Road Trip: Scandinavia

Road Trip: Scandinavia is the ninth 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 Copenhagen, Denmark and ended in Stockholm, Sweden. The season exclusively travelled throughout of the countries within 'Scandinavia'. The winner of the season was Khaled Haddad, defeating Arthur Larsson in a 5-2 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 originally nominated for repatriation, but was made immune with a lifesaver.
 * 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.
 * This person voluntarily quit the road trip.

Game Summary
^¹ The vote between Arthur and Hadia initially ended in a 6-3 result in favour of repatriating Arthur. However, Hadia was forced to quit the game due to injury, negating the result and sending her home. ^² Joshua originally finished in last place and was nominated. However, he used his lifesaver, leaving next-lowest performer Emily as the re-nomination.

^³ Tour Leader Arthur initially nominated Goran. However, Goran used his lifesaver, leaving Emily as the re-nomination.

^⁴ Group 1 was picked by team captain Erinn. She selected Afia and Ingrid. ^⁵ Group 2 was led by team captain Goran. He selected Emily and Khaled.

^ Group 3 (un-listed) was picked by team captain Arthur. He selected Joshua and Lewis.

Episode #1 - Part of Your World
For this ninth season, Road Trip begins at the Rosenborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark; a capital city that is often ranked as one of the happiest and move liveable worldwide. Returning hosts Lincoln and Sinead welcome the thirteen brand new players and give them each a brief moment to introduce themselves, explaining that for this season they will be travelling solely throughout the Scandinavian Peninsula; the reason for the abundance of Scandinavian dwellers in the group. The thirteen players follow Lincoln and Sinead out of the castle, applauding in a welcome return to the two RVs waiting for them outside. After breaking into two groups, the RVs drive the players to the Langelinie promenade in Copenhagen where they’re all treated to a group welcome lunch. Whilst eating, Copenhagen-born Hadia is approached by familiar locals on two occasions, causing some of the group to laugh as she admits she is “basically walking around (her) backyard” in Langelinie. Hadia ends up briefly taking Nicholas and Lewis to see ‘The Little Mermaid’ statue after Nicholas had mentioned wanting to see it. Both boys are appreciative of Hadia being able to show them around, joking that she could replace Lincoln and Sinead as a more efficient host whilst they remain in Copenhagen, to which a laughing Hadia replies “but once we get out of Copenhagen, I’ll be useless!”. Back at the lunch table, oldest-member Ingrid sits in conversation with Afia as both women converse in Norwegian. Afia explains to Ingrid that she had moved to Norway in her early 20s due to political instability in her native Eritrea, having worked for a women’s-rights organisation in Tromsø since. Ingrid positively responds to this, speaking about her own thirty-year long career as an emergency nurse, leaving both women bonding over their shared passion for helping others. In a confessional, Afia talks about her wish to uplift other women in the tour, particularly in light of there only being two women winners in the last eight seasons of Road Trip. Also bonding over similarities are Axel and Khaled, who despite Axel being a Dane working as a doorman in London and Khaled being a Jordanian working as a chef in Sweden, realise that they are both big fans of London-based football team Arsenal FC. Khaled talks about using “dodgy satellite links” to be able to watch Arsenal games growing up in Amman, laughing with Axel as they recant their favourite players and moments in the club’s history. Both men are shown in a joint confessional jokingly calling themselves ‘a budding romance’, with Khaled apologising to his wife as he claims Axel will be her “replacement” until he is home.

Once the group have finished eating, they are given some free time to continue exploring the promenade and pier area of Langelinie. Swedish players Arthur and Goran are seen talking together as they stand around the RVs, waiting for the others to return so that they can head to their next location. Although both men initially seem to be getting along, Arthur begins prying Goran for information regarding his ‘game tactics’ and whether or not he’d like to make an alliance. Feeling it far too early to be talking about the game, Goran refutes Arthur’s attempts, boldly telling him “we don’t worry about the game until two people are nominated”. This response irritates Arthur, who tells Goran ‘not to be stupid’, a comment that both further angers and offends Goran. Arthur eventually walks away from Goran, muttering that he’s “definitely not an ally for (him)”, whilst Goran tells a nearby camera “(Arthur) is bad energy and not trustworthy”. Leaving the ‘Little Mermaid’ statue, Hadia tells Nicholas and Lewis that if they had more time that she’d have brought the group around to her parents’ house for some “good Tunisian food and hospitality”. However, Lewis questions if anyone’s parents would be happy with “twelve strangers waltzing into their living room”, to which Hadida jokes “sounds like every time we have new cousins around”. Eventually, the thirteen players all return to the RVs, splitting into either one as they are driven away from Langelinie. In the first of the RVs; Afia, Emily, Erinn, Goran, Ingrid and Joshua ride together. As the players discuss previous seasons, Afia mentions her disappointment with the lack of female success in Road Trip across the last few years, believing that all competitions will “act as a microcosm of society and bring about biases towards players based on gender”. In a confessional, Emily rolls her eyes at Afia “pulling the race and gender card”, claiming to “not want some rubbish feminist bore ruin (her) experience”. She goes on to claim that she believes the best player always wins, and that Afia just wants “women to win because they’re women”, which Emily calls “the real backwards view”. Although Erinn and Ingrid both seem to agree with Afia, Goran speaks up by declaring that he doesn’t think Road Trip is harder for women, but that “men tend to play games that get them the win more often”. Goran goes on to vocalise a belief that there have been “many great female players” in the show, and that “winning isn’t the only way to succeed”. Finding Goran’s points hollow, Afia points out that “winning is the only way you win the money, so by all accounts it is the only way you can judge success in the game”. The conversation eventually goes on to other topics, leaving Afia and Goran both somewhat disliking the other persons mindset.

