Road Trip: Southeast Asia

Road Trip: Southeast Asia is the seventh season of the travel reality competition show devised by SJ productions. The show follows a group of individuals travelling around in a select number of recreational vehicles (RVs) from a starting point to a finishing point across a predetermined route. At each city/town pit-stop, the group compete in either an individual or team-based immunity challenge to win the role of 'tour leader'. The worst performing individual in each challenge is put up for 'repatriation', along with another individual of the tour leader's choosing. Everyone other than the three stated cast a vote in the deliberation for who they wish to repatriate, with the individual receiving the most votes kicked-off the road trip. When only two road trippers remain, a jury consisting of the last seven eliminated players vote for who they wish to win the £50,000 prize. The series is hosted by Big Brother UK alumni Lincoln Mackenzie (Season 1 & All-Stars) and Sinead McGrath (Season 2 & All-Stars).

This season began at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and ended in Hue, Vietnam. The tour consisted of five countries throughout Southeast Asia. The winner of the season was Glenn Phillips, defeating Alan Yang in a 4-3 vote to become Champion of the Road Trip.

Voting History
Key
 * This person won the challenge and became the tour leader.
 * This person was safe during the episode and cast a vote for who to eliminate.
 * This person was safe during the episode but did not cast a vote for who to eliminate.
 * This person finished last in the challenge and was therefore automatically nominated for repatriation and remained on the road trip.
 * This person was nominated by the tour leader for repatriation and remained on the road trip.
 * This person finished last in the daily challenge and ultimately eliminated in the repatriation vote.
 * This person was nominated by the tour leader and ultimately eliminated in the repatriation vote.

Game Summary
^¹ Group 1 was picked by team captain Mimi. She selected LeeAnn and Glenn.

^² Group 3 was picked by team captain Tonya. She selected Jorgie and Barry.

^ Group 2 (un-listed) was picked by team captain Nikki. She selected Alan and Seanna.

Episode #1 - Going, Going, Saigon
In the frantic hustle and bustle of central Vietnamese capital; Ho Chi Minh City (commonly still known under its colonial era name Saigon), thirteen brand new road trippers stand waiting as they are soon approached and welcomed by Lincoln and Sinead. After officially being welcomed to Vietnam, the group are told that for this season they will be travelling across ‘Southeast Asia’, and that throughout their time on Road Trip they will be within lands that have seen some of the darkest days of recent human history. In keeping with the high-level of care expected on the show, Sinead reminds each competitor to remain respectful of the people and the land that have given them access, believing if that is adhered to that this could easily be one of the most culturally enriching seasons yet. Lincoln announces to the group that behind them stands the famous Ho Chi Minh City Post Office, and that without even giving the chance for introductions beyond names and ages, that the thirteen will immediately be taking part in their first daily challenge. The group are told that in four groups (three groups of three and one group of four), players will enter the post office where they’ll each be given five letters, with the aim of the challenge being to find the correct walled-mail slot that each letter belongs to. Additionally, each mail slot (when correctly identified) will release another letter, which must then be correctly posted on the opposite wall’s mail slots. However, all letters and addresses that reveal the correct slot are written in the traditional Vietnamese Quốc-ngữ style, making it more difficult to decipher and locate. The individual to post their letters in the fastest time will be granted the win, earning themselves a five-star getaway to Hanoi to be enjoyed after the road trip. Alternatively, the individual with the slowest time will automatically face repatriation, knowing that the odds of them leaving first have greatly increased just an hour into the journey.

During the four person group, LeeAnn proves to be stronger than Dillon, Nikki and Tonya in reading the Vietnamese lettering, locating her first five mail slots as the other three remain stuck on their first and second. Despite wanting to win, LeeAnn quickly whispers instructions to Nikki (directing her to where more mail slots are located, despite every competitor having unique letters and slots). Dillon spots LeeAnn somewhat helping Nikki, asking if she’d do the same for him, but instead is ignored by LeeAnn who exclaims “I can’t, sorry!” as she rushes over to the other side of the room. In a confessional, Dillon criticises LeeAnn for this move, claiming that she “isn’t exactly stealthy, and needs to be careful who she makes an enemy of”. In another group, Mimi and Ryan are both shown to be struggling far behind Glenn, who comfortably finishes over five minutes ahead of the pair of them. Ryan and Mimi laugh at their predicament, clearly not realising the seriousness of this first daily challenge. In the final group of the day, Charlie proves himself to be as strong as LeeAnn in finishing fast, leaving competitors Alan and Jorgie stunned at his precision in locating his mail slots. After the competition, the entire group are gathered below the Ho Chi Minh portrait hung up inside the post office, where Sinead begins reading out the results. LeeAnn is announced to have set the bar extremely high, beating closest finishers Charlie and Nikki each by several minutes to claim the first victory of the season. Lincoln then announces that Dillon, Mimi and Ryan had the three slowest times of the day, with an unsurprising result of Mimi and Ryan being the bottom two. Mimi is revealed to have finished seconds ahead of Ryan, leaving him nominated for the first repatriation and cementing in his mind the gravity of the challenge he just flopped. Following the results, Lincoln and Sinead lead the group outside where the two RVs for the season are waiting for them, each kitted with packed lunches for the group to enjoy en-route to their first group activity. In the interest of safety, both groups have been provided with local drivers for the trip, particularly with the nature of the roads being much different to what the competitors are used to driving on at home.

In the first RV, a saddened Ryan is comforted by those riding alongside him, all silently glad that they are not the one reeling from being the first nominated player of the season. Glenn sits by Ryan, placing an arm around him and trying his best to keep his spirits up. Ryan confesses that he “isn’t used to losing” in life, and that he’s not sure how he’ll manage it throughout Road Trip. Glenn reminds him that regardless of how far any of them get, the likelihood is that all thirteen will ‘lose’ at some point during the journey, and that Ryan perhaps may be lucky to get his loss out the way early before tensions are high. Glenn allows Ryan to borrow his personal MP3-player and headphones, noting in a confessional that he doesn’t like seeing people sad, particularly on the first day. In the other RV, near-bottom placers Mimi and Dillon sit together and admit their glee that Ryan was able to perform worse, sparing both from facing repatriation thus far. Mimi tells Dillon that the experience is “all too real” for her now, and that she wouldn’t have been able to stomach her packed lunch knowing that her neck was already on the chopping block. Dillon ends up enlightening Mimi about his interaction with LeeAnn during the task, noting that she helped Nikki but had refused to offer him the same help. He blames LeeAnn for his near-loss, saying that it felt “unnecessarily bitchy to place (him) in danger like that”. Before Dillon can go on, LeeAnn; who was sitting upfront in earshot, turns and clarifies in a matter of fact tone “I didn’t help because I was trying to win, which I did, thank you! I wasn’t going to hold anyone’s hands through it.” Dillon speaks up in response by telling LeeAnn that he hadn’t asked her to ‘hold his hand’, but rather is confused why she offered help to Nikki but not himself. Despite Nikki’s attempts to address this point herself, LeeAnn once again speaks up and reprimands Dillon, explaining “I told her where more mailboxes were. Not where hers were. I didn’t take her letters and post them on her behalf. I don’t see what there is to bitch about when you’re safe anyway”. The argument evokes laughter off tag-along Lincoln, who exclaims that it wouldn’t be a Road Trip start day without a daily challenge argument.

The two RVs eventually arrive at the Củ Chi tunnels, a series of tunnels located an hour outside of Ho Chi Minh City that were utilised by the Viet Cong during their fighting in the Vietnam War. The thirteen players are given a guided tour of the surrounding area of the tunnels, introducing them to ‘punji stick’ laced booby traps, hidden passages and escape routes that were all featured during the bloody conflict. Oldest player Sam becomes somewhat emotional during the tour, discussing his older brother having served during the Vietnam War, detailing to Barry and Charlie that it certainly took a heavy toll on his mental health and family dynamic for many years that followed. Charlie relates to Sam’s story, mentioning that his grandfather had also served in the conflict, with Barry more than happy to listen as the American’s talk about the impact that the war had on their own lives. Although Barry cannot share his own relation to the war, he thanks both men for their stories, noting that they have “made it all a lot more real” being in Củ Chi. Elsewhere, Nikki and LeeAnn continue talking to one another after the conflict that occurred on the RV, with LeeAnn clearly irritated by Dillon’s comments towards her. Nikki agrees with LeeAnn’s stance on the matter, having been annoyed herself that Dillon would insinuate that her placing in the top was solely down to LeeAnn’s ‘brief help’. LeeAnn jokingly remarks “we’re from Croydon and Crawley… he needs to reel it in because they don’t make them like us in Australia”, only to be corrected by Nikki that Dillon is in fact from New Zealand. After the tour, the group are given the chance to explore the Củ Chi tunnels that have been made slightly wider and taller to accommodate tourists (the original tunnels being 50cm in diameter). Glenn, Jorgie and Seanna group up and head into the tunnels together, agreeing to hold onto one another’s legs as they crawl through so as to not panic due to the immense claustrophobia felt by most. Jorgie appears to be the most panicked of the trio, voicing her gratitude to both Glenn and Seanna for keeping her sane as they successfully get through the open portion of the tunnels together. After hugging, Jorgie confusingly exclaims that “maybe (they) can now join the Viet Cong”, receiving a concerned “…maybe not” off Seanna in response. Lincoln and Sinead later tell the group that they’ll be camping out in their RVs overnight, and that they’ll be able to find refreshments and food within their supplies to keep them stimulated. At nightfall, Dillon and Mimi sit together out on their RV deckchairs, talking privately with nobody around to interject. Dillon tells Mimi that he can sense she is one of the smarter individuals on the tour, a compliment which she returns in his direction. The two agree that working together would be to their mutual benefit, and that if they’re able to ‘perform better’ in challenges, they truly believe they could be one of the strongest duos that Road Trip has ever seen.

Episode #2 - Alpha-Fails
In the early hours of the second day before sunrise, the thirteen Road Trippers separate into the two RVs, beginning a five-hour drive from Vietnam to neighbouring Cambodia. Many of the players remain asleep during the drive, wanting to keep as rested as possible prior to competing in their next daily challenge. Three hours into the journey, a wide awake trio of Barry, LeeAnn and Sam sit together around the table of their RV to play a game of cards whilst conversing about their hopes for the day ahead. LeeAnn admits to being relieved that she doesn’t have to compete in any of the challenges until after the first repatriation, jokingly bringing up that she’s already suffering a ‘traveller’s stomach’. Sam mentions that his past overseas service in the US Army has enabled him to have an ‘iron gut’, believing that he could drink the Cambodian tap water without issue thanks to this. Barry facetiously tells Sam to put this to the test, making both Sam and LeeAnn laugh as he celebrates what would be “one person down without even having to cast a vote”. As the trio laugh, they are quickly hushed by Tonya, who has been trying to sleep nearby in one of the RV beds (alongside Glenn and Nikki). LeeAnn quickly apologises to Tonya on behalf of the group, knowing that they should keep the volume low to allow the group to sleep. Rather than to accept the apology outright, Tonya is shown to roll her eyes, muttering under her breath as she rolls back over. LeeAnn looks at both Barry and Sam in response, also rolling her eyes at what she perceives to be a bad attitude off Tonya. Both women are shown criticising the other in private confessionals, with Tonya thinking LeeAnn’s victory has “gone to her head and let her think she can annoy multiple people… but the immunity doesn’t last forever”, and LeeAnn noting that “if (Tonya) wanted to spend a majority of her time sleeping, then she’d have been better off staying back home and growing out that bald head”.

