On screen, it looked like triumph.
Off screen, it felt like survival.
Roman and Harleymoon Kemp crossed continents, beat their rivals by seconds, and were crowned champions of Celebrity Race Across the World 2025. But now, with the finish line long behind them, the sibling duo are finally revealing what viewers never saw — and why the journey was far darker, scarier, and more emotional than anyone realised.
“Some of the worst moments,” Harleymoon admits, “never even made it to air.”
A Victory They Never Believed Was Theirs
For most of the race, the Kemps didn’t look like winners.
They claimed just one leg victory — the final one — and even that came down to mere seconds. Harleymoon says she never expected to take the title.
“On the first night,” she revealed, “I honestly thought Roman wouldn’t make it.”
Roman, meanwhile, recognised the familiar mental spiral from his time on I’m A Celebrity.
“You don’t think about winning,” he said.
“You just think about surviving the first few nights.”
In a twist that surprised even him, Roman admitted that had the final sprint been against fellow racers Dylan Llewellyn and his mum Jackie, he might have stepped aside.
“I probably would’ve let them win,” he said.
“It would’ve been awful — but I love them.”
The Jungle Nights That Still Haunt Them
Early in the race, the siblings stayed at what appeared on TV to be a peaceful ecolodge in Guatemala.
The reality was something else entirely.
“It was basically a chicken shed in the jungle,” Harleymoon said.
“Bugs everywhere. Spiders everywhere. There was a tarantula outside our door.”
Roman was blunt.
“There were tarantulas in our beds,” he said.
“Actual tarantulas.”
Even for someone who survived the I’m A Celebrity jungle, this felt worse.
The Boat Ride Roman Thought Might Kill Them
One of the most terrifying moments came when teams were barred from crossing the Darién Gap, forcing the Kemps into a nine-and-a-half-hour boat journey across rough seas toward Colombia.
Then the storm hit.
“It was genuinely one of the most dangerous things I’ve ever done,” Roman said — and this from someone who’s skydived and bungee jumped.
As waves battered the boat, he clutched Harleymoon’s life jacket.
“If we go over,” he told himself,
“I’ve got you. I can swim.”
It was not bravado.
It was fear management.
Arguments, Breakdowns — and a Near Fight
Stress frayed nerves fast.
One unaired incident involved a bus that broke down before leaving the car park — and a ticket clerk who refused to issue a refund.
“Harley was this close to punching the guy behind the desk,” Roman laughed.
“And honestly? She was right.”
Another moment turned darker.
While racing for a checkpoint, a man stopped them and asked:
“What’s it worth to you?”
“I wanted to hit him,” Roman admitted.
“Obviously I wouldn’t — but in my head? Absolute chaos.”
The Medical Emergency Viewers Never Knew About
Perhaps the most alarming incident never appeared on screen at all.
On a remote island in Guna Yala — home to just one family — Harleymoon was struck by intense pain during the night.
“It was so bad I went blind,” she said.
“I was crawling on the floor trying to find the medic.”
The pain lasted all night.
The next day, she was missing from scenes — without explanation.
Six Seconds That Changed Everything
In the final leg, Tyler West and Molly Rainford were ahead — by steps, not minutes.
They boarded a boat six seconds before the Kemps.
Then disaster struck.
The engine stalled.
Roman and Harleymoon sprinted up a rocky path, reached the checkpoint, and signed the book moments before their rivals appeared over the hill.
Six seconds.
That was the difference.
What the Race Took — and What It Gave Back
Since returning home, Harleymoon has shut the world out.
No Instagram.
No WhatsApp.
No noise.
“The race grounded me,” she said simply.
Roman agrees.
“You realise how much of life is just noise,” he reflected.
“There are so many kinds of happiness we forget even exist.”
For all the fear, danger and chaos, one thing mattered most.
“I hope we keep seeing each other more,” Harleymoon told her brother.
Because for the Kemps, the real victory wasn’t the trophy.
It was making it through — together.