After midday, the group arrive at Tivoli Gardens; an amusement park located in Copenhagen. Lincoln and Sinead meet the contestants at the park entrance, giving everybody two hours of free time to enjoy themselves and continue getting to know one another. However, each player is told that they’ll be meeting up again by the main pond in the park after this time in order to compete in their first daily challenge. With players breaking into groups to enjoy the many rides throughout the theme park, several players are seen using the queue times in particular to create bonds with their fellow travellers. Emily is shown gossiping to Axel about the events that had taken place inside her RV on the way to Tivoli Gardens, criticising the other girls for “making it about gender on day one”. Axel agrees with Emily’s viewpoint, also mentioning that he didn’t get a great vibe from Erinn during the welcome lunch. Emily shares this opinion, mentioning that she “can barely understand (Erinn’s) accent or what she’s even saying”, whilst Axel remarks that he thinks Erinn seems “moody and not so friendly” compared to everyone else so far. Elsewhere, Hadia, Lewis and Arthur queue together for the parks largest rollercoaster. Hadia and Lewis appear to have already formed a close bond, mentioning in individual confessionals that they’d like to work with one another throughout the game due to mutually feeling trusting of the other. The pair listen to Arthur as he talks about his solitary career in computer programming, having had very little socialising in his day to day life. He claims that he hopes Road Trip will give him the chance to make friends and branch out, with this sentiment being warmly received by Lewis and Hadia, both of whom can relate to feeling socially awkward (despite both Hadia and Arthur jokingly disbelieving Lewis not being popular back home). With the two hours now up, the thirteen players re-join Lincoln and Sinead at the park’s pond, eager to find out which of them will end up nominated after the first daily challenge.

Lincoln and Sinead explain to the players that for their challenge, they will one at a time face Tivoli Park’s infamous garden maze. The goal of the challenge is for players to locate four sets of keys hidden around the maze (in identical places for each player), with the player to find all four keys in the fastest time being declared the daily winner. As with the previous season, the winner of the daily will be awarded a ‘Golden Fob Lifesaver’ that can be used up until the final five. Moreover, the individual to locate their keys in the slowest time will automatically face the first repatriation. Due to the challenge testing memory, endurance as well as luck, several players are shown to become frustrated with their lack of progress. Despite his physical capability, Axel continuously finds himself going down the same areas of the maze after become disorientated, leaving with a time that has him feeling less than confident. Alternatively, oldest male player Goran methodically words his way through the maze, finding all four keys in less than five minutes. ‘Book worms’ Joshua and Nicholas also use this similar strategy, not certain if their strong performances will be enough to give them the overall victory. As Hadia competes, she appears optimistic after locating two of her four keys. However, she fails to notice one of her shoelaces having become untied as she runs, causing a freak accident as she trips and lands awkwardly on the mazes stone fountain in the centre. Hadia is shown yelling in pain as she tries to get back up, eventually calling for medical assistance who note cuts to her hands and side. Although she complains that she feels ‘nauseous’ and is experiencing neck pain, Hadia continues with the task at a slow pace, getting her four keys and ending with undoubtedly the slowest time of the day. Before Lincoln and Sinead read out the results, Hadia is checked over by the medical staff on site. Ultimately, Goran is noted to have beaten Joshua and Nicholas with the fastest time of the day, giving him the lifesaver and solidifying his placement in the top twelve. Sinead opts not to name Hadia as the daily loser, with the fact already been known by the entire group. Instead, it is announced that the medical team wish to take Hadia to hospital in order to get her checked out, causing an emotional response from the group. Both Lewis and Nicholas offer to go with Hadia, with Sinead and Lewis ultimately accompanying her to the hospital that evening. The eleven remaining players and Lincoln stand around nervously as they watch the ambulance leave the park, hoping Hadia will be okay to re-join them by the end of the evening.