By midday, the two RVs arrive in Cambodia’s capital city of Phnom Penh, finding Lincoln and Sinead already waiting for them inside a local restaurant. Whilst sitting down for lunch, Tonya makes a clear effort to avoid sitting down next to LeeAnn in the restaurant (despite it being the last available seat). In the end, Tonya pulls a seat from another table, placing it at the other end to LeeAnn, causing an air of awkwardness over the group as many remain confused as to where this drama is stemming from. After lunch, the group are escorted in their RVs to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum; a museum displaying the horrors of the Cambodian genocide under the previously ruling ‘Khmer Rogue’. Prior to entering the museum, Sinead explains to the group that the location of the museum is the site of the secondary school turned ‘Security Prison 21’ (commonly called S-21), a location where almost twenty-thousand prisoners of the regime were tortured and executed, and that in its operation only twelve known S-21 inmates were known to survive their time in the prison. The group begin their tour around the museum, finding the written and photographed history a difficult truth to swallow, particularly as they hear statistics and estimations of thirty-percent of Cambodia’s population being exterminated during the genocide. Despite a majority of the group being touched by the history, Charlie is shown to be somewhat unaffected by what he is seeing, being the only person in the group not to engage with any of the museum staff after the tour. In a confessional, Charlie notes that the genocide “isn’t surprising in this part of the world”, feeling as though it just reminded him “why socialism sucks and we need to keep it out of our country” (despite the Khmer Rogue being a communist regime rather than a socialist one). The thirteen contestants are given a short while to debrief after the tour, reflecting on the tragic history of the land they’re currently touring.

The group are then driven back to central Phnom Penh, where they soon find themselves besides the Royal Palace of Cambodia; the residence of the Cambodian monarchy that has remained occupied for almost two-hundred years (with a minor absence during the years of the Khmer Rogue). Lincoln and Sinead leave the group in the hands of a local guide, who happily shows the road trippers around the palace complex and grounds, giving an insight into the long monarchical history of the country and its cultural traditions. The players are all shown to be keenly listening to the tour, expecting that the information they are given will relate to their next daily challenge. As expected, the group find themselves greeted by Lincoln and Sinead in the palace courtyard, who tell the group that they’ll now be taking part in their next daily challenge, which will involve answering questions on the history of Cambodia that they were told about during the palace tour. After twelve questions, Dillon and Tonya are announced to have both scored the lowest, leading to a tiebreaker question to determine which of them will be facing Ryan in repatriation. Tonya is relieved to win the tiebreaker, leaving Dillon vulnerable to be the first to leave the game. Alternatively, Charlie is revealed to have scored an impressive ten out of twelve questions correctly. However, he is beaten by oldest player Sam, who gets an almost perfect eleven out of twelve, giving him the second daily win of the season. Charlie is seen to be annoyed at his near win, throwing his board of answers down after the results are revealed. Lincoln tells both Dillon and Ryan that they’ll have just ninety minutes until sundown, at which point one of them will be eliminated from the game.

With the nominees known, near-nominee Tonya and in danger Ryan go to one side to discuss Charlie throwing a strop after almost winning the challenge. Both agree that Charlie’s attitude was ‘pathetic’ and ‘unwarranted’. Tonya tells Ryan that she views Charlie as being “a bit unhinged”, a sentiment that makes him laugh. Before parting ways, Tonya tells Ryan that she’s willing to vote to keep him safe, feeling as though she wants less of the ‘sporty males’ like Dillon in the game. Fearing for his own safety, Dillon begins campaigning to save his life in the game. He starts by having a conversation with Glenn, who he perceives to be somebody with similar interests, ending the conversation positively after Glenn says that he worries Ryan is “already defeated” with his attitude. Dillon is also relieved to receive support of Seanna, who also has the perception that Ryan is not somebody who is destined to last long in the game. Elsewhere, despite not having a vote, LeeAnn voices her wishes to some individuals on the tour that she’d like Dillon to leave due to their negative interactions over the last 48 hours. LeeAnn speaks to Nikki about this idea, feeling trust in her after they managed to get along during their conversations. LeeAnn’s wishes are echoed by Alan, who up to this stage has run with a strategy of being “silent and perceptive” of his fellow road trippers. Alan speaks in his confessional about being a “not-so-masculine, gay Asian with a life lived in the fashion industry”, claiming that he has nothing in common with the typical “straight, alpha males” that have dominated many previous Road Trip iterations. Alan goes on to claim that for this reason alone, he feels personally safer with Ryan remaining in the game over Dillon, who Alan calls “everything I don’t expect to want to align with me in this game”. Throughout the remainder of the afternoon, Alan is seen privately campaigning to convince the undecided members of the group to vote against Dillon, noting that it would be a ‘wasted opportunity’ to target Ryan who is “less social and less likely to win anything”. After being campaigned to by Alan, Mimi tells ally Dillon of the efforts that Alan is going to in order to send him home, causing an infuriated Dillon to confront Alan as the group begin gathering in the palace courtyard to cast their votes. Dillon calls Alan “a snake in the grass”, criticising Alan as somebody who “has chosen to find a voice at someone else’s expense”. Alan chooses to own his actions, explaining to the entire group that in looking at previous Road Trip winners (namely Austin, CJ and Etienne), that Dillon fits the bill of a ‘likely victor’ over Ryan, and that the group would look back on themselves in regret if they “don’t jump on the opportunity to take down the man who’ll outrun us, outlift us and outswim us”. Dillon takes the final pre-vote moment to tell the voters that “the only person I’m coming for if I stay in this game is Alan”, swearing the rest of them have nothing to fear from him, as well as pointing out that based on performances alone he has been the worst competitor thus far. One by one, the nine eligible voters place their key-fobs into the holder, all relieved to know that their names aren’t in the mix to be leaving tonight. Sinead begins to draw the votes, with it being tied 4-4 after younger-male Charlie joined Glenn, Mimi and Seanna in voting against Ryan, and Barry joined Alan, Nikki and Tonya in voting against Dillon. The final deciding vote comes down to Jorgie, who is revealed to have been swayed by Alan’s speech, eliminating Dillon from the game in a 5-4 result. A crushed Dillon almost falls to his knees after the result, somewhat in disbelief that his journey is ending after just two days. Whilst saying his goodbyes, Dillon is heard vocalising his wish for the group to “get the snakes (Alan and LeeAnn)” out whilst they still can, hoping that his elimination will cause a shockwave that in turn takes them out with him. Dillon privately wishes Mimi luck before he leaves, telling her that he’ll be holding out for her victory, believing that her story is one that needs to be heard and celebrated within the Road Trip universe. A tearful Mimi hugs Dillon goodbye, returning with the group to the RVs, ready to hit the game hard in return after stripping her of her closest ally just twenty-four hours after the two began to feel secure.

Episode #3 - Squashed Like a Bug
Shortly after the tense elimination of Dillon, the remaining road trippers reach the RVs where many begin to bed down for the night, leaving some others to stay up and talk through the evening’s events. Tonya remains outside alone, taking a moment to meditate as she contemplates the decision she made to vote Dillon out of the game. In a confessional, Tonya mentions her almost immediate change of heart, believing that Dillon would have been a useful individual to ‘target LeeAnn’, who she easily identifies as being the person she least wants to see last on the tour. Jorgie soon comes over to Tonya, taking a seat beside her on the grass to talk about Dillon’s exit, not realising that Tonya had been in the midst of her silent meditation. Tonya decides to openly vocalise to Jorgie that she had voted Dillon; something Jorgie also admits, leading both girls to ponder if keeping Dillon would have been better as his sights were set on Alan and LeeAnn. The girls agree that moving forward they need to consider the short-term game as opposed to who poses a threat long-term, particularly as neither feel that close to Ryan at this stage. A good distance away from the girls, Charlie and Ryan are seen going for a night walk together, with Ryan remaining wide awake in excitement after he managed to narrowly avoid leaving the game. Charlie confesses to Ryan that he had voted to eliminate him, citing his reasons as being that he had assumed Dillon was staying and that he just wanted to “vote with the majority”. Ryan accepts this reason, stating that he won’t hold it against Charlie, and ultimately that he trusts him more for being honest about the matter. Charlie goes on to talk about Dillon’s labelling of Alan as ‘a snake’, believing that there could be truth in the assessment, displaying Charlie’s current beliefs that Alan should be someone voted out as soon as possible. Despite Alan being instrumental in saving him, Ryan notes that he would gladly see Alan go, feeling that he is ‘sneaky’ and ‘going to stick with the girls’. The men agree to keep their desires on the down low for now, returning to the RVs simultaneously with the two girls as the four head to bed.

On the third day of the tour, the group are driven to Cambodia’s second-largest city; Siem Reap. Arriving in the early-afternoon, the road trippers receive word from Lincoln and Sinead that they’ll be taking on their next daily challenge ‘later that evening’, with a group tour booked for the following morning, and the next repatriation unusually being scheduled for ‘noon on the fourth day’. Concerning their next daily challenge, the group are simply told to ‘keep a strong appetite’, causing worry as many realise it will involve eating less than desirable dishes. As the group get ready, Alan and LeeAnn are seen bonding and laughing whilst picking out their outfits, with many wondering if after last nights events that alliances will surely begin to form. At sundown, the players meet Lincoln and Sinead at Siem Reap’s ‘Bugs Café’; a restaurant dedicated to serving insect-based dishes for tourists and locals. Lincoln explains to the group that for their challenge, they will each be facing off in randomly drawn groups of three. The winner of each group will advance to the final round, whilst the losing individual will face-off against the other losers in a bottom-place tiebreaker. For the first round, each player is given two muffins that have been baked with ground up ants and crickets inside. For the first group (Alan, Barry and Charlie), Barry is quick to shove his muffins into his mouth, seemingly unphased by what he is eating and winning the round. Charlie soon follows, agreeing with Barry that it “wasn’t that bad”, making light of Alan’s struggles as he gags on the muffins, spitting them out after he is declared to have lost. In the second group (Jorgie, LeeAnn and Tonya), Tonya munches away as she announces she is “starving”, winning the round way ahead of next finisher Jorgie. LeeAnn wipes tears from her eyes as she gags on the muffin, clearly getting into her head about what she is eating and being unable to swallow. Mimi is next to win her round against Nikki and Seanna, with Nikki placing last and finding herself up against friend LeeAnn in the bottom-tier. Finally, ‘iron stomach’ Sam appears to be less than impressive, as he comes last in his round against winner Glenn and close-second Ryan, although all three men claim to have no issue with the nature of the task. For both final rounds, Sinead announces that all eight will be expected to consume a three-piece tapas plate consisting of a deep-fried tarantula, a crispy water bug and a skewered scorpion. The individual who places last of the bottom-tier will automatically face repatriation, whilst the winner of the top four will have the right to decide who to nominate to face the loser in the next repatriation vote. Of the bottom four, Alan is quick to mentally block out his qualms, performing much better and quickly getting all three items down to secure his safety. Nikki follows over a minute later, with LeeAnn once again gagging and failing to complete the task, allowing Sam to get the last safe spot and ultimately leave LeeAnn nominated for repatriation. A tearful LeeAnn is quickly comforted by the group, with Charlie hugging her and suggesting that she’ll “be okay”, which quickly catches the eyes of Tonya. In the final round, despite Barry and Glenn’s closeness, they are unable to beat ‘starving’ Tonya, who once again devours her plate and claims the win.

After Tonya’s win, the group are given a few moments to grab refreshments; or in LeeAnn’s case - use the restroom, before being brought back together outside to hear who Tonya will be selecting to face LeeAnn in facing repatriation. In a confessional, Tonya is shown clearly announcing that her target would have been LeeAnn regardless, and that she wanted to pick somebody who she felt would most likely survive over her in the vote, whilst also being somebody that may be a vote to save her if they weren’t nominated. Going off this basis, Tonya picks Charlie as her nominee, causing some surprises amongst the group for the perceived ‘randomness’ of it. Lincoln tells both nominees and the group that rather than to have the repatriation that night, that they will instead be having it the following noon, giving both nominees extra time to rally the support they’ll need to remain in the game. Charlie and LeeAnn hug one another after being nominated, somewhat saddened to know they’re campaigning against the other as a means of survival. The final twelve agree to spend the night eating and drinking around Siem Reap’s famous ‘Pub Street’, a district that houses affordable bars, restaurants and adult-entertainment establishments. In one bar, several road trippers are seen ordering beverages and dancing along to the music. However, LeeAnn remains guarded due to her status as a nominee, pulling Alan to one side to talk strategy with him in the midst of the club environment. Alan assures LeeAnn that she has his complete support, with the two agreeing that they and Nikki would be an ideal three person alliance moving forward in the competition. The pair worry that Dillon’s words may make LeeAnn an ‘easy vote’, with those riding the middle looking for any reason to take sides at this early stage. However, Alan claims to be optimistic, believing that they can easily obtain the three votes needed alongside his and Nikki’s to send Charlie out of the game. Elsewhere, Mimi and Tonya are seen together dancing in a ‘go-go bar’, having bonded due to both being apart of the LGBT+ community. Tonya voices to Mimi her regrets over voting Dillon, believing that the tour need to begin targeting players who are “forming a majority” (naming LeeAnn as being one of the main perpetrators of this). Mimi is shocked to hear that Tonya has no desire to see her own nominee leave, but agrees with the sentiment behind Tonya’s argument, particularly as the group in question stripped her of ally Dillon so early on. Although both Charlie and LeeAnn (and their respective supporters/enemies) campaign throughout the night, the abundance of alcohol and music make it a difficult feat, leaving many to retire to the RVs inebriated and seemingly confused as to how the votes will fall the next day.

