Interview: Roman Kemp and Harleymoon Kemp on Celebrity Race Across the World
Celebrity Race Across the World is back!Swapping luxury for backpacks and comfort for the unknown, the four celebrity duos embarking on the ultimate adventure are: Broadcaster and writer Anita Rani and her dad, Bal; actor Dylan Llewellyn and his mum, Jackie; partners, presenter and DJ Tyler West and actor and singer, Molly Rainford and broadcaster Roman Kemp and his sister, singer- songwriter, Harleymoon.
This series takes the race through one of the most diverse and visually stunning routes yet, spanning the undiscovered Caribbean and Pacific coast of Central America.The journey begins on the idyllic Caribbean Island of Isla Mujeres, the most eastern point of Mexico and challenges teams to race 5,900km to reach the finish line in the remote and breathtaking Península de La Guajira in Colombia – the gateway to South America.
Broadcaster Roman Kemp and his sister, singer-songwriter, Harleymoon discuss the series
Why did you want to take part in the series?Roman: It's very much 50/50, reasons for wanting to do this. I am very lucky that I do a lot of stuff with my dad, and I think that the reason I do those things is I can't wait to show my kids or my grandkids what my relationship was like with my dad. With this, it's such a privilege to be able to do something so special with your sister.It's such a privilege to be able to have that and to also show that to future generations and to share an experience. The other side of it is for personal reasons, travelling and seeing new places and seeing different cultures or being in certain experiences has such a great impact on my perspective and what life is about.Harleymoon: I already love travelling, so this is very in my wheelhouse. Turning up, don't know where I'm going, that's got my name all over it. I love adventure. I love excitement. I don't like routine. I'm so looking forward to it. But one of the main things for me, was just being able to spend that time with Roman, we haven't lived together since we were 15 years old. So, we obviously love each other, brother and sister, but we don't hang out just us.We don't get time, Roman’s got a busy schedule, I've got a busy schedule. I think sometimes when you are in that family dynamic, you meet up to drop the dogs off or pick up my house keys and that becomes your dynamic. So being able to have a month that is going to be just me and him… I feel like I'm about to meet Roman again as a person, and I look forward to that so much. I really don't know what it's going to be like, I knew what our relationship was like when we were kids and we lived together, but I look forward to meeting Roman again as a friend, that's what I want out of this trip.Would you say you're both quite adventurous?Roman: Yes, but weirdly, in different ways. My type of adventure is curiosity and challenge. For instance, I love adventure, if it's climbing a mountain, or seeing how someone lives their life in a tough area. Mine comes out of curiosity in that sense. I definitely am adventurous in the fact that I want to see as much as I can and experience as much as I can.Harleymoon: My goal is just to have fun every day.What kind of travellers are you usually?Roman: I never got the opportunity to do a gap year because I went straight into work at 16. So, the only version of travel that I know has been if I'm booking myself a holiday which, you want to be nice.I've never stepped foot in a hostel in my life, that has never been me. I’ve gone and seen places, experienced things with television shows, but I've never actually done it off my own accord.Harleymoon: I'm quite excited for Roman to experience it, because I have done it. I went backpacking when I finished High School. I've travelled a lot on my own. I've left the party too late sometimes and ended up staying in a hostel.Roman: That's like hell to me. The best way to sum it up is, if you were describing both of us as travellers, I have an itinerary. Harley doesn't.Name the top three home comforts that you're going to miss whilst you're away?Harleymoon: Coffee.Roman: Football is my life, and not knowing the football results will kill me. I also call home every day – and I’ll miss crisps.Harleymoon: There are going to be crisps, we’ll have crisps.Roman: We’re not spending money on crisps.Harleymoon: We’re getting crisps and coffee every day! I have a really fluffy bed. I've got eight big pillows. Marshmallow fort is where I sleep. I also sleep for nine hours a night, every night without fail.Are you in it to win it? Roman: I don't know, I don’t know until we’re there. Because on the one hand I just want to have a good time, but I know that when I get there it’ll be a competition. I'd love to be first at one checkpoint. Then I'll be happy.Harleymoon: I don't want us to come last though.Roman: I think if you're stopping for coffee and crisps...How do you feel about not having a mobile phone or credit cards? Harleymoon: It's going to be a challenge for me. I am a massive plate spinner day- to-day. I've always got multiple projects going at any one time and having nothing but one thing to focus on. I've not really had that for a long time.Roman: I've never been around Harley when she's not working.Harleymoon: I like being overloaded.Roman: Even at Christmas she’s always on the phone, it's wild. I for one, cannot wait for that moment where I don’t have to do think about anything. And one less thing to lose!What are you imagining your biggest challenges are going to be whilst you're on the trip? Roman: Making sure Harley doesn't lose her passport. I’m going to have them strapped to my chest.What do you think your roles are going to be on the race? Is one of you going to be better at talking to strangers? One of you going to be better at map reading? budgeting? Roman: I think out of the two of us. Harley's biggest strength will be to go up and speak to anyone.Harleymoon: I'm quite forgetful, I would always start reading the instructions and think I’ve got it now, whereas I think Roman would actually read the instructions and work it out and make sure that we're on the right track a bit more and be less haphazard.Roman: Put it this way, my mum, the other day, gave Harley my spare key, and she lost it.Harleymoon: My dad picked it up on the floor of the driveway.Roman: So I'm the carrier. I know there's going to come a point where I will have two bags.