Episode #2 - You Butter Be Ready
The eleven players still in Tivoli Gardens stand around and ponder how Hadia will be, concerned that her injury may leave her unable to re-join them on the road trip. The players head to return to their RVs, being driven to a nearby campsite where they’ll be staying overnight in their vehicles. Khaled and Joshua sit together as they discuss Hadia’s situation, both believing it would be unlikely for her to continue in the process even if she is given medical clearance. Joshua claims that with Hadia being nominated, that he would recommend they and everybody else “give her a coup de grâce” and send her home to recover fully; a sentiment that Khaled agrees with. On a high from his victory, daily winner Goran speaks with Erinn outside as the pair stand in the campsite as others sleep inside the RVs. Goran tells Erinn that he feels “powerful” thanks to his lifesaver, believing it could save him and his friends in the game. Erinn continues being friendly with Goran through the conversation, noting that with his new power that it would be worthwhile having him on her side. However, Goran mistakes her friendliness for flirtatious behaviour, reciprocating what he believes is desired flirtation and over-familiarity. Although a little awkward, Erinn laughs her way through Goran’s flirting, choosing not to take it any further and bid him goodnight before retiring to an RV. The next morning, the eleven road trippers head from Copenhagen to Aarhus, requiring the RVs to travel via roads and car-ferry in a three and a half hour journey. On the journey, Ingrid mentions to Amber that she had noticed throughout the night that Amber had “gotten up to use the bathroom” on several occasions. Amber nonchalantly confirms this, confused as to why Ingrid is bringing it to her attention. Ingrid then goes on to claim that Amber had ‘stood on her’ twice getting up and down from her bunk in the RV, also mentioning that Amber “left the lights of the bathroom on” after using it. Rather than apologise, Amber asks Ingrid why she couldn’t have turned off the lights herself, leaving Ingrid stunned and confused. In a confessional, Amber calls Ingrid “a bit annoying” and “kind of a moody old lady”, whilst Ingrid uses hers to scold Amber for being “a typical, young, selfish American who doesn’t have thought for anybody else”.

Arriving in Aarhus, the eleven road trippers and Lincoln cheer as they are met by Sinead, Lewis and a frail-looking Hadia. Sinead confirms that the hospital checked over Hadia and performed x-rays, finding a sprained wrist, fractured rib and bad strain in her neck and back all occurred as a result of her freak accident. Happily, Hadia has been declared to be well enough to continue on the road trip, but is not allowed to compete in any overly-strenuous activities, leaving her extremely vulnerable as it would mean that she will receive automatic ‘did not finishes’ for many future challenges. The group then head as one to a local restaurant where they’re able to sample Danish Smørrebrød; a popular open-face sandwich found throughout Denmark and Norway. Each player is able to order their own specific Smørrebrød, enjoying it as they continue socialising with one another and hearing Hadia’s tales of the hospital. Khaled and Afia talk as they eat, with the topic of conversation centering around Ingrid’s known frustration towards Amber after ‘toilet-gate’. Afia claims that she too was in the RV and had been woken by Amber’s “selfishness”, thinking that there is no way anybody can see Ingrid’s anger as being “an overreaction”. Khaled chooses not to challenge Afia’s viewpoint, believing that had he been in the RV that he too would be annoyed with Amber. He goes on to assert that he had a strange conversation with Amber at the welcome lunch, saying that she kept asking him “if (he) had trouble at the airport” because he is Arab, despite the fact that he has a Swedish passport. Afia bursts out laughing at this, apologising to Khaled (who is also laughing), saying that it doesn’t surprise her and just “sums it all up”.

After eating, the thirteen road trippers head towards central Aarhus to ‘Den Gamle By’; an open-town museum and attraction that displays a historic version of Danish architecture and lifestyles dating back to the 1500’s. The players split-up around the town, taking horse drawn carriage rides as well as watching actors play the role of villagers completing day-to-day tasks around the old town. Erinn notes that whilst the activity is a time to relax and enjoy the trip, that she chose to utilise it as a time to socialise and strengthen her bonds. She claims that being hours away from the next daily challenge made it the perfect moment to get working, knowing that to wait until after the next nomination would seem disingenuous if she were to be the one nominated. Erinn’s hard social work seems to pay-off, as everybody feels more positively towards her by the end of the tour, all seemingly unaware with the tactics she has been using. In her confessional, Erinn calls on ‘the gods’ to make her Road Trip’s first Irish winner, believing that she has both “the charm, the looks and the wits to make it happen”. With the tour of the town over, the thirteen players meet Lincoln and Sinead with the ‘town baker’, who tells the group that for their next daily challenge they’ll be following a recipe to make their own Danish butter cookies. Given just three hours, each competitor must churn their own butter to use in the cookie mix, before following a recipe to have perfectly golden and crispy yet fluffy biscuits. The players all somewhat panic as they’re made to churn their butter, watching a local give a clear example that should give them suitable butter within just twenty-five minutes. Joshua notes that if the butter is messed up that “the whole cookie is gonna suck ass”, believing it to be the most important part of the entire challenge. Despite this, chef Khaled puts less effort into his butter, believing that a “butter-like substitute” he’s ended up with will retain the intended buttery taste and texture of the cookies. Nicholas jokingly puts his arms around Khaled, hugging him and asking for advice on how to pipe the mixture out correctly. A laughing Khaled reminds Nicholas he cant help, assuring him to just “use that degree” in reference to Nicholas’ time spent at Cambridge University. Computer programmer Arthur is shown sweating as he takes his cookies out of the oven, noting that he’s almost certainly overdone them, much to his dismay. Afia is also shown to be having a hard time, not believing that hers will be nearly as nice as those she often buys from the store. She looks over at fellow Norwegian Ingrid’s cookies, uneasily pointing out that they are “lightyears ahead” of her own. The judges line up all thirteen cookies (with each player asked to present five), tasting and ranking each one from best to worst. Lincoln and Sinead tally the results, announcing that Ingrid and Joshua have placed as the top two, with Joshua ultimately beating regular baker Ingrid to claim the second ‘Golden Fob Lifesaver’ of the season. Alternatively, Afia, Arthur and chef Khaled finish at the bottom of the pact, much to Khaled’s embarrassment. Arthur is named to be the individual to finish in last place, placing him up for the first repatriation against Hadia. Sinead tells the group that they have just one hour until sunset, and will remain in the old town to cast their votes for who they want to leave the game.