Waking up hungover and hardly rested, the twelve road trippers all make a short journey out of Siem Reap to the nearby ancient World Heritage site of Angkor Wat for a sunrise tour of the massive complex. Walking around the site, the group are guided by a local who details the vast history of Cambodian Buddhism and Ancient Hinduism that ruled over the land, with the tour also allowing the group to see the Bayon and Angkor Thom temples. During the tour, quiet conversations distastefully continue to take place, as both LeeAnn and Charlie remain concerned they haven’t racked up enough support to survive the afternoon. Tonya is heard to be quietly confident, having been assured that Glenn, Jorgie, Mimi, Ryan and Seanna are voting for LeeAnn, and that ‘undecided’ players Barry and Sam will also fall in-line due to sticking with a majority, leaving LeeAnn’s allies Alan and Nikki alone in a fruitless attempt at saving her. However, Tonya’s persistent pestering of spiritual Seanna during the tour begins to grate on the Irish hippie, who loudly declares that she wants to “hear no more of it” before storming away from Tonya. Seanna later rants about her experiences to Mimi, telling her that she “won’t have her day spoiled by Tonya”, and in an emotional response will be casting her vote against Charlie. Mimi begins to worry with this news, only growing more concerned after both Barry and Sam appear to be less than solid in their votes for LeeAnn, particularly as they now hold the balance of power in a 4-3 split. In a confessional, Mimi mentions that her biggest fear would be to vote in the minority once again, particularly as Tonya’s wishes aren’t being widely respected by the other players. At noon, the twelve players gather out in front of the Angkor Wat temple once again, ready to cast their votes for either Charlie or LeeAnn to leave the game. As Lincoln begins to reveal the votes, Tonya is left horrified as more and more are shown to bear Charlie’s name, with Barry, Sam and Seanna all joining Alan and Nikki in saving LeeAnn. However, Tonya’s horrors grow stronger as both Jorgie and Mimi’s votes are shown to have done the same, eliminating Charlie in a 7-2 result after only Glenn and Ryan were left out of the flip. A disappointed Charlie hugs both Glenn and Ryan goodbye, being quickly made aware that they were the only players to have stuck beside him. Tonya is shocked to be fluffed off by Charlie in his goodbyes, clearly holding her responsible over anyone else for placing him in danger to begin with. Charlie wishes the group well, departing from the temple complex as the remaining eleven remain with Lincoln and Sinead, who tell the group that they’ll have the rest of the day to relax before continuing on with their Southeast Asian adventure.

Episode #4 - Take a Stance
Following Charlie’s blindside (which only he, Glenn, Ryan and Tonya were left out of), the remaining eleven players return to their RVs that begin driving the group back towards Pub Street. During the drive, Jorgie begins panicking as she is confronted by an angered Tonya, who demands to know why she hadn’t been informed that LeeAnn would be remaining in the game. Jorgie nervously passes the blame for the move onto others, suggesting that it was Seanna who started the traction against Charlie, and that after Barry and Sam agreed to vote against him that she “had no choice but to do the same”. Jorgie’s nervous excuses are overheard by Barry, Glenn and Ryan (who are also riding inside their RV), greatly annoying the men who perceive Jorgie to be a coward for not owning her own decisions, passing this information to the other RV who equally share the belief that Jorgie is less than reliable as a potential ally moving forward. Upon reaching Pub Street, the group sit around for several hours as they get lunch and try to enjoy the remainder of the day, ignoring the brewing tensions growing amongst them after Charlie’s repatriation. Over lunch, LeeAnn celebrates with allies Alan and Nikki, also thanking those in attendance that had changed their votes over to keep her safe. During this meal, LeeAnn is made aware of the efforts Tonya had gone to see that she was eliminated, greatly increasing the already large feud between the two women. Later that evening, the two women are shown to butt heads as they stumble across one another in Pub Street after drinks, with LeeAnn calling Tonya a “failed assassin”, to which Tonya bravely exclaims she “never misses twice”. The ladies are eventually pulled apart after causing a sea of tourists to gather around them, with LeeAnn drunkenly singing an off-key rendition of Sinéad O'Connor’s ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ (in a jibe at Tonya, who is also Irish, having being inspired to shave her own head after growing up idolising O'Connor). Tonya is later calmed by Glenn and Jorgie, but swearing to the pair that she’ll “knock LeeAnn back to her dump of an estate” the next chance she gets, claiming that “a face like hers could turn any (lesbian) straight”.

The next morning, the group receive information that they’ll be undertaking a five-hour drive from Cambodia into neighbouring Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok. After separating into RVs, the players hope that by putting Tonya and LeeAnn into different vehicles that they have managed to escape drama for the journey into Thailand. However, Seanna is shown to request ‘a chat’ with Jorgie after hearing that the latter had thrown her name under the bus to Tonya the previous day, wanting to straighten out any misconceptions in front of Glenn, Tonya and Sam who are riding alongside them. Seanna begins by telling Jorgie that she had not dictated to her or anybody else how to vote, and that she simply was put-off by Tonya’s aggressive campaigning against LeeAnn. She goes on to later call Jorgie “two-faced” and “ratty” for suggesting that it was anyone else’s responsibility that Jorgie had voted for Charlie, wanting her to admit this and “own her actions”. Jorgie continues to panic, trying to explain that she believes Seanna’s change is what convinced others, with this vocalisation only causing the anger to increase with Seanna. Glenn and Sam eventually intervene as the two women argue back and forth about the semantics of whether Seanna “influenced” directly or indirectly, leaving Tonya sitting silently as she hears others argue about her own failed move. Seanna and Jorgie are separated to opposite ends of the RV, being spoken to by Glenn and Sam respectively. Glenn listens to Seanna as she rants about Jorgie’s ‘attempts at throwing her under’, which Glenn tries to explain could have been a result of Jorgie misspeaking, and that it would be best for both women and the tour if Seanna were to “forgive and move on”. Seanna appears receptive to Glenn’s advice, thanking him for listening and apologising for her anger, causing her to break down as she claims that her spiritualism usually is enough to ‘keep her grounded’. At Seanna’s request, Glenn joins Seanna in a ‘calmness mantra’, holding her hand as she utters an incantation that appears to replenish her positivity. Towards the front of the RV, a tearful Jorgie tells oldest member Sam that she truly hadn’t intended to “ruin Seanna’s game”, hating that it appears as such. She blames her poor wording on a fear of confrontation, which Sam claims is an understandable fear for somebody so young, offering her his aged-wisdom on how to make peace with Seanna and the entire group for her earlier slip-up. Jorgie thanks Sam for his help, joking that it is nice to have “an old person to get advice from” on the trip, which Sam hesitantly accepts as a compliment.

On arrival in Bangkok, Jorgie calls a group meeting outside the RVs so that she can address the entire group. Jorgie apologises to everybody for her earlier comments to Tonya, explaining that she had misspoken and didn’t meant for it to come across that she was ‘blaming’ Seanna or anybody else for Charlie’s elimination. She goes on to “take full responsibility” for her vote, and “any repercussions that come from it”. The group all take Jorgie’s apology as sincere, causing any earlier negative feelings around her to vanish as they move onto their next daily challenge. The final eleven join Lincoln and Sinead at the Wat Pho temple complex in Bangkok, having a quick tour around where they’re able to marvel at the world famous forty-six metre ‘Reclining Buddha’ statue; taking a quick group photo alongside it for memories. After the tour, the group follow Lincoln and Sinead to a nearby open area of grass where they find eleven perches have been laid out in front of them. Sinead explains to the group that for their next daily challenge, they must endure the afternoon sun and take a seat on one of the available perches in a typical Buddhist ‘lotus position’ (with one palm laid flat and the other raised) whilst balancing a small ‘bean bag’ on their heads. The first individual to slip from their perch/position or lose the bean bag on their head will automatically face repatriation, whilst the last person standing will earn the right to nominate somebody alongside them. Each individual takes their place on their perches, desperate not to be the first to drop-out. After just five minutes, Ryan slightly twitches and causes his bean bag to fall, once again leaving him to be nominated after coming last in a competition. After Ryan is eliminated, Alan, Barry and Seanna all quickly drop out, claiming that they know there is no chance for them to win, particularly as Seanna rushes off to “find a bathroom” and Barry complains about a “sore lower back”. After one hour, Mimi, Nikki and Sam are shown to have joined the eliminated players off to the side, with LeeAnn’s bag falling at the sixty-two minute mark, much to her anger as nemesis Tonya remains in the challenge. As the sun begins to set, the night time mosquitos are enough to scare Jorgie into dropping out, rushing over to the group to get her bug spray, leaving it down to Glenn and Tonya to take the win. Ultimately, Tonya is unable to get her second straight victory, moving her hand up to scratch her nose and thus breaking position, leaving Glenn the individual right to choose who will be nominated alongside Ryan. As Glenn ponders his decision, he clearly appears worried that he could pick somebody with too many friends on the tour, but also fears repeating Tonya’s mistake of targeting somebody and seeing them survive. In the end, Glenn selects Barry who in his mind is a ‘floater’ in the game, believing that even if Barry were to stay that it would not have a detrimental impact on his own standing. Lincoln informs Barry and Ryan that they’ll have just one hour to pitch their cases due to the long duration of the challenge, and that at this time they’ll all reconvene by the Reclining Buddha statue to see which of them will be third to leave the road trip.

With little time to spare, both men quickly get to campaigning for votes amongst those eligible, with Ryan citing support from Tonya after he was one of the few to vote alongside her at the last repatriation. Tonya is quick to give Ryan her support, with daily winner Glenn also confirming in the case of a 4-4 tie that he would break it in favour of keeping Ryan in the game. Ryan then goes to find Jorgie, who he believes is somebody more on ‘his side’ of the numbers, knowing that she had initially been planning to vote against LeeAnn with the others. In order to get Jorgie on side, Ryan takes a tactic of flirting, complimenting Jorgie’s pink highlights and saying that he is “astonished (she) is single”, and that he’d love to “show her around Kuala Lumpur”. Jorgie blushes and laughs as wealthy-Ryan offers her an all-expenses trip, saying that it has always been a dream of hers to visit Malaysia after “seeing it in a travel book”. In a confessional, Jorgie claims that she has no desire to travel alone with Ryan if he intends to make her his girlfriend, saying that she prefers men to be “at least two inches taller than her, and at worst the same height”. However, she claims to be flattered by his flirtation and kindness, noting that she will be voting to keep him in and prove her loyalty. Elsewhere, Barry is given support by Sam, with the two men having formed an unspoken ‘mature alliance’ due to their similar laid back attitudes. Barry ends up campaigning heavily to LeeAnn, who he reminds that he had voted to save her, and that Ryan had been one of the individuals to try and send her home. LeeAnn acknowledges Barry’s argument, believing that she, Alan and Nikki could easily save him if he were to be the more likely person to work with them long-term over Ryan, who appears closes to her nemesis Tonya. Once the hour is up, the group reconvene by the statue, casting their votes for either Barry or Ryan to leave the game. In the end, Barry is spared in a 6-2 vote after he managed to convince Alan, LeeAnn and Nikki that he was the better candidate for them, with Mimi and Seanna also wanting to stick with numbers and reluctant to return to ‘Tonya’s side’ after the drama that has surrounded her the last few days. Ryan fails to appear surprised by the result, having been made aware by several individuals that they were going to keep Barry over himself. Ryan ensures to privately wish Glenn and Tonya luck, also telling Jorgie that the “offer still stands” if she ever wants to visit him in Kuala Lumpur. After Ryan departs the area with his belongings, the final ten board their RVs for the night, slowly all pondering if bigger moves will need to be made if they hope to have any shot at claiming the £50,000 prize.

