‘Men and boys need to see this’: Jo and Kush and the joy of Race Across the World

“There just hasn’t been enough joyous, funny television being commissioned for a while, and then when things come along that are, everyone loves them,” said Ben Wicks, creative director at production company Expectation TV, which has recently commissioned feelgood reality shows such as The Dyers’ Caravan Park.

Interviewer Adam quizzes David Tennant on The Assembly. Photograph: Rockerdale Studios/ITV

“The joy of operating in the real world in this way is not only that you tell stories that really aren’t told anywhere near enough on television – working class stories that just get ignored – you’re also able to do it in a way that’s really compelling. So it’s real, and it goes to places that you would never expect it would go.”

Race Across the World also finds pairs wanting to embrace the travel experience without the ambitions of fame that come with other formats. And once the cast is in place, the key to unlocking the show’s humanity lies in letting the cameras roll.

“The joy comes from watching people be themselves,” said Michelle Singer, an executive producer of The Assembly, the acclaimed show in which an audience of neurodivergent people ask a celebrity unpredictable questions. It, too, has been praised for its big heart.

On both programmes, Singer said, there was “time and space to listen to one another and to enjoy each other’s company”.

In the latest series of Race Across the World, it was Jo and Kush who captivated audiences the most. Having started out in hapless fashion, they eventually found their hiking boots to become serious competitors to the very end.

The pair’s temperaments could not be more different. Kush talks of ongoing struggles with anxiety and opens up about the impact of his stepfather’s death, while the zen-like Jo knows when to let his friend vent and when to try to boost his morale.

There are quiet moments of tenderness, such as Kush thanking Jo for staying up with him as he struggled to calm his mind. In Turkey, Kush spots a basketball court – a perfect spot for Jo to decompress. “I can tell Jo needed this,” he says.

Jo and Kush in Susuz, Turkey. Photograph: BBC/Studio Lambert

Whether or not they won, for those who didn’t see it, is a question best answered on BBC iPlayer.

For MPs who have battled to highlight positive examples of masculinity, the pair and the show have been the perfect tonic.

Jess Phillips, the former safeguarding minister, said: “I am the mother of two young men and this is my experience of young men’s relationships – we don’t see that enough.

“There are nasty influencers we need to worry about, but men and boys need to see this, which is like their real lives. Being kind and looking after each other – that’s real masculinity.”

Amanda Martin, the co-chair of Labour’s men and boys parliamentary group and mother to three sons, added: “It’s that ‘lads’ friendship: it’s real support and it’s not weakness. Representation matters. Programmes like this really do remind us that there are other ways for men to be.”