Tired and still hurting from her injury, Hadia apologises to the group as she announces she’ll be taking some rest in the RV nearby. Lewis offers to go with her, but is insisted by Hadia to stay with the others and talk, also hoping that he may fight her corner for her after having done so earlier. Once Hadia has gone, other nominee Arthur pulls Lewis to one side, asking if he has already made up his mind on who he’ll be voting. Lewis regretfully informs Arthur that he is voting him out, and that he'll likely be campaigning for Hadia to stay. Arthur becomes annoyed by this, confused why Hadia would be saved when she “can’t even take part in anything”. Lewis tells Arthur that “it isn’t just about the competitions”, pointing out that he enjoys Hadia’s company more than anyone’s and that based on this alone “she has more value” to Lewis’ experience. Frustrated, Arthur storms off, seemingly acting childish about potentially getting voted out. In a confessional, Lewis calls Arthur “really annoying” and “such an awkward guy to be around”, lambasting him for trying to use Hadia’s injuries against her when “they sadly are probably the best argument for more of the indifferent lot to keep her in!”. Elsewhere, Khaled speaks to daily winner Joshua, asking if he still thinks it would be best for them to go forward with their plan of voting for Hadia due to her injuries and the awkwardness of keeping her on the tour. Joshua reminds Khaled that he has no vote, and that at this point “it’s up to everyone else” on who goes home. Khaled tells Joshua that he can still help with the campaigning, although Joshua refuses to do so, not wanting to get any blood on his hands for a vote in which he cannot participate. Annoyed at this passive behaviour, Khaled mentions that Joshua still needs to think about the longer game than just this one round. However, Joshua chooses to end the conversation, annoyed by Khaled’s persistence after being told “no”. In a confessional, Khaled criticises Joshua for this, thinking that “he is all talk, and when it came to the actual vote he hides away like a scared turtle”. For the campaigns, those wanting to keep Hadia mention her bubbly and positive attitude, easily liking her more as an individual over Arthur, and additionally feeling as though her inability to compete makes her a perfect shield to keep in the game. Alternatively, those wanting to keep Arthur feel that he shouldn’t be sacrificed over somebody who cannot enjoy the experience, also viewing him as the lesser threat due to having ‘worse social skills’ than Hadia. At sundown, the players all convene by the towns main footbridge, casting their key-fobs for either Arthur or Hadia to leave the game. Shockingly, the vote ends in a 6-3 in favour of repatriating Arthur from the game, with Emily, Ingrid and Khaled being the only three to vote against Hadia. An extremely upset Arthur gets ready to say his final words, only to suddenly be cut-off by Hadia who chooses to make her own announcement. Tearing up, Hadia tells Lincoln, Sinead and the group that over the last twenty-four hours she has struggled with the pain of her injuries, and that whilst resting in the RV “began to mentally struggle with the idea that (she) couldn’t compete and fully engage with the experience”. She goes on to also state that she “would never want to feel like a burden on the rest of the group”, believing that given her injury has occurred in her hometown and home-country, that it would be best for her to vacate her position and recuperate around her family. Amber is vocally heard saying “no, don’t do it Hadia!” in hopes that she won’t leave. However, a now sobbing Hadia admits that she believes it is the painfully right call for herself, receiving light hugs from the group, noting that Lewis, Nicholas and Arthur are all tearing-up over her exit. An equally tearful Lincoln asks Hadia to confirm if she would like to quit the game, declaring that the results of the repatriation are “null and void” with her confirmation. The group say their goodbyes to Hadia, helping her gather her belongings from the RV before waving her off in her taxi that takes her back home to Copenhagen to recover. The final twelve are debriefed by Lincoln and Sinead, believing that the nights events whilst unprecedented show the weight and importance of the road trip for all of them. The group are then driven to their campsite for the night, mourning the loss of Hadia as well as awkwardly remaining with Arthur, who now knows that six of his fellow players had intended to eliminate him just minutes earlier.

Episode #3 - Amber Alert
Overnight, the group spend time at their RV-site following Hadia’s unfortunate departure from the game. Having survived only because his 6-3 repatriation was overturned, Arthur feels out of place within the group, reeling from the fact that a clear majority had intended to send him home. Remembering that Amber had vocally spoken up to dissuade Hadia from quitting, Arthur decides to confront her, believing that she “evidently has an issue” with him staying around. Amber looks confused at Arthur, informing him that she “just didn’t want to see someone have to quit” rather than it being a slight against him personally. Arthur refuses to take this as a valid excuse, seemingly threatening Amber that he “won’t forget it” before storming into one of the RVs emotionally. Amber is loudly heard exclaiming “fat weirdo” as Arthur leaves, causing a nearby Khaled to speak up in defence of the absent Arthur. Khaled scolds Amber for her rude comment, leading Amber to defend herself  by claiming that “(Arthur) walked up on (her) and bucked up his chest”; a claim that Khaled doesn’t support and instead believes that Arthur was “just emotional about the night’s events”. Amber continues arguing with Khaled as others watch on, eventually being left alone after he too retires to the RV to check on Arthur. In a confessional, an emotional Amber claims to be confused as to why nobody on the tour “ever speaks up for (her)”, believing that she is certainly the least-liked person in the game. She goes on to say that she doesn’t feel as though she currently has a single friend, but hopes that she can win the next daily challenge and “enjoy the fake conversations”.