Episode #5 - Sixteen Hours of Hell
Towards the end of the first week of the road trip, the final ten road trippers begin a gruelling sixteen-hour journey from Bangkok, Thailand to the neighbouring country of Myanmar, where their next destination is to be the country’s capital; Yangon. Throughout the journey, the group do their best to rest and keep themselves entertained, but quickly find the confinement of the RVs in the hot Burmese climate is making the experience much harder. In a confessional, Sam is shown to be admitting that he finds the physicality and low mental stimuli of the competition waning on him, unsure if he “truly wants to keep going with this for much longer”. Sam voices this mindset to the entire group throughout the day, seeming moany and complaining about the lack of comfort, all of which somewhat irritate the group. Mimi mentions to a camera privately that “we didn’t sign up for a luxury retreat, and he should’ve known this when he read the small print”. Tensions also remain high in one of the RVs after Seanna decides to once again bring up the Jorgie drama from the previous days, despite having insisted that such matters were dealt with in Bangkok. Seanna openly refers to Jorgie as “a bit thick” and “not someone (she) could trust again”, causing Jorgie to speak up and defend herself by exclaiming that Seanna needs to “shake her beads and expel her bad energy”. The women continue to argue for several minutes, believing the other to be untrustworthy, and Jorgie in particular noting that Seanna is ‘unhinged’, promising that others on the tour would agree with this assessment. Seanna decides to swap RVs after a break to ensure that she is no longer near Jorgie, who she calls “a little lying c**t” once in the audience of the second RV.

Arriving in Yangon, the group are given access to a local hotel so that they may change and shower after the longest drive of the road trip so far. Once refreshed, the final ten receive instructions to head to the Shwedagon Pagoda; an ancient golden Buddhist wonder that stands an impressive total height of 367 feet. After climbing the steps to the pagoda, the group find a barefoot Lincoln and Sinead already waiting for them. The contestants join their hosts in a barefoot walk around the large pagoda area which is situated atop Singuttara Hill. Throughout this time, the group are given several hours to enjoy the serenity of the popular tourist location, viewing as the golden pagoda becomes illuminated as the night lights are turned on around it. Alan is linked by Seanna who decides to stay by his side throughout the evening, placing her head on his shoulder and claiming that she needs “the sanity of a man” to alleviate the stress caused by “catty, brainless women” on the tour. Alan is more than happy to coddle Seanna, telling her that he’ll have her back and that she would be best to stay away from anyone she senses ‘negative energy’ from. Seanna goes on to admit that she finds Alan to be ‘the perfect man’, wishing that he weren’t gay as he would be “a prime candidate to cohabitate with”. Elsewhere, Jorgie finds herself sitting down and enjoying the windchimes around the pagoda in the night, being joined by Barry who aims to see how she is feeling after he witnessed her fight with Seanna during the drive from Bangkok. Jorgie promises Barry that she won’t let Seanna ruin her experience, giving him her ‘pinky’ finger as a means of promise. The two continue to converse for a good period of time, in which Jorgie is seen becoming somewhat flirtatious in her approach, much to Barry’s enjoyment. In a confessional, Jorgie once again claims to have zero interest in finding a romantic partner on the trip, but realises that with Seanna after her that she will need more allies should she find herself up for repatriation. At the end of the night, Lincoln and Sinead inform the group that it is time to head back to the RVs for some much needed rest, as they’ll all be taking part in their daily challenge the following morning.

With the start of the second week of the road trip now in full swing, the group find themselves meeting Lincoln and Sinead within Junction City; a large shopping-mall located in central Yangon. Sinead explains that for the days challenge, each player will be selling ‘tokens’ for a mall-based restaurant, with each token being exchanged for a typical Burmese-style mutton curry and rice. However, the tokens can only be sold for a set price of 10,000 Myanmar Kyat (roughly £4.30). In the interest of fairness, all contestants will be selling their tokens from 11:00am to coincide with the lunch hours, and must completely sell their ten tokens each in order to ‘check in’. The first individual to ‘check in’ with the correct amount of Kyat will be awarded the daily win and earn the right to nominate somebody to face repatriation, with this individual facing-off against the last person left to sell their tokens. Lincoln reminds the players that for the task they can venture outside the mall, but that the footfall of those willing to pay and attend the restaurant is more likely to be within the mall vicinity. As the task gets underway, the novelty of foreigners frantically selling ‘tokens’ seems to pay off for some, enabling them to shift tokens quickly within minutes of beginning the challenge. Barry is shown to be performing well, having located a group of older women that are swayed into purchasing six tokens. Irish charm also appears to be in action for Seanna and Tonya, both of whom get half their tokens gone within the first thirty-minutes of the challenge. However, Tonya is quickly able to recruit a local girl who speaks English, asking the girl to help her communicate with locals as to what the tokens are for, aiding Tonya in selling all her tokens and be the first to ‘check in’, giving her another daily challenge win. Barry and Seanna finish within the following thirty-minutes, taking second and third place respectively. As the clock gets closer to 13:30pm, Mimi, Glenn and Nikki are all shown to have completed their selling, with Nikki explaining that she was thankful to have found a group of hungry students. Alan is the seventh player to check-in, joking that it doesn’t seem he was trusted as people kept “asking if (he) was Chinese”, much to his amusement. Of the last three, Jorgie’s timid approach appears to be setting her back, whilst LeeAnn makes the mistake of straying too far from the mall, getting lost in a less than affluent market-area of Yangon; whilst Sam looks to be putting little to no effort into selling, clearly having lost energy after the long journey into Myanmar. In the end, Jorgie and LeeAnn are able to finish ahead of Sam, who is brought in after selling just five out of his ten tokens, although many ponder if he ‘threw’ the challenge. LeeAnn goes from relieved to horrified after she notes that Tonya has won the daily challenge, quickly being selected as the nominee to face Sam in the repatriation vote, coming as no surprise to anybody in the game. Sinead tells LeeAnn and Sam that they’ll have four hours to campaign for their safety, before coming together on the ground floor of the mall to determine which of them will be the next to leave the game.

Throughout the mall, the two nominees have conversations relating to why they believe they should remain in the game. Despite Sam’s earlier sentiments that he isn’t fussed about remaining in the game, he still chooses to put forth arguments why he’d like to stay, admitting that to reach the jury stage would be an achievement to celebrate. Barry declares his support for friend Sam, also speaking to Glenn that it would be unwise for them to vote another man out of the game when there are only four of them left. Tonya joins in with the campaign against LeeAnn, wanting to fulfil her promise of ‘not missing twice’ in relation to sending LeeAnn home. Jorgie and Tonya discuss the vote in detail, agreeing that they can continue to work together and perhaps make a new five person alliance between themselves, Barry, Glenn and Sam. However, both girls worry that Sam is not going to be worthwhile to them long term, meaning they would be keen to replace him ‘once LeeAnn is sent home’. In a nearby pizza restaurant, LeeAnn campaigns to Mimi as the two share a medium Hawaiian, with LeeAnn telling Mimi that she thinks there’s a clear divide in the group, and that either way people need to select whether they “want to hand Tonya too much power” by saving Sam. Mimi voices her personal distrust of Tonya, believing that too much drama surrounds herself and Jorgie, and that she’d much rather send Sam home as he “doesn’t even want to be here”. LeeAnn gleefully hears this from Mimi, swearing loyalty to her should she survive the night, hoping that she will be officially joining her alliance with Alan and Nikki. Much of the pressure of the vote appears to fall on the shoulders of Seanna, who herself becomes aware that she is once again in a swing-vote position. Both sides fear aggressively approaching her as she shops around the garment stores of the mall, knowing that last time she was pressured that she had reacted emotionally and negatively. Despite this, Tonya, LeeAnn and Alan are all seen softly campaigning for her support, with Tonya talking about ‘Irish unity’, and LeeAnn and Alan pointing out that to support Sam would “ultimately support Tonya’s ally Jorgie”, knowing that Seanna has an immense disliking of her. The final ten gather on the ground floor to begin casting their votes, eager to see who will be the last person to fall before the jury stage of the game. Sam is revealed to be the next eliminated, shocking nobody due to his vocalised lack of interest in fighting to stay on. However, Tonya and Jorgie are both left surprised as LeeAnn is saved by a 5-2 result, with Glenn also having joined her side after being annoyed by Sam’s attitude and not wanting to senselessly put himself in the minority. A relieved Sam hugs everybody on the tour goodbye, in particular wishing friend Barry luck, and offering words of encouragement to Jorgie and LeeAnn, both of whom he feels are “underdogs” in how they’re treated by others. After Sam’s departure, the final nine return to their RVs where many want to celebrate having made it to the jury. However, an angered Tonya takes the opportunity to throw a snide remark in Seanna’s direction, having yet again failed to get her support when she needed it most. Seanna tells Tonya that “she and her sidekick can bore off”, blaming them for any negativity and swearing that they’ll be the next two to go home unless they are able to win as “nobody likes either of (them)”. Tonya chooses to take her anger up another level, screaming at Seanna and calling her “a batty hippie creep”, going further to call her behaviour towards Jorgie as “bullying”, promising to “take her out” if she ever speaks like that to Jorgie on the tour again. Production quickly intervenes, dragging both women to opposite RVs with the help of their respective friends, and Seanna demanding Tonya’s removal for ‘threatening violence’.

Episode #6 - Lake it or Break it
Immediately following production intervening, Seanna and Tonya remain hyped up and angered as they are confined into separate RVs. Jorgie remains with Tonya, trying to calm her down and remind her not to ‘do anything she’d regret’, also thanking her friend for sticking up for her against Seanna. Unlike Tonya, Seanna appears to have nobody around to comfort her, and instead is lectured by Mimi on why her behaviour was “disgusting”. Mimi goes on to claim that both Seanna and Tonya have brought shame on the group, and made the entire programme look “like idiots” in front of the people of Myanmar. Rather than to apologise, Seanna begins to attack Mimi in return, calling for production to remove her from the RV as she too is “being intimidating and trying to corner (her)”. Mimi shakes her head, joining in with the declaration of Seanna being ‘crazy’, voicing her belief that Seanna should leave the tour and immediately seek help for everybody’s safety. An upset Mimi walks over to a lonesome Glenn, eventually breaking down in tears and accepting a hug from him, admitting that she is “just frustrated and exhausted” with the drama on the trip. Glenn does well to comfort Mimi, telling her that she is loved and supported by himself and others, and that he believes soon those making trouble will leave the game and let the rest of them enjoy their experience. The pair head off together to find the others who have gone to a local bar to celebrate making the jury, promising to forget the drama and enjoy themselves whilst Jorgie, Tonya and Seanna are not in attendance.

At the bar, the group celebrating are quick to pass around the drinks, with Barry in particular eager to chug down as many Myanmar local beers as he can before the night is up. Alan, Glenn and Nikki sit together in a booth within the bar, talking about the intensity of the game only growing stronger, and noting that people will likely be more cutthroat now that they are getting towards the later stages of the game. Both Alan and Nikki ensure to thank Glenn for voting alongside them, hearing out his reasons that he doesn’t want to align himself with “the drama starters”, viewing the two of them and Mimi as the people that he’d feel better going to the end with. Nikki proposes that the three of them make an official ‘alliance’, and that they can use others (such as Mimi and LeeAnn) to get ahead. Alan supports this proposal, getting in a round of drinks for the three of them to toast to their new group. In a joint confessional, Alan and Nikki are shown to be laughing at their double dealings, believing at this stage they are aligned with a majority of the tour, and are now both in two final three alliances with a different third individual. The pair discuss their preferred loyalty to LeeAnn at this stage, but agree that with her big personality and strong gameplay that she is likely to be perceived as their leader, and that by making their own side-deals they will insulate themselves to survive when “things inevitably get messy”. Back at the RVs, Seanna is shown to have already fallen asleep after performing a cleansing mantra, whilst Jorgie and Tonya lay together in a bed and laugh about stories from back home, doing their best to look past the fights that took place throughout the day. In a confessional, Tonya notes that she loves Jorgie like “a little sister”, declaring her unwavering loyalty to her, and her belief that she has found a friend for life. Later on, the entire group find themselves returning to the RVs, which set off at 5am to perform a nine-hour journey north.

