A new edition Celebrity Race Across the World is coming to BBC One, with a new cast of intrepid explorers set to head across the Amazon including Ted Lasso star Kola Bokinni, who is also a graduate of the famous BRIT School.
There are four celebrity pairs of racers hoping to reach the final checkpoint first as they journey from northern Brazil to southern Chile, amongst them Bokinni and his cousin Mary Ellen. Talking about his plan to win the show Bokinni said: "I can work out a strategy when I'm boots on the ground. I can’t have a strategy when I don't know where I'm going. Because I could be completely wrong."
His cousin Mary Ellen was a natural choice to take part in the show, telling the BBC about their family's reaction to joining the show: "They have all said, I don't think Kola could do it with anyone else. And I agree. But they have all said to me 'Good luck' because they know what we’re like."
Bokinni added: "We’ve been on holiday together before, and what they say is if you can go on holiday with someone, you can do anything, right?"
But who is Bokinni and where will you recognise him from? Here's all you need to know ahead of the series debut on 14 August.
What is Kola Bokinni best known for?
Viewers are most likely to recognise Peckham-born Bokinni from his starring role in hit Apple TV+ comedy Ted Lasso. He plays Richmond AFC's captain Isaac McAdoo alongside the likes of Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham.
A graduate of the famous BRIT School, whose alumni include Adele, Amy Winehouse, FKA Twigs, and Raye, Bokinni made his start on stage before moving into television. In 2016 he appeared in the Men Against Fire episode of Black Mirror, and had movie roles in a number of films including Brad Pitt's War Machine, American Assassin, and Annihilation.
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In 2019 he appeared in six episodes of the acclaimed drama Top Boy as Leyton, before he landed his biggest role to date in Ted Lasso.
Mary Ellen says viewers will be surprised to learn of her cousin's love for musicals. "One thing that I discovered about him that I was really shocked about was that he knows almost every song to every musical you can think of," she said. "He also has a whole playlist dedicated to it. This macho man isn’t so macho!"
The actor said the home comforts he'll miss the most while traversing South America are "the internet, films, entertainment... also restaurants and pubs."
Talking about his reason for joining the show, the Ted Lasso star said: "I've travelled with my job but I've always had to play other characters. But to do something and it's me, and with my family and I’ll get to see what we're all about, and test our mustards a little bit. So, that's the reason why I wanted to do it, to just experience a different side of life and the world."
Kola Bokinni's charity work on dementia
While Bokinni's career has been taking off in recent years, his family life has been struck by tragedy after his father Taiwo was diagnosed with vascular dementia.
He first talked about his father's diagnosis in support of an Alzheimer's Research UK campaign to raise awareness in 2023, and then gave an emotional interview to BBC Breakfast about the devastating effects of the disease.
Bokinni said: "It's horrible, to watch someone you idolise literally deteriorating in front of your eyes, and there's nothing you can do."
Asked what it was like to deal with his father's illness while becoming famous for hit series Ted Lasso, Bokinni admitted: "It's unbelievably difficult. He went missing for almost 12 hours and we found him opposite side of London. Just pyjamas, no shoes. Wherever I'm going, people are going, 'oh my god, your life is going so well.' In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, little do you know."
Who else is appearing in Celebrity Race Across the World?
Bokinni is taking part in the series alongside his cousin Mary Ellen, where they will be racing against three other celebrity pairs: TV presenter Jeff Brazier and his son Freddie, Kelly Brook and her husband Jeremy Parisi and radio DJ Scott Mills and his husband Sam Vaughan complete the line-up.
Celebrity Race Across the World begins on BBC One at 9pm on 14 August.