The next morning, Emily gets up early to make the others some breakfast after heading to the local market alone to fetch them some items. Emily admits to not being the best chef, but seems proud that she was able to rustle up enough edible food for the entire group. Everybody appreciates Emily’s gesture, thanking her and feeling positively towards her after eating. In her confessional, Emily laughs as she declares that the act was “definitely game”, hoping that everybody will remember who gave them a ‘decent breakfast’ the next time nominations are made. Following breakfast, the twelve road trippers head in their RVs from Aarhus to Malmö, Sweden in a three and a half hour journey back through Copenhagen. On the drive, Ingrid is heard jokingly remarking that she is “still hurt that (her) cookies didn’t win”, unsure how “somebody from Canada beat an authentic Norwegian in the kitchen”. Joshua doesn’t take Ingrid’s comments in jest, instead asking her why she can’t accept that she “isn’t the queen of baking” like she wishes. Joshua goes on to say that “old women get so annoying around food”, easily insulting Ingrid due to his referral to her being ‘old’. Ingrid tells Joshua to drop his attitude, believing that he has turned nasty for no good reason and should show her more respect. Joshua chooses to ignore Ingrid for the rest of the journey, shown in a confessional to find her voice, accent and personality all rubbing him the wrong way. In Malmö, the group immediately head towards the Malmö Arena; a stadium that holds a capacity of around 15,000 attendees for an array of music and sports events hosted throughout the year. Lincoln and Sinead welcome the players to the arena, taking them inside as they’re given a tour. During the tour, the group are told that the arena hosted the 2013 final of the Eurovision Song Contest after Sweden had won the previous year with Loren’s hit-single ‘Euphoria’. Nicholas and Lewis both admit to being ‘Eurovision’ fans, causing Nicholas to laugh as he admits some surprise in Lewis’ liking for the contest.

Once the tour is complete, the guide tells the group that they’ll each be taking to the main stage of the arena for a ‘Lip Sync’ daily challenge; selecting from Sweden’s last ten Eurovision entries for their performances. Each player can choreograph their performance and use minimal lighting (from a set list), and also will be given access to a large selection of costumes. The player deemed to give the strongest performance (both in terms of knowing the words and the performance itself) will be declared the winner, whilst the worst performance will automatically face repatriation. The judges highly rate Afia and Ingrid’s individual performances of ‘The Mamas’’ 2020 song ‘Move’, also enjoying Arthur’s rock-inspired performance of ‘Euphoria’. However, Erinn’s unique and well put together performance of ‘Undo’ wins her unanimous support, granting her the win and the right to nominate somebody for repatriation. Of those at the bottom, Amber, Emily and Joshua are all called out for having ‘awkward, stiff and performances that exposed their lack of knowing the words’. Ultimately, Joshua’s inability to know any of his words (according to the judges) leaves him finishing in last place and automatically nominated. Erinn considers who will be her nominee, narrowing it down to Amber and Lewis in her own mind after bonding with neither during the last few days. She eventually names Amber as her selection, believing that she has caused rifts in the group, and truly wouldn’t be missed if she were to leave. However, Joshua doesn’t allow the nomination against him to go any further, declaring that he isn’t “going up because of some lip syncing”. He presents Lincoln and Sinead with his lifesaver, remarkably not wanting to face ‘easy target’ Amber in the vote. Sinead announces that with Joshua now becoming immune, that the next lowest player as per the scores will face elimination; that individual being Emily. Emily sighs and takes her spot next to Amber, listening as Lincoln explains they will have the remainder of the afternoon to campaign for their safety before one of their journeys comes to an end.

The group are driven back to central Malmö, beginning discussions on the way as to who they’d like to see leave between Amber and Emily. Anti-Amber trio Arthur, Erinn and Ingrid sit together on the bus and talk about how the result is likely to be an easy one in favour of eliminating Amber. However, the trio go on to talk about how Amber may be an easy target to be left in the game, and that taking a shot against Emily (who they perceive to be a better player) may be the smarter decision at this stage. Ingrid alleges that she isn’t trusting of Emily, and somewhat wishes it could be a double elimination to help everybody out, making both Arthur and Erinn laugh. Emily sits next to Joshua in their RV, jokingly pushing him and stating her hatred towards him for using his lifesaver “unnecessarily”. In what seems to be insult-flirtation, Emily tells Joshua that his lifesaver was wasted and makes him look “lame”, especially as she is confident that either of them would survive against Amber. Joshua tells Emily that the move wasn’t a waste, as “(he) is safe and (she) is nominated”, facetiously remarking that he might have to vote her out still. The flirtation between them continues throughout the afternoon, leading Joshua to join Emily in campaigning for her safety in the vote. Much of the conversations about who to save appears to favour Emily, as a good portion of the tour feel negatively towards Amber and see little hope in keeping her around. Even so, Nicholas speaks to Arthur about potentially flipping the vote to save her. Nicholas argues that Amber will never be a threat to anyone, whilst “Joshua is a good ten minutes away from having his hands down Emily’s pants”, making the pair a threat if they link-up throughout the game. Arthur laughs at Nicholas’ worries, but agrees they could put personal feelings to one side and instead ‘play smart’. At sundown, the group convene in Malmö’s ‘little square’ to cast their votes for who they’d like to leave the game. Unanimously, Amber is repatriated in a 9-0 vote, with everybody uniting after any hope saving her was diminished throughout the afternoon. Amber unhappily accepts her fate, choosing to barely acknowledge anybody as she grabs her things from the RV; making one last jibe of “don’t worry guys, I turned the lights-off” as she leaves. The final eleven return to the RVs later that night after eating dinner, getting bedded down in order to rest for the days ahead. Outside, Emily and Joshua are seen continuing their flirty behaviour, placing a blanket over their heads as they ‘privately chat’ on the same sun-lounger.