Throughout the night, Barry becomes extremely unwell in his RV, vomiting up much of the excess alcohol he had drank during the evening, forcing both RVs to pull over as the group are made to clean up the mess and tend to Barry. Despite everyone’s initial concerns, the early-morning vomit episode causes the group to feel frustrated with Barry, particularly after he seems ungrateful that many of them were forced to clean up his sick. Just after midday, the group arrive at Inle Lake; a freshwater lake that acts as the second-largest in all of Myanmar. The final nine are escorted via local fishermen’s boats to a larger boat within the lake, where Lincoln and Sinead are already waiting. Lincoln and Sinead surprisingly explain to the players that they’ll be taking part in their team challenge, and for the first time in Road Trip history will be split into three groups of three. For the challenge, each group will board small fishing boats, paddling along the lake in a race where they must collect fish-traps along the way that have been clearly marked for them. The first team to complete the course will be declared the winners. Sinead explains that the winning team will each be rewarded with £2,500, whilst the losing team will all automatically face repatriation. Unusually, Lincoln explains that the team who finishes second will be responsible for determining who from the losing team is to leave the game. In order to establish team captains, the players are made to play a large game of marbles, which remains a popular pastime for children throughout the country. After the game, Mimi, Nikki and Tonya are revealed to have placed first, second and third respectively, and as a result will act as team captains. Mimi is first to select, choosing friend and ally LeeAnn, with Nikki selecting Alan and Tonya predictably taking Jorgie, as every girl clearly intends to stand by their closest allies. Mimi then selects Glenn as her final team member, with Nikki riskily choosing Seanna (who she believes would be a shield for her and Alan if they were to lose), leaving Barry to automatically join Tonya’s team. As the challenge begins, all three teams try to get the hang of paddling and steering their boats, finding it a much more difficult task than they had imagined. For Team 2, Alan appears to be performing terribly, having no coordination and undoing any progress made by Nikki and Seanna. Similarly, both Jorgie and Tonya appear to do awful for Team 3, with Barry also not being the strongest of competitors, leading their boat to float off course and slowly drift towards the banks of the lake. Alternatively, LeeAnn and Mimi strongly lead their team, with Glenn shocked but glad to be following their lead, easily allowing their team to get ahead and collect their fish traps, ultimately placing in first by a big margin. Around thirty-minutes later, Nikki’s team is able to overcome Alan’s abysmal performance and get themselves to safety, leaving a still drifting Team 3 all facing repatriation after they failed to even arrive at their first fish-trap.

After production goes out to collect Barry, Jorgie and Tonya, the trio are told that they’ll all have just a few hours until sundown to convince Alan, Nikki and Seanna why they should remain in the game. The final nine are escorted by the fishermen back to land, utilising an open area by the lake to begin their deliberations. The three eligible voters sit together to discuss their initial thoughts on who they’d like to send home, unanimously agreeing that Barry is the least threatening of the trio, and that it would be the strongest move to send Tonya home due to her two challenge wins and frequent high-placements. However, Seanna also claims to be willing to vote for Jorgie, particularly after Alan says he would feel it “somewhat unfair” to oust Tonya after she hasn’t directly done anything to himself throughout the trip. Seanna tells the pair that she is going to spend the remainder of her afternoon “enjoying the waters”, and that when they have decided who between Jorgie and Tonya will be leaving to “let her know” so she can join the vote. After Seanna leaves, Alan and Nikki begin speculating what their move should be, only to be interrupted by Jorgie who comes to pitch her case. Jorgie tells the pair that she doesn’t feel ready to go home, and that her preference would be for Barry to leave, but that she understands it wouldn’t be their decision as their “alliance wants Tonya or (her) gone”. The pair manage to bond somewhat with Jorgie during her pitch, both getting the feeling that voting her may not be the best move for either of them. As the vote draws nearer, Nikki and Alan both talk about Jorgie’s perception of them doing what ‘an alliance’ wants, worried that they aren’t individualising themselves enough outside of a bigger group. Nikki is quick to propose that it could be worthwhile to have both Tonya and Jorgie stay, particularly as both girls are at war with LeeAnn and Seanna, and that the four of them would knock one another out before even casting a look at herself or Alan. Alan claims to have also had the same thought, but reminds Nikki that to not oust Tonya would severely harm their relationship with LeeAnn and by extension put a target on their backs moving forward. At sundown, the final nine regather by the lakeside, with the winning trio eager to hear what has been decided after being left out of much of the afternoons conversations. Barry, Jorgie and Tonya hold hands, with the girls in particular saddened at the idea of either of themselves being the one to leave the game. However, the group are stunned as a 2-1 result is declared to have eliminated Barry from the game, with Seanna being left out as she voted nemesis Jorgie alone after Alan and Nikki opted to make their own move and keep the feuding ladies active in the game. A surprised Barry says his goodbyes, wishing everybody luck and finally apologising for his sickness in the RV, now aware that it may have been the catalyst in getting him off the tour. An ecstatic Jorgie and Tonya thank Alan and Nikki after Barry’s exit, leaving an angered LeeAnn and Seanna demanding answers from the pair who have started the jury off with a betrayal and a blindside.

Episode #7 - Hot Air Balloon Trip
After Barry’s blindside, the remaining eight players return to the RVs where they are told to settle down for the night, as they’ll be moving onto their next location in the early hours of the morning. Despite the warning, both LeeAnn and Seanna remain angered with Alan and Nikki, feeling betrayed by the duo after they chose to save both Jorgie and Tonya in order to ‘individualise’ their own games. As the group begin conversing in order to get answers, Nikki goes on an immediate defensive, stating that she needed to “get a resume for the jury” and “not look like somebody’s shadow”. Nikki goes on to foolishly exclaim that she didn’t save anybody because she liked them, but rather because she is “playing to win”. This ‘game-botty’ response from Nikki (which she claims was to not upset LeeAnn further) ends up having a negative effect, as both sides of the group see Nikki as lacking basic emotion and being too selfish to trust. The following morning, the group all pile into a single RV, no longer utilising two for their travels. On the drive, LeeAnn is heard ranting to the entire group about betrayal and game-playing, stating that the last vote told her that she cannot be relying on ‘people she thought were friends’. As LeeAnn continues to go on and on, a usually quiet Glenn removes his headphones to remark that “no one here is above being lied to”. This comment quickly stuns LeeAnn, asking him to elaborate, leading Glenn to scold LeeAnn for perceiving that people aren’t allowed to play the game and betray, noting that “people playing the game and turning on their word is the only reason you’re even still here”. Rather than to accept Glenn’s point, LeeAnn tells Glenn to “put (his) headphones back on” and not speak on the matter, leading to the two to continue bickering about whether anyone can act hurt within Road Trip. Tonya is heard speaking up in support of Glenn, telling LeeAnn that she “doesn’t like the truth” and constantly “runs with double standards”. Initially, LeeAnn does her best to fight both Glenn and her nemesis, but quickly quietens down as she realises nobody is coming to her defence.

Arriving in Bagan, the group finish up a packed lunch that had been provided for them throughout the drive. The final eight are greeted by Lincoln and Sinead, who usher the group towards the famous Bagan temples, of which around 3,000 religious structures still exist to this day. In a long three hour tour, the group are driven around Bagan’s Archaeological Zone, where they visit the sites most popular Hindu and Buddhist pagodas that date back to the 11th century. The tour finishes at the Ananda Temple; a Buddhist temple that has stood in Bagan since 1105, with the group able to get group photos and socialise around the temple grounds before moving on to their next activity. Allies Nikki and LeeAnn walk around the temple together, holding hands and trying to talk over their issues following the last repatriation vote. Nikki does her best to explain to LeeAnn why she felt it necessary to make the move, promising her friend that the vote in no way was done as a sign that she and Alan were not honouring their final three, particularly as Barry was not working alongside any of them. LeeAnn voices her frustrations with the pair keeping in nemesis Tonya and her closest ally Jorgie, a sentiment which Nikki can accept, leading to the girls coming to an understanding that they will need to rebuild trust over the next few days if they want to make it to the end together. The girls are shown to hug it out, seemingly having completely made up and forgiven any anger aimed at the other for Barry’s elimination. Later on, Nikki decides to try and redeem herself after sensing the negative energy from early on, making a bold move by bringing together enemies Jorgie and Seanna for a “peace talk” whilst in the peaceful atmosphere of Bagan. Nikki sits between both women, mediating a conversation where they are able to voice their differences in a calm and controlled environment, noting that whilst they’ll never be friends, that they can easily be civil for however much longer either stay in the process. Remarkably, the three women hug one another after their conversation, clearly feeling better after their talk and believing that Bagan is having a positive impact on all of them.

Following the peace talks, the group move from the Ananda Temple back towards a clearing of grass amid Bagan’s many brick pagodas. Here, the group are told by Lincoln and Sinead that they’ll be taking part in their next daily challenge, which will entail two groups of four to board a hot air balloon ride over Bagan (a popular tourist attraction in the area). Whilst on the balloon rides, the players will use provided binoculars to look over a designated area of Bagan, and must count the number of temples within this area that have been marked by Road Trip flags. After thirty-minutes, players must submit an answer to how many temples/pagodas they noted with the number, and may not confer with others during or after the balloon ride in order to work together. The individual who is closest to the correct answer will be awarded the win, whilst the individual who is furthest away will automatically face the next repatriation. Alan openly laughs at the challenge, noting that he, LeeAnn and Mimi are ‘effed’ because they all wear glasses. However, Mimi confesses that her glasses are “purely a fashion statement”, taking them off and laughing as she marches towards her respective hot air balloon. In the first balloon, Glenn, Nikki, Seanna and Tonya compete, all staying quiet and doing their best to concentrate on the task at hand. Alternatively, the second balloon of Alan, Jorgie, LeeAnn and Mimi seem a lot more vocal, with the four entering into a group laughing fit as they search around for the tiny flags, and Alan evidently struggling to use his glasses alongside the binoculars. After the task, submissions are given as the group gather besides a pagoda, eager to hear the results from Lincoln and Sinead. Alan is revealed to have narrowly avoided falling into last place, only surviving thanks to being one pagoda closer to the correct answer than balloon companion Jorgie, who now automatically finds herself nominated. Alternatively, a top three tie is revealed to be between Glenn, Nikki and Tonya, which Sinead confirms will require a tiebreaker challenge. The top three are each placed in front of an identical fifteen-tier piece pagoda puzzle, with the first individual able to complete their puzzle being crowned the daily winner. Tonya once again comes out on top, claiming her third individual daily win of the season, and giving her the right to select who will face-off against close friend Jorgie in the next repatriation. Pondering for a moment, Tonya tries to decide between once again going after enemy LeeAnn, or instead targeting somebody who she feels would be a better candidate to leave over Jorgie. Tonya is revealed to make a strategic decision, selecting lesser enemy Seanna to go against Jorgie, believing that she would have a better chance of getting the votes against her than a third failed attempt at shooting towards LeeAnn. Sinead confirms that the group will remain in the area for a further hour as the sun goes down, with the two nominees only having this time to fight for their safety in the game.