What are your strengths and weaknesses going into the race? Harleymoon: I think he’s going to be the muscle.Roman: I think we complement each other quite well.Harleymoon: We have different strengths but we’re both really determined. We can both get our stuff together and get up and go for it, even if we hate it, we're going to go for it really hard. We're both really driven, but Roman a lot more logistical, and he would have thought through everything a few times before we made the decision, And if a man says, ‘Come this way!’ I’m like, this is the party bus.Have you picked up any tips from previous series at all?Roman: I love it that I've been able to interview people that have done the show, and the biggest thing is around budgeting. I’ve nearly worked it out. I think that if we break it down to check points, I'm going to try and maintain us not spending over 13% each leg. That's the sweet spot, if I can get that to 10% budget per leg, wow, I am nailing this. Anything over 15%, no, if Harley wants coffee and we’ve gone over 15%, no.Have you packed anything for the trip that you can't live without?Roman: I've got an iPod Shuffle. Music, for me, is the number one thing. I had to build one for Harley, and I had to build one for me. Mine is all very mellow, quite nice songs and Harley’s is Garage and Usher and Linkin Park.Harleymoon: I wanted to take songs that took me back to being young, to being in school. Because I think there's something so nostalgic about the music we listened to in school, and I didn't want to be reminded of anything current or have a song that I know. I wanted to go back to a place where nothing really matters. I wanted to go back to being 17 on the school bus and thinking, this is who I was, and that's what I was listening to, and I was so free in that time. I think that's where I am in my mind and that's what I'm about to go back to. I'm not an adult, I've got no responsibilities of work or dogs or things. I'm just backpack man now.Are you calm under pressure? Do you cope well in a crisis?Roman: I think that's something we're both pretty good at. If stuff is going wrong, not losing our shit, I think we’re quite good at that.Harleymoon: I'm not a panicker. If things do start going wrong, we can namaste ourselves.Roman: I definitely have anxieties, but I do live TV for a living. That's because it's pressure and that's fun. Pressure is fun. Pressure is fun because I'm not scared of losing or I'm not scared of being embarrassed or showing that I failed. So I think that's what makes it fun.What will be the most surprising thing that viewers will learn about you?Roman: I think how different we are? I think that's quite surprising.Harleymoon: I don't think anyone knows who I am, they’ve got a lot to learn.Roman: Yeah, maybe it’s that I have a sister.Harleymoon: I get so many comments on Instagram, being like I didn't know Roman had a sister. And then they all got asked to do Gogglebox, and I wasn't in it. I didn't even know they were doing it. There's the Kemp family, without me!Roman, can you name the most annoying habit you might struggle with, with Harley? Harley, is there an annoying habit of Roman's you might struggle with? Roman: Snoring.Harleymoon: Lateness or being asleep. I've been to Roman's birthday family dinner before, where he's turned up and we've finished. I am a really bad snorer, but I bought him earplugs.Roman: Helen of Troy was the face that sailed 1000 ships, or whatever. Harley was the snore that sent them the other way.What do you hope this race will change about your relationship?Roman: I think my thing is just learning how to have fun, which I don't feel like I do enough in my life. I feel like my life is based around work and Arsenal, and they are very emotionally taxing that I forget how to just enjoy life and I'm jealous of Harley in that sense, that she has that outlook on finding the fun and finding that form of happiness.What would be your dream destination to race through?Harleymoon: Somewhere hot, the beach.Roman: I told Harley I found out where we were going. I haven't but I pretended, and I said it was Siberia and she cried.I honestly don't know. There are pros and cons to everywhere.Harleymoon: I would love to just be in an environment that I am unfamiliar with. I know I joke about being on the beach, but I think realistically, I want to be thrown into something that I have never seen before. I'm in a different cultural space, I'm trying to work it out, and I'm seeing things for the first time. That for me is really what I would find fun, even if it's muddy and we’re on the back of a chicken van. I just want to have an experience, I'm going to hold on to that memory, even if I don't like it at the time.
Watch on iPlayer.