Episode #4 - Wannabe Mastermind
The morning after Amber’s elimination, the remaining eleven road trippers hope that with her gone, that there’ll be less confrontation and bad energy moving forward in the tour. The group receive notice that they’ll be driving three-hours north towards the Swedish city of Gothenburg. In the first RV, Arthur, Emily, Joshua, Nicholas and a driving Goran travel together. Nicholas begins asking Emily how it feels to have survived the repatriation, hoping that it has given her more confidence after surviving unanimously. Before Emily can respond, Joshua speaks up and tells Nicholas that she survived “no thanks to (him)”, going on to expose that he has been made aware that Nicholas was “playing with the idea of keeping Amber”. Nicholas denies such conversations ever took place, appearing as baffled as he can after having voted to eliminate Amber himself. However, Nicholas soon realises that Arthur must have leaked this information to Joshua, which becomes all but confirmed after Arthur gets involved in the confrontation to support Joshua’s claims. Nicholas challenges both men on the “pointless witch-hunt” to locate a “move against Emily that never happened”. Despite this, both Arthur and Joshua maintain that Nicholas is being dishonest, and that not voting for Emily doesn’t change the fact that he was “overplaying” by trying to see who would vote to keep Amber in the game. Refusing to admit what he had or hadn’t said, Nicholas departs the conversation, telling Emily that he is glad she survived and “never would have voted against (her)”. After Nicholas joins Goran alone at the front, Arthur and Joshua continue speaking privately together, with Joshua thanking Arthur for coming to his aid in the discussion. Arthur states that he has Joshua’s back, and that he’d be interested in forming an ‘official alliance’ between themselves and others they trust in the next few days; something Joshua can support.

Arriving in Gothenburg, both RVs are driven to a designated parking area where Goran and Axel attempt to park-up. Conflict arises after Goran claims that Axel has parked his RV “too wonky” for him to be able to park his own; asking Axel to re-park and ensure that both can get their vehicles within the designated area. Rather than to oblige, Axel throws the keys of his RV into Goran’s lap, telling him to “get out and park both yourself… parking expert”. Finding this action somewhat aggressive and certainly rude, Goran shouts from his window that Axel should “get (his) arse back in and park”. Axel ignores Goran, laughing as he joins the others waiting awkwardly to walk to their meeting-point. In a confessional, Axel slanders Goran for being “annoying about driving”, finding him bossy and out of place in the group. Back with his group, Axel is shown to bigotedly make a remark that Goran “drives like an Asian chick”; a comment that is criticised by Afia. After finally parking both RVs, Goran is somewhat comforted by Erinn, feeling bad that as the oldest man he is somewhat being made fun of and ostracised by others in the tour. All eleven competitors arrive at a sit-down restaurant overlooking Gothenburg’s coastline, seeing the archipelago of islands and sparce rocky islets around them. Over lunch, several competitors enjoy alcoholic beverages as they become more loose lipped and let go of their typical social graces. Erinn is heard talking openly about her bisexuality, with it being something that up until this stage she hadn’t shared with any members of the tour. An equally tipsy Emily begins flirtatiously cuddling Erinn from the side, making everybody laugh in embarrassment as she declares them “like a hot porn couple”. Emily takes things one step further as she engages in a passionate kiss with Erinn, which both girls later claim was drunkenly done solely for ‘entertainment purposes’. The two ladies laugh after the kiss, making fun of the boys around the table who are ogling them with their eyes. After eating, the group are brought on board small boats as they’re taken a short-distance to Gothenburg’s island fortress of New Älvsborg, praying that those who drank will be able to keep down the alcohol and lunch by the time they arrive.