A tearful Seanna is taken to one side by Mimi, hugging her and immediately gossiping about Tonya, who she calls “a nasty piece of work”. Seanna claims to have done nothing to warrant “constant abuse” from Tonya, with Mimi doing her best to keep Seanna calm, despite looking at the cameras behind her back and somewhat rolling her eyes. Mimi agrees that Tonya is definitely a dangerous player, believing that Alan and Nikki will regret not ousting her when they had the chance. Mimi goes on to tell Seanna that she should have a comfortable chance at surviving, as long as she ‘reminds people that Jorgie and Tonya are a pair’. Seanna follows Mimi’s advice, speaking to the eligible voters about keeping her in, glad to hear that Alan, LeeAnn and Nikki are in-line with Mimi’s viewpoint of Tonya and Jorgie being a pair. Alternatively, Jorgie does her best to speak to those eligible and remind them that she is still her own player, and that she doesn’t think there is ‘a chance in hell that she will ever win anything’, acting as a shield to those still in the game. The four person alliance of Alan, LeeAnn, Mimi and Nikki get together, knowing that they have complete control on who to send home, having little to no concern as to how Glenn will be voting at this stage. Alan and Nikki both claim to prefer Jorgie, feeling that to oust her here would ‘undermine’ the move they previously made. However, both know that to do this they would need to convince LeeAnn, not wanting to turn on her immediately after the last round. Before the vote, the group request that Glenn be given a guitar (which had been provided by a production member), allowing him to give an acoustic performance as the group sit around a campfire. The performance is greatly received by everyone, causing tears amongst several of the girls, feeling the music has allowed them to release many pent-up emotions. Glenn follows his performance by giving a short speech, reminding everyone that they each bring some light and positivity to the tour, and that he doesn’t want to see a “return of negativity” that has been reaped the last week. With that, the five eligible players cast their key-fobs for who they want to leave the game, eliminating a blindsided Seanna in a 4-1 result after only Glenn voted against Jorgie out of pity for Seanna. Seanna shakes her head in disbelief, angered that the foursome would choose to keep Jorgie despite her being aligned with their biggest competition. A private bus takes Seanna from the area, with the Irish hippie wishing nobody luck as she slams the car door behind her, with many feeling that much of the negativity will be exiting the game. The final seven are then escorted back to the RV, talking positively as a group for the first time in days, hoping that it’ll last into the last stretch of the road trip.

Episode #8 - Bad Thai
The positive vibe around the group continues overnight into the morning, with the final seven sitting together to eat breakfast in the RV prior to moving to their next destination. The group receive information that rather than to drive up to twenty-hours, that they will be travelling by air from Myanmar to Chiang Mai, Thailand. At the airport, Jorgie and Glenn are seen sitting together as they listen to Glenn’s music, bonding as the two youngest players left in the game. In a confessional, Jorgie blushes as she talks about a blossoming friendship with Glenn, complimenting him as one of the few “genuinely nice, kind hearted people” on the tour. Glenn reciprocates this mentality in his own confessional, believing that Jorgie has unfairly found herself in a lot of drama, an assessment he's come to after spending more time with her the last few days. After a short flight, the final seven find themselves arriving in Chiang Mai, getting on a private bus that takes them towards the city centre. During the drive, Alan joins Tonya and Jorgie at the back of the bus, laughing with the girls as they talk through what ‘fashion items’ they’ll be donning over the next few hours. Alan promises to give both girls some advice on their clothing, wanting to get them looking their best as he’s “fed up of seeing shorts and sweatpants”. Both Tonya and Jorgie appear to enjoy spending time with Alan, appreciating him as a friend, and additionally knowing that his vote will be key moving forward in the game. Tonya gets the ball rolling by quietly mentioning to the pair that she’d like to see the two of them and Glenn at the endgame, also being open to the idea of bringing Nikki with them. Jorgie parrots this desire, leaving Alan somewhat in a difficult position, knowing that he cannot keep his blossoming friendship and trust with the girls and the already established alliance he has with LeeAnn, Nikki and Mimi.

Lincoln and Sinead meet the final seven at a local Thai cooking school, bringing the group in where they each are treated to a buffet courtesy of the school’s main instructors. After lunch, Lincoln explains that for their next daily challenge, each player will be tasked with cooking a Thai curry alongside steamed rice and chicken Pad Thai. The dishes will be judged by the school’s instructors, where the best and worst dishes will win and be nominated respectively. With just two and a half hours of time to prepare their dishes, each participant struggles to adjust to their individual cooking stations, knowing how much is riding on this challenge. Glenn, LeeAnn and Tonya all look to be struggling throughout the challenge, particularly as they own rarely cooking back home and being unfamiliar with Thai cuisine. Despite sharing this trait, Jorgie shocks the group as she gets the hang of cooking, admitting that she’d like to ‘do it much more when back home’. Alan, Mimi and Nikki all seem quietly confident throughout, being regular home cooks, and each believing that this could be their first individual win of the season. The judges gather to anonymously sample and score each players dish, handing over the results to Lincoln and Sinead to read aloud. Nikki is revealed to have fallen directly in the middle of the pack, with novice Jorgie placing in third and Mimi finishing in second, giving Alan the win and his first victory of the season. For the bottom three, Tonya’s burnt rice and LeeAnn’s bland Pad Thai aren’t enough to put them directly in danger. Instead, Glenn’s undercooked meat is declared a “disaster”, leaving him vulnerable and facing his first repatriation vote. Alan is asked to immediately select his nominee to face Glenn in the vote, leaving him with the difficult task of putting up one of the women who undoubtedly trust him. In a confessional, Alan quickly rules out LeeAnn, Jorgie and Nikki as potential targets, believing that he wouldn’t be able to “get away with such a move”. Ultimately, he chooses to nominate Mimi over Tonya, stating his reasons being that he would trust Mimi less than anyone else to keep him in the game if he found himself in danger. Mimi, Nikki and LeeAnn audibly gasp as Alan makes his nomination, having expected Tonya would finally find her game coming to an end. Sinead tells Glenn and Mimi that they have several hours until the vote is due, and that the group will be going on a further excursion before one of their games comes to its final stop.

Immediately after Mimi’s nomination, anger erupts within the group between the four person alliance, with Alan’s decision to turn on Mimi signalling that any loyalty between them is certainly over. LeeAnn shouts loudly that “Tonya should have gone today”, hugging Mimi who tears up beside her, shocked to have been so easily thrown to the side by her allies. Rather than to let LeeAnn drag her name any further, Tonya speaks up by telling LeeAnn that “you aren’t always getting your way”, reminding her that “nobody here is your slave”. The two women begin shouting in one another’s faces, releasing their hatred once again as the group do their best to break them up. After pulling Tonya back, Jorgie is heard speaking up in favour of her friend, calling LeeAnn “aggressive” and “insane”, telling the group that they cannot have people enter a game who are “ready to get violent every time they’re on the losing side”. This comment quickly catches Mimi’s attention, who stops crying and calls Jorgie out in return, reminding her that previous fights had been started by herself and Tonya after they failed to get their own way. Mimi goes on to call Jorgie and Tonya “hypocrites”, concentrating much of her anger at being nominated on Jorgie, who holds her own by gladly telling Mimi that she’s “voting (her) out”. Daily winner Alan also gets involved in the conflict, standing in front of Jorgie to shield her from Mimi’s anger, telling her that she should ‘focus her energy on himself’, rather than “picking an easy target”. Mimi follows Alan’s advice, saying that she ‘knew he was a snake from the start’, once again bringing up his actions against Dillon and Barry. Alan owns the ’snake’ label, telling the entire group that only one of them will win, and that “everyone will betray everyone” by the end of the process. Rather than acknowledging Alan’s words, Mimi yells “f**k off, serpent”, returning to the bus with LeeAnn in arm. Throughout the entire conversation, Nikki is seen tearing up and being comforted by stoic nominee Glenn, who stands to the side with his arm around her. The entire group cram into the private bus together, with Tonya and Jorgie both thanking Alan for coming to their aid, feeling that he truly is now on their side moving forward.

The bus drives west towards to ‘the Monk’s trail’; a trail that leads deep into the jungles of Thailand to the temple of Wat Pha Lat. On the journey, Nikki is heard audibly ranting and somewhat sobbing about the challenge results, unsure why she was “deemed to have s**t food”. Despite being nominated, Glenn does his best to calm Nikki down, trying to remind her that the judges didn’t call her food “s**t”. Nikki’s seemingly self-centred sadness (despite being safe) irritate the entire bus, with Mimi stating in a confessional that Nikki “has departed from any sense of reality, and left her sanity back in Bagan”. The group arrive at the Monk’s trail, walking through the jungle trek to the ruins of Wat Pha Lat. Despite both Glenn and Mimi knowing their lives are on the line, neither appear to be overly campaigning for their own safety, with Mimi somewhat already resigning herself to be eliminated, knowing that in the best case scenario of a tie that Alan is likely going to send her to the jury. The final seven sit with Lincoln and Sinead inside the temple, taking a moment of silence to embrace themselves in their wild surroundings. Before the vote, Glenn pitches that he would like to remain on the tour to “continue spending time around people (he) likes”, promising positivity and “good vibes”, laughing as he claims ‘that’s all he has’. Alternatively, Mimi half-heartedly tells the group that she doesn’t expect to be saved, believing that Alan is “playing for third” behind Tonya and Jorgie, stating that this is ‘his last chance to correct his mistake and send Glenn home’. However, Alan’s input is never required, as Mimi is ousted in a 3-1 vote after Nikki joins Tonya and Jorgie in voting her out of the game, having spoken with Alan and agreed to go forward with the move against her. Mimi hugs LeeAnn goodbye, wishing both her and Glenn luck going into the final days of the game, believing that they are the only honest individuals remaining in the group. The final six depart from the temple, following Lincoln and Sinead as they retrace their steps down the path back to the RV, leaving Mimi sitting alone in the darkened temple to exclaim “I hope they leave my things before driving off”.

Episode #9 - The Bald and the Beautiful
The final six board a public bus to take them on a twenty-hour drive from Thailand’s Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, situated in the neighbouring nation state of Laos. Throughout the journey, an angered LeeAnn spends much of her time ignoring both Alan and Nikki, holding the pair responsible for their betrayal of the groups four person alliance with recently eliminated Mimi. In a confessional, LeeAnn declares that she won’t let either of the pair betray her again, insisting that she will instead focus on working with Glenn and Jorgie, who she believes would be willing to potentially oust Nikki (who LeeAnn feels is less liked than Alan) at the next elimination. LeeAnn moves over to the pair on the bus, leaning over the back of their chairs to talk privately to them about this idea, claiming that Alan and Nikki are a ‘final two’, and that it would be in their interest to take one of them out now. Glenn reacts positively to the pitch, doing his best to coerce Jorgie to also agree, believing that LeeAnn is less of a threat now that she appears to be completely alone in the game. Tonya sits at the back of the bus, able to see the trio in conversation thanks to LeeAnn being unsubtle about leaning over their chairs. Tonya turns to a nearby camera, wishing that the bus would “crash and send her flying through the front window”, laughing after the less than kind remark about her sworn enemy LeeAnn.

After an exhausting journey, the group exit the bus and are given private transportation to a farming area of rice paddies just outside the city. On the bus, the players are each provided with lunch, ensuring that everybody is fed and hydrated for their next daily challenge. Tonya ensures to spend time sitting with Glenn and Jorgie, who have grown extremely close over the last few days in what the group are now dubbing the season’s ‘flirtmance’. Third wheeling, Tonya tries to pry information out of the pair, wanting to know what LeeAnn had spoken to them about on the bus ride. Jorgie willingly gives up the information, pleasing Tonya as it confirms that the other three remain ‘at each other’s necks’. Glenn asks if they should leak the information to Nikki, but Tonya instead claims that they should wait to see which of them are nominated, particularly as they’ll need to do whatever ‘ensures the three of them survive’ the round. In his confessional, Glenn talks about being in his mind the “best placed player” in the game, believing that nobody has his card marked for elimination. Despite this notion, he announces that he is refusing to get too cocky, knowing how quickly things can change as per the last two weeks of gameplay. The players eventually exit the private bus as they find Lincoln and Sinead waiting at a local rice paddy, which has been repurposed to act as the location for their next daily challenge.

