly with and still be able to laugh my head off," Ella said.

Nana added: "We’re going to make a good team. I fear for our competitors."

Celebrity Race across the World begins on Wednesday 28 October at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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Authors

Phoebe Kowhai Barnes is a Freelance Writer who covers pop culture and entertainment programmes for the Radio Times. She previously worked as the Senior Assistant Editor at The Tab where she managed its local department. She obtained a BA (Hons) in English Literature from University of Nottingham.