At New Älvsborg, Lincoln and Sinead welcome the players to the location of their next daily challenge. Lincoln briefly details the island fortresses’ history that began in 1653, remaining in operation until 1869 after only seeing one major conflict. Sinead then tells each player that for their next daily challenge, they will each be given an old map of the fortress, with each area cordoned off and marked with a series of symbols and letters. However, Sinead explains that not all the symbols and letters are in the correct place, and that each player must use a secondary map to decode which symbols are correct and which are wrong, replacing their original maps with the right combination. The first individual to finish will be declared the winner, whilst the last player to do so automatically facing the next repatriation. A somewhat inebriated Emily and Erinn have an awful time with the challenge, seemingly making no progress due to the amount of wine the two of them consumed over the lunch. Goran is also shown to struggle, joking to a nearby camera that his “old mind can’t work it out”. Alternatively, ‘booksmart’ players Arthur, Joshua and Nicholas each are shown to excel, with Nicholas comparing the challenge to a more difficult version of the board game ‘Mastermind’. Nicholas is first to lock in his completed map, but is unfortunately told that he still has two symbols in the wrong place. This leaves room for Joshua and Arthur to get ahead, with Joshua being the first to finish and ultimately declared to be the winner of the challenge. With everybody now finished apart from the bottom three, all eyes rest on the girls and Goran to see which of them will face the next vote. The fear of losing ultimately enables Erinn to sober up and claim ninth place, with Goran finishing minutes later and once again leaving Emily in last and nominated. As Emily tries to laugh off her abysmal performance, Joshua quickly and decisively names Nicholas as his nominee to face her, citing his reasons as being “uncovering that Nicholas was playing a little too hard, and isn’t the trustworthy guy he claims to be”. Lincoln tells both nominees that they have just one hour to campaign to the others, and that all of them will remain on New Älvsborg for the vote and repatriation.

Campaigning for their safety, Emily and Nicholas break-off amongst the others, seeking to find the five votes needed to claim a majority. Nicholas is relieved to hear quickly that Lewis and Khaled will both be voting to keep him safe, feeling closer to him than Emily at this stage. Meanwhile, Emily finds support from Erinn, who feels guilty that the two drinking certainly played a roll in Emily’s loss. Erinn later approaches Afia, seeking to see if she can persuade her to vote against Nicholas in the upcoming vote. Afia admits little preference at this stage, but agrees with Erinn that she “doesn’t want to see a third woman leave in a row”, realising that this would leave just three of them in the game headed into the final ten. Erinn appreciates this from Afia, with the two women agreeing that they could form an all-girl group with Emily and Ingrid if they can get Nicholas out this round. Elsewhere, all-male trio Arthur, Axel and Khaled come together to discuss the vote. Axel claims that he is voting for Nicholas because “Emily has a nice ass”, joking that he doesn’t want to spend time looking at “some gay guy’s butt” instead. Khaled goes against his friend’s viewpoint, not trusting Emily and feeling that Nicholas is the easier person to talk to. Arthur appears conflicted, not wanting to vocalise that he is trying to work with Emily and Joshua, but also that he had previously been talking game with Nicholas. Instead, Arthur mentions to Axel and Khaled that he’d like the three of them to work together moving forward in their own group, confident that they could pull in Joshua and make a strong foursome to win challenges and control the game. Both Axel and Khaled are fine with this proposal, planning to think of an alliance name later. At the vote, Nicholas and Emily nervously wait as Sinead and Lincoln alternate in drawing votes. Erinn is shown to have been able to get Afia and friend Goran on side, combining with Axel’s vote to have four against Nicholas. On the other hand, Lewis, Khaled, Ingrid and shockingly Arthur are all shown to have voted for Emily, tying the vote 4-4 and leaving daily winner Joshua to make the final decision. A frustrated Nicholas can only stand and helplessly watch as Joshua saves ally Emily, repatriating him from the game after perceiving him to be a dangerous player. Nicholas hugs most of the other competitors goodbye, choosing to ignore Joshua and Arthur as he does so. Arthur questions Nicholas, whispering that he “voted to keep him”, only to be told “yeah, but you’re a rat” in response. The final ten board their boats, leaving New Älvsborg as Nicholas jokingly flips them the bird as he is left behind on the island edge.

Episode #5 - Realtion-Ships
The morning after Nicholas’ elimination, the remaining ten road trippers pack up their things and drive three hours from Gothenburg to Oslo, Norway. On the drive, Khaled and Lewis sit together in the first RV as they discuss Nicholas’ repatriation. Both men quietly admit to one another that they had voted to eliminate Emily, having felt as though they could’ve worked with Nicholas moving forward in the game. Lewis confesses that he ‘liked’ Nicholas, to which Khaled claims “yeah, I ‘liked’ him too”, seemingly confused as to what Lewis means. After some confusion, Lewis explains his ‘like’ as being “more than a friendly level”, surprising Khaled as Lewis admits that he is in fact bisexual. Lewis appears nervous as he talks about the matter, with his voice quivering until he receives a reassuring arm from Khaled. As the conversation goes on, Lewis professes that he has not widely spoken about his sexuality in public, particularly as he has typically been in “rugby and football circles” throughout much of his youth. Khaled becomes protective of Lewis in this moment as he realises that Lewis has not yet spoken about this with family or many friends, explaining to Lewis that he “is glad (he) could open up about it”, particularly as Khaled’s shares his own story of almost losing his own homosexual brother to a suicide attempt whilst growing up in Jordan. A tearful Khaled claims that “the conservative attitudes within Islam almost robbed (him) of his brother”, explaining that it wasn’t until his brother emigrated to Europe that “he was finally able to live in peace”. The men hug it out as they laugh and wipe their tears from the heavily emotional conversation, both declaring in confessionals that they have a newfound closeness and loyalty after sharing such intimate topics with each other. In the second RV, Joshua and Afia are shown talking about their satisfaction with Amber and Nicholas being the last two to leave the game. Afia mentions that she’d like to hear a name for who the group would like to target next, not wanting to have it turn into a free-for-all at her or her friends’ expense. Joshua assures her that they’ll likely have a name by midday, thinking it potentially smart for them to take a shot at “stronger players before we reach the jury”.