Each individual listens carefully as Lincoln and Sinead explain the rules, knowing the importance of winning challenges is greater than ever in these final stages of Road Trip. All six competitors are told they’ll be trudging through the muddy shallow waters of the rice paddy, searching for three specific rings matching a pre-selected colour that represents them in the task. Each round, the last individual to find their three rings and place them on their podium will be eliminated, with the last player remaining in the game being declared the winner, nominating somebody to face the first person out of the challenge in repatriation. In the first round, the group frantically search through the wet mud of the paddy, finding that if they remain still for too long that they begin to sink. Glenn easily becomes the first player eliminated after he shockingly is unable to find a single one of his coloured rings, which he jokingly disputes were “even in the mud at all”. Glenn takes a spot on the side, disappointed to know that yet again he has automatically found himself nominated for repatriation. After Glenn’s rings are located and removed, the remaining players have their rings re-hidden, with the second round proving much more frantic and physical than the first. LeeAnn is narrowly beaten by Jorgie in placing her third ring, leaving her eliminated and taking a spot next to Glenn on the sit out bench. Narrow finisher Jorgie is unable to last much further in the competition, easily being the third eliminated player as the other three prove to be much quicker yet again. After Tonya too is eliminated, allies Alan and Nikki prepare to face-off in their final round, with Alan hoping to claim his second straight daily win, and Nikki eager to earn her first. In the end, Nikki is able to outmanoeuvre Alan in the mud, getting all three first and winning herself her first daily challenge. A soaked and muddy six stand to the side of the paddy as they congratulate Nikki on her victory, eager to hear who she’ll select to face Glenn in the vote. Before Nikki can talk through her mindset, Tonya speaks up telling her to put up LeeAnn, quickly exposing that LeeAnn had told Glenn and Jorgie that they could get her out at the next opportunity. A stunned Nikki listens on as LeeAnn quickly speaks up for herself, denying that there was any truth in the plan, instead telling Nikki that “it’s them against us”, claiming to still be interested in working alongside herself and Alan. Despite Jorgie and Glenn both calmly supporting Tonya’s argument, Nikki announces that she is “going with her own mind” and “nominating the biggest competition”, selecting Tonya to face Glenn in repatriation. An irritated Tonya calls Nikki “pitiful” for the move, believing that LeeAnn would have been the correct person to oust. Lincoln tells Glenn and Tonya that they’ll have the remainder of the afternoon to campaign for votes, and that at sundown one of them will become the fourth member of the jury.

The muddied group return to Luang Prabang city centre where they’re given access to shower quarters so that they may freshen up ahead of the repatriation. During the journey back, Tonya remains angered with Nikki for her “retarded” move, calling her “the dumbest player still out here”. Nikki chooses to passively ignore Tonya, instead speaking with Alan and LeeAnn about the latter’s supposed ploy to vote her out. LeeAnn confesses that such conversations had taken place, but assures Nikki that it was just to keep Tonya and her allies from “uniting against one of us”. Although not totally convinced, Nikki states that she will look past it “for the good of the alliance”, with the trio putting their hands into a pile as they swear to no longer betray one another moving forward. Jorgie and Tonya both converse as they exit the communal showers, with Tonya telling Jorgie that she is certain her time is up, thinking that LeeAnn and Alan will both cast their votes against her. Jorgie states her belief that Alan may instead vote Glenn, meaning that with her vote they could eliminate him from the game. However, Jorgie is shown in a confessional to be ‘conflicted’ about the vote, not knowing if Tonya staying may harm her game due to the drama surrounding her, and also being aware that challenge-wise she will be unlikely to outperform her. Glenn sits with Alan and LeeAnn soon after showering, walking down the streets of Luang Prabang where he ensures to reiterate Tonya’s challenge prowess, telling the pair that if Tonya wins the next challenge it will most likely be one of them leaving (unless Jorgie places last in the daily). Alan begins interrogating Glenn as to his final three plans, with Glenn claiming to be ‘open to anything’, ultimately going as far to promise both Alan and LeeAnn that “neither of them will be his nominee” if he is to win the daily, instead suggesting he would target Nikki. LeeAnn laughs at this offer, reminding Glenn that he has “no need to try and convince (her)”, gleefully awaiting the moment she is finally able to vote Tonya out of the game. At sundown, the group regather at the ‘Presidential Monument’, leaving Glenn and Tonya a final moment to argue for their survival. The pair hold hands as the three key-fobs are placed into the holder, being revealed to all bear Tonya’s name, eliminating her in a unanimous 3-0 vote. Tonya holds her tears back as she selectively only says goodbye to Glenn and Jorgie, wishing the pair luck moving forward against “three deceptive players”. LeeAnn decides to hold her celebrations to a minimum, choosing not to rub salt in the wound as Tonya departs with her belongings. The final five all cheer as Sinead informs them they’ll be staying in a hotel overnight, giving them access to their first proper beds in days. At the hotel, the group splits into gendered bedrooms, with Alan and Glenn talking deep into the night. Alan ensures to remind Glenn to stay true to his deal, which Glenn insists will be honoured, with the men shaking hands before turning off their lights to sleep.

Episode #10 - The Puppet Master
Waking up the morning after Tonya’s elimination, the final five road trippers exit their overnight hotel and take private transport to Luang Prabang’s main airport, boarding a plane that flies them back into their starting country of Vietnam. After arriving in Hanoi, Vietnam, the group board another private vehicle, with the driver telling the group that they’re heading to “the Hanoi Hilton”. Jorgie becomes wildly excited at the announcement, claiming that her family will be “insanely jealous” of the group for visiting a luxury accommodation. LeeAnn and Nikki both join in on the excitement, with the girls speculating whether or not they’ll be pampered and given five-star treatment due to making it so deep into the game. Glenn is seen laughing at himself as he watches the girls make predictions, admitting in his confessional that he had read about the ‘Hanoi Hilton’ prior to arriving in the game, knowing that in actuality it is a nickname for Hỏa Lò Prison; a prison used for U.S. prisoners during the Vietnam War. The smiles from the girls faces quickly drop as the bus pulls up at the prison location, which has now been repurposed to act as a museum and memorial for lives lost during the war.

After getting over their initial disappointment, the final five join Lincoln and Sinead as they follow a local guide around the museum, once again learning about the dark history of the Vietnam War, but this time from locations that had been controlled throughout the conflict by North Vietnam. The group in particular spend time looking at the flight suit and parachute belonging to prominent U.S. politician John McCain during his time as a prisoner in Hỏa Lò Prison from 1967-1973. Glenn remarks that it’s a shame “none of the Americans made it this far” as “they love this sort of thing”. As the tour comes to an end, Nikki is shown to be thinking about the final few days of the game, knowing that the chances of one’s own game ending due to minor slips are highly likely based on the past few seasons. Nikki ensures to spend time talking to each player remaining individually, lying to each that she has “no desire to put (them) up” if she’s to win. Remarkably, this tactic appears to pay-off for Nikki, as each player privately mentions feeling better about her in their own confessionals; including Glenn, who had initially been planning to nominate Nikki should he have won the daily challenge. The final five head to Bánh Mì 25, a popular sandwich restaurant in central Hanoi, where each player is able to order their own special bánh mì sandwich. Glenn and Jorgie make the group laugh as they call the restaurant “Vietnamese Subway”, quickly correcting themselves to declare bánh mì as being ‘better’. As lunch comes to an end, LeeAnn and Jorgie both head to the bathroom before the group leaves with Lincoln and Sinead to their next location in Hanoi. Whilst the girls are gone, Glenn questions both Alan and Nikki on their feelings about LeeAnn reaching the end of the game. Glenn stirs up a notion of LeeAnn being “a major threat to win” due to her bold gameplay and domineering personality, trying to persuade both Alan and Nikki that she would earn the jury’s respect over any of them for that reason. Alan and Nikki appear to be in agreement of this observation, having feared sitting next to LeeAnn at the end for much of the latter half of the game. Nikki is quick to point out that a lot of players in the game are threatening for different reasons, also bringing up Jorgie’s popularity with some jury members, and the fact that Glenn has ‘less enemies’ on the jury than anyone in the game. Alan tells both that they should think this through after the challenge, particularly as circumstances will change how they feel about one another when they “have the luxury of knowing who is on the chopping block”. After the girls return, the five board a private bus with Lincoln and Sinead, being driven a short distance to the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre.

The group arrive at the theatre, taking their seats as they enjoy a private thirty-minute water puppet performance; a cultural practice that has remained a popular form of entertainment for years throughout Vietnam. After the show, the group are told that they’ll each be given a crash course in water puppetry, taking on the role of one character in the play for a five-minute performance. Each contestant will be the same character in their respective performances, being graded by two industry judges who will determine the top and bottom in the challenge. All five begin their practice alongside a local performer, who do their best to aid the road trippers in following the right sequence of movements in time with the live music that accompanies the puppet show. Alan appears to be having the toughest time of the group, fearing that his lack of rhythm is transpiring in water puppetry, not able to pick-up on cues and stay in beat with the band. Nikki and Jorgie are also shown to somewhat find the task difficult, with Nikki remarking that she just needs to “do better than Alan” to be satisfied by her own outcome. Musician Glenn naturally finds the challenge easier, believing that if he is able to master the ‘characterisation’ of his puppet, that the win should certainly be his. However, after the performance results are passed to Lincoln and Sinead, Glenn is shockingly revealed to have been beaten by LeeAnn, who the judges believe is the “puppet master” amongst them. In a confessional, LeeAnn jokes that ‘puppet master’ is perhaps not the best description to receive at this late stage, particularly as the others are always “itching to make a move”. Unsurprisingly, Alan is announced as the worst performer of the day, leaving him nominated for repatriation for the first time this season. LeeAnn is asked to select somebody to face Alan in the vote, with her decision being announced fairly quickly. LeeAnn claims to be picking the player who she is least connected to, and somebody that she doesn’t see ever being on her side, selecting Jorgie to face Alan over Glenn and Nikki. The final five are told that with sundown just an hour away, they’ll be required to stay around the puppet theatre to hold their deliberations before coming together to decide who between Alan and Jorgie will not be joining them at the final four.

Jorgie sighs after the group are given their free-time, admitting loudly that she thinks like Tonya and Mimi that she is “done for”, believing Nikki, Alan and LeeAnn are going to hold strong as a final three. Jorgie goes on to voice her frustration at this, openly telling Nikki that “(she) needs to think about whether she can beat Alan or LeeAnn”, further explaining that she believes that Nikki would only beat her at the final two. Nikki challenges Jorgie’s opinion, calling it “last minute tactics”, and arguing that Jorgie has plenty of people that would vote her to win. The girls’ conversation continues to sour as it morphs into an argument, with Jorgie claiming that if she is leaving that she wants “everything out on the table”. Jorgie then turns her attention from Nikki onto LeeAnn, suggesting that if the vote is tied she would be correct in eliminating Alan, reminding her that Alan and Nikki have “undermined (her) at every opportunity”, and that she is confident neither would take her to the end, particularly as “Alan knows he can beat Nikki easier”. Rather than to receive a response off Alan or LeeAnn, Nikki continues to get angry with Jorgie, feeling as though the youngest member of the tour is tarnishing her whole game in what may be her final moments. As the girls continue to fight, Alan turns to Glenn to request that he vote for Jorgie and “keep the result clean”, although he is quickly shut down by Glenn, who tells him that out of loyalty he will be standing by Jorgie. Glenn reminds Alan that LeeAnn would still need to break the tie, confident that either way Alan should be safe. In a confessional, Alan appears upset that Glenn would “prolong the result”, also unsure if LeeAnn would take the chance to get her revenge for his less than loyal gameplay throughout the jury phase of the game. Once deliberation time is over, the final five stand beside the water puppet stage, leaving Jorgie and Alan one last chance to plead their case. Jorgie again focuses on convincing LeeAnn that she should enact her revenge on Alan and Nikki or “regret it next round”, whilst Alan tells both Nikki and LeeAnn that they have “a deal we all intend to stick to”. After the votes, a 1-1 tie leaves daily winner LeeAnn required to cast the deciding vote, predictably selecting to send Jorgie home over ally Alan. Jorgie sighs once again, claiming that she “tried her best”, apologising to everyone if “things got a bit heated”. She tearfully hugs Glenn goodbye, receiving encouraging remarks from everyone who congratulate her on ‘putting up an amazing fight’. After Jorgie wishes the final four luck and departs from the theatre, the final four are informed by Lincoln and Sinead that they’ll be heading into the final two rounds of the game, with one of them being just days away from the title of Champion of the Road Trip and the £50,000 prize.

