Jo Gardiner, Race Across the World star, dies aged 61

‘She never did anything by halves’: tributes to Jo Gardiner

Her family said she died “following a long and courageous battle with cancer”, a little over a year after Sam was killed in a car crash.

Gardiner, a physiotherapist from Manchester, travelled across South America with Sam in the 2020 series, racing from Mexico City to Ushuaia in Argentina against four other pairs of contestants.

Sam died in June 2025 after his car came off the road. She is survived by her son Charlie.

In a statement reported by BBC News, her family described her as “one of a kind” and said she “lived fully, fiercely and never did anything by halves”.

"She had a rare gift for making everyone around her feel more alive," said her family.

"She was blessed with countless friends, drawn to her extraordinary magnetism. Somehow, each one felt as though they were among her very best.

"To us, she was more than all of these things. She was our family, our joy, our safe place and our absolute treasure."

Her family added that they took comfort in knowing “her laughter, her courage, her kindness and her wonderfully outrageous spirit” would live on in the many people who knew her.

The mother-and-son pairing was among the more warmly received of that series, in which contestants raced across the continent without flights or smartphones.

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