In Oslo, the group head around the city centre as they enjoy their first destination in the country of Norway. Ingrid and Afia are both eager to get involved in showing everybody around as residential Norwegians. Feeling frustrated by Joshua’s non-stop gaming, Emily decides to pair up with Lewis to walk around Oslo before the group head to lunch, grabbing his hand and being overly-comfortable with him throughout the day. In a confessional, Emily laughs as she asserts herself to the title of ‘the most flirtatious player in Road Trip history’. She continues joking that after Joshua and Erinn that she’d like to add Lewis to her list of “people (she’s) made out with”, setting a goal for herself of “at least five by the end of the trip”. Lewis is more than happy to return the flirtatious vibes back to Emily, clearly finding her attractive enough to engage with in this way. Also having noticed Joshua’s incessant gameplay, Khaled and Erinn stand together in central Oslo and discuss their belief that ‘Joshua will need to be taken care of sooner rather than later’. Erinn tells Khaled that she finds Joshua arrogant and “someone who thinks way too highly of himself”, a sentiment that Khaled thinks that a good portion of the group can get behind. He tells Erinn that they need to converse with others if they are to nominate Joshua, knowing that without his lifesaver he is vulnerable enough for them to take a shot. However, as neither want to deal with the repercussions of Joshua surviving a vote, they agree to wait until they are ‘certain they have the votes to send him home’.

After the group have eaten lunch, they all head to the Viking Ship Museum that is part of Oslo’s Museum of Cultural History, finding Lincoln and Sinead already inside waiting for them. The players are given a detailed tour by a local museum worker, who then gives the group a class on twenty Norse-Viking mythological symbols and letters, explaining that these symbols will be part of their next daily challenge. Once everybody has had a chance to study, Lincoln and Sinead explain that they will be asked to show the symbol (from their selection of twenty) that represents a specific letter, item or story. If an individual is correct, they will remain in the game, whilst any wrong answers will result in elimination from the task. Starting easy, all ten are able to get the first two symbols correct that represent similar-looking letters in the English alphabet. However, the third question proves more difficult, eliminating both Axel and Khaled from the challenge, with Axel declaring that he has “disgraced his Viking roots”. Erinn, Joshua and Lewis are all eliminated over the next two rounds, giving them no shot of winning the daily. Older Norse pair Ingrid and Goran are the next to be eliminated, both disappointed after perceiving this task to be one that they could have won. With just Afia, Arthur and Emily left in the competition, those on the eliminated bench sit and watch as they hope their closest ally in the trio is the one to come out on top. In the end, Arthur is able to beat Afia in the final round, giving him his first daily win of the season. Before Arthur is asked to select his nominee, a bottom two face-off is run between Axel and Khaled, with Axel truly proving to have a poor memory as he is eliminated first and automatically nominated for repatriation. The group turn to Arthur as he is asked to select his nominee to face Axel, with Arthur taking a moment to sweat through his decision. Arthur apologises, nervously announcing outcast Goran to be his nominee, openly admitting that he wants “everyone on an equal playing field” in relation to the lifesaver. Goran plays his lifesaver as expected, flushing it out of the game and requiring Arthur to make a replacement nominee now that Goran is immune. Not wanting to choose somebody that may cause friction (as well as somebody who would leave over Axel), Arthur selects Emily to face her third consecutive repatriation vote, a decision that takes Joshua by surprise. Sinead tells Axel and Emily that they’ll have the remainder of the day to fight for their place in the game, as by sundown one of them will become the final pre-juror of the season.

Campaigning for their safety; Axel and Emily begin approaching members of the tour to seek out the support needed to survive the vote. Arthur and Khaled both eagerly tell Axel that they’ll help his campaign, wanting to stick to the alliance forged with him the previous day. However, the three men realise they may not get Joshua’s vote, knowing that he will certainly be looking out for romantic interest Emily instead. Joshua pulls Arthur to one side during the afternoon, irritated and questioning why ‘ally’ Arthur would nominate Emily when he is aware that she had been working alongside them. Arthur claims that his nomination was simply a ‘decoy’ to face Axel, not admitting to Joshua that Emily is in fact his target. Joshua is fooled into believing Arthur’s reasons, telling him in future to “nominate someone (they) wouldn’t mind leaving as opposed to an ally”, something that Arthur ‘promises’ to do. The two men shake hands, remaining on good terms within their alliance before the vote. However, immediately after speaking to Joshua, Arthur approaches Khaled to confirm that he’d like them to continue with the move against Emily, believing that they can get the votes from Ingrid, Lewis and Erinn to eliminate her in a 4-3 result. Throughout the afternoon, Emily continues fighting hard to remain in the game, hearing through the grapevine that she is being targeted. Emily lets Joshua know of this, hoping that they can put in the work to send Axel home as a ‘bigger physical threat’. At sundown, the group meet by Oslo’s fjord to cast their key-fobs for either Axel or Emily to leave the game. In a 5-2 result, Emily is revealed to have fought for her safety, with Axel being the next individual to leave the game after only getting Ingrid and Khaled on side. Axel appears blindsided, having been assured by Arthur that their