Episode #11 - A Hue Decision
With just days left in the road trip, the final four board a private bus and begin a three-hour journey to Hạ Long Bay; one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The foursome all sit silently as they look out their windows, thinking ahead to how they plan to reach the final two and win the game. Each competitor is shown in confessionals detailing these plans, with all four claiming to do whatever it takes, even if it means betraying their closest friend left in the competition. Arriving in Hạ Long Bay, the four players join Lincoln and Sinead aboard a Vietnamese ‘Junk’ boat, sailing out into the waters of the bay where they are treated to a lavish three course meal of locally harvested fish and fruits. Glenn is shown in a confessional after lunch talking about his fears that if he is unable to win that he will almost certainly be going home, believing that Alan, LeeAnn and Nikki all intend to stick together until the top three. However, he claims to have ‘tricks up his sleeve’, particularly in relation to getting LeeAnn or Nikki out of the game. After eating, Sinead tells the group that they’ll be taking part in their next daily challenge within the hour, which will ultimately decide which player can earn themselves safety going into the final day of the road trip. For the challenge, each competitor will be boarding individual kayaks, rowing around a course in Hạ Long Bay that will take the players between different islands and islets. The players are told that throughout the task, they must navigate their way to each piece of land using a compass and map provided, and that if they go wrong they’ll quickly find themselves getting lost. In the interest of fairness, each player will participate at the same time due to changing weather patterns, but will be following different paths so as to not copy one another. Lincoln assures the group that all four paths are equal in distance, and simply take the group in unique orders as opposed to completely different courses. The individual to finish the task in the fastest time will be declared the winner, nominating somebody to face whoever has the slowest time in the challenge in the next repatriation.

As the task begins, the foursome each show different capability in kayaking throughout the task. Girls LeeAnn and Nikki both appear to struggle with the physicality of the task, also proving to have little luck in navigating with their compasses and maps. Alternatively, Glenn and Alan are able to use physical strength to make good ground, also having more of a grasp on how to read their maps and follow the course correctly. Glenn’s stronger physicality and drive enable him to break ahead of the others, being the first to check-in onto the boat and be crowned the winner, causing him to celebrate as he has been the first to successfully oust one of the dominant trio’s members. Alan is the next to arrive back at the boat, being too exhausted to complain, instead being glad to take a seat by Glenn and congratulate him on his victory. Whilst waiting for the lost girls, Alan asks Glenn if he is planning to nominate him for repatriation, wanting to make sure that he will be the sole voter of the day. Glenn tells Alan that he is not completely certain, but that his preference would be to nominate Nikki due to being the “least deserving”. Alan tells Glenn that if he spares him, he would promise to “take (him) to the end” if he wins the final challenge, a deal that Glenn hesitantly accepts. LeeAnn is third to arrive at the boat, begging Lincoln and Sinead to “never ask (her) to do anything like that again”. Production eventually goes out to fetch Nikki, who struggles as she battles the current which has become stronger throughout the afternoon, not wanting to leave her out in the water for a further two hours. A sombre Nikki accepts her position as an automatic nominee, speaking gladly that she has gone this long without facing a repatriation vote. Glenn is asked to select somebody to face Nikki, keeping his deal with Alan and picking LeeAnn, something that is accepted as both girls hug one another. Sinead tells Alan that he has only fifteen minutes until sunset, and that in this time he must decide who to eliminate between LeeAnn and Nikki, with the other joining himself and Glenn in the final daily challenge. Alan decides to hold an open forum, asking both women why they should remain in the game. Both ladies are quick to promise Alan that they’d take him to the final two over Glenn, making it no secret that their trio had the goal of voting him out after this challenge. Nikki tells Alan that individuals such as Jorgie have claimed she has ‘no shot’, thinking that LeeAnn ultimately is the bigger threat between themselves. LeeAnn instead tells Alan that she believes he and Nikki have been ‘partners’ for a lot of the game, and that a jury would have a better time at differentiating his moves if he were to keep her in, also reminding Alan that she has won more challenges, and due to a ‘good memory’ could win a trivia-based final challenge to secure their final two spots. Alan takes a moment to ponder, coming to the conclusion that due to having more enemies on the jury and being the better candidate to beat Glenn, that he’ll keep LeeAnn and by extension be eliminating Nikki from the game. Glenn and Nikki both appear surprised by the result, having assumed that Alan would instead target LeeAnn due to her being seen as more of a ‘leader’ than Nikki throughout the game. Although undoubtedly upset and blindsided, Nikki wishes the final three luck, claiming that any of the three would make “worthy winners” in her eyes. Nikki is escorted from the boat, being taken to join the other jurors in the final destination. Lincoln tells the final three that they’ll remain on the boat overnight, leaving for their last stop in the morning where they’ll soon compete in their final daily challenge and discover who will make up the final two, and ultimately who will become the seventh Road Trip champion.

On the final day of the road trip, the final three awaken in their respective bedrooms on the Junk Boat, gathering their belongings and arriving back on land where they’re driven back towards Hanoi. From Hanoi, the trio board a plane to their final destination city; Hue, Vietnam. When in Hue, the group are driven to the Imperial City of Huế, an ancient walled enclosure built in the 1800s, that has since been listed as a World Heritage Site. The threesome are given a private moment to walk around the site, peacefully gathering their thoughts before going into their final daily challenge, knowing that it will begin once the sun has set over Hue. Both LeeAnn and Glenn are shown in confessionals to be planning on voting out the other, virtually confirming Alan’s spot at the final two. However, Alan remains conflicted himself, not knowing whether to be loyal to LeeAnn or his new deal with Glenn. Gathering together in front of Lincoln and Sinead, the trio are told they’ll now be taking on a trivia-based final challenge, with questions ranging from the road trip as a whole, locations, activities and other contestants. The final three are to write their answers on boards secretly before revealing, with every correct answer earning one point. After ten questions, the individual with the most points will win a spot in the final two and determine who will be joining them. As with previous seasons, the final result ends in a tie after Alan and Glenn both score nine out of ten, with LeeAnn narrowly missing out after scoring eight. LeeAnn watches on as Alan and Glenn take part in a tiebreaker, knowing that her survival in the game hangs in balance. She eventually minorly celebrates as Alan beats Glenn in the tiebreaker question, leaving him the sole decision yet again, bringing either Glenn or LeeAnn with him to the final two. Both Glenn and LeeAnn are given a final chance to tell Alan why they should join him in the final two, knowing this could be the difference between he or one of them winning the £50,000 prize. LeeAnn speaks about her loyalty to Alan throughout the whole process, believing that she has a “multitude of enemies” on the jury, and that she believes she would be guaranteeing him the votes of Tonya, Jorgie and ultimately Glenn. Glenn however states that he may be ‘bitter’ if Alan were to oust him, exposing that he and Alan had made a deal on the boat in Ha Long Bay, and that he believes LeeAnn would be viewed as too dominant of a personality and figure to sit next to at the final two, thinking that she would easily earn the votes of Nikki, Mimi and Barry. After minor disagreements between LeeAnn and Glenn over who is the better option, Alan announces that he has come to a decision. A choked up Alan struggles to declare his vote aloud, admitting that it is the hardest thing he has had to do all season. He eventually is able to speak-up, announcing that he is choosing to eliminate LeeAnn, believing that she is “the only other person who can rival me for a strategic game”, also openly calling Glenn a “passive rider” who won’t be able to claim any moves as his own. A stunned LeeAnn places her hands over her mouth, standing up in horror after yet again being betrayed by Alan. She ignores both men apologising to her for the result, walking slowly out of the grand imperial room as she disappears into the darkness, leaving both men to sit quietly for a moment. Lincoln and Sinead congratulate the final two, telling them that they will remain in their location as they eat a final meal, soon being joined by the seven jurors that will determine their fate.

Both men sit quietly after eating as the jury of seven (Barry, Seanna, Mimi, Tonya, Jorgie, Nikki and LeeAnn) walk in and take their seats opposite them, ready to cross examine them in order to determine who they’d like to win the game. The jury as a collective body is allowed to question or make statements to Alan and Glenn whilst they pitch their case as to why they should be crowned winner of the road trip. For Alan, many of the jury naturally slate him for playing a ‘deceptive’ and ‘villainous’ game, with several jurors claiming to be unable to look past this due to “poor jury management”. Alternatively, Alan’s villainous and deceptive play is celebrated by some, who view it as being far more participatory and game-shaping than his rival Glenn’s. In speaking on Glenn’s game, some jurors regard him as being the ‘best social player’ of the season, noting that he never had conflict throughout the entire season, even whilst all those around him were engaging in drama. However, LeeAnn reminds everyone that she and Glenn had in fact had a fight on one occasion, although Glenn quickly speaks up to suggest that the fight was ‘her fault’. Alan defends his gameplay when dealing with the hurt feelings of the entire jury, particularly apologising to LeeAnn, Nikki and Mimi who he feels were his “deepest betrayals”. Despite the girls recognising that Alan’s moves enabled him to reach the end, Mimi slates him as being “the catalyst in derailing (his) own chances of winning”, exposing that as a jury it had been discussed that he would’ve likely beaten LeeAnn in a 5-2 vote (with only herself and Barry voting for LeeAnn). Alan goes on to claim that LeeAnn could have ‘swayed’ jurors better than Glenn, and that Glenn himself may have voted for LeeAnn (although Glenn himself quickly denies this, suggesting he would always vote for Alan in this scenario and that he had only claimed otherwise as leverage). In speaking through the aspects of the game, the jury all willingly admit that it is down to a case of “strategist villainy” and “social superiority”, not knowing which is more worthy of the Road Trip crown. Mimi and Jorgie both vocally support Glenn, believing that his social game was strategy, as it ‘conned’ Alan into taking him to the end and handing over the win in the process. Alternatively, LeeAnn breaks from her ‘bitter’ mentality, stating that in the game she was played by Alan “multiple times”, and that his ability to regain her trust is one she cannot blame on him, but rather must accept was her “own mistake”. Nikki joins LeeAnn in this mentality, feeling it would be “unfair” of the jury as a body to not give somebody the win due to them playing the game harder, as ultimately Road Trip is about getting to the end by any means necessary. However, Jorgie notes that “Glenn was able to do the same without betraying a single one of us”. After questions and statements, each juror is then instructed to place a key-fob with either ‘Alan’ or ‘Glenn’ into the holder, corresponding to who they want to win the game. Lincoln and Sinead alternate on drawing the final votes of the season, with the first four tying the result 2-2 after LeeAnn and Nikki overcame their betrayals and cast their votes for ex-ally Alan, whilst Jorgie and Mimi carried through with their campaigns to give more honest player Glenn their votes. Tonya’s vote joins her friends on Glenn’s side, wanting to see somebody outside of the trio win the game. Barry’s vote then ties the result yet again, going to Alan after he had little preference and ultimately decided to get behind the “better game player”. Alan and Glenn nervously sit and watch as Sinead draws the final vote, with hyperactive hippie Seanna being the swing-vote yet again in a key result for the season. After contemplating who had personally treated her better throughout the process and prevented her from being “completely humiliated”, Seanna gives her vote to Glenn, crowning him Champion of the Road Trip and making him the recipient of the £50,000 prize. Alan disappointedly congratulates Glenn, who is mobbed in a group-hug by Tonya and Jorgie, feeling that they can live vicariously through his win over their rivals’. LeeAnn and Nikki both somewhat engage Alan, telling him that he truly had lost the game the moment he ‘overplayed’ by voting LeeAnn out over Glenn. Seanna is heard jokingly telling Glenn that their experiences together amounted to “a £50,000 calmness mantra”, reminding everyone the importance of treating others with respect during the game. Leaving the final nine to debrief inside the Imperial City, Lincoln and Sinead slip out and begin heading across the city’s entrance bridge, where Lincoln exclaims that they “need to get the hell out of this heat”.