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'Racing across the world helped us open up'

Alice Cunningham & Amelia Reynolds
BBC News, Suffolk
BBC/Studio Lambert Tom and Caroline stood together next to the book which is the finish line for Race Across The World. They have their arms around each other.BBC/Studio Lambert
Caroline and Tom Bridge kept their Race Across the World win secret from friends and family for five months

A mother and son who appeared on Race Across the World together said the show helped them open up about their lives and feelings.

Caroline and Tom Bridge, from Hargrave, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, appeared on the BBC One show, racing 8,700 miles (14,000km) through China, Nepal and India.

The pair were first to cross the finish line after 51 days of travelling and took home a £20,000 cash prize.

Tom, 21, explained the show had helped him open up about his cerebral palsy, while Caroline, 60, added it had helped her re-find her identity.

BBC/Studio Lambert Tom and Caroline Bridge standing outside on a beach both holding a glass. Tom is on the left and is smiling and looking at the camera and is wearing a navy T-shirt. While Caroline, is standing next to Tom on the left, she is looking and smiling directly at the camera.BBC/Studio Lambert
Tom Bridge, 21, said he had "never been prouder" of his mum

During the show, it was revealed that as a child, Tom was unable to write with his right hand, which led to his cerebral palsy diagnosis.

It affected his right arm and hand, which he said felt like a "disconnect" from his brain.

"That was very different, I'd never done it before," he said about the moment he opened up on the show.

"I did feel quite uncomfortable at the start and almost a little bit embarrassed, I wasn't too keen on talking about it."

Tom said the reaction to the moment had been "so lovely" and had helped boost his confidence.

"I think it was me playing it up in my head, but that is slowly coming down now," he continued.

"It's not something to be shy about, it's something to embrace."

BBC/Studio Lambert Tom is standing on the right looking at the camera smiling. He has brown hair, and is wearing a blue short sleeved polo top and a black rucksack on his back. Caroline is on the right looking into the camera smiling. She has a pink top on with a purple and white scarf around her neck, and a burgundy rucksack on her back. BBC/Studio Lambert
Tom and Caroline were one of five pairs taking on Race Across the World

Caroline similarly revealed she had struggled with her identity away from being a mother and a wife.

Prior to the show, she said she had had a tough time and felt her "sense of purpose was gone".

"So the timing of the race was absolutely a serendipitous moment," she said.

"When it came along, even though we were crushed at the start and we failed miserably, I then threw my whole self in, we got really determined, we learnt to adapt and it made me feel a lot more confident and it made me feel that I can do things that the youngsters can do.

"There's no reason for me not to do things that other people can do just because I'm older."

The pair said the show had brought them closer together as a family, and they revealed they would be back travelling again in a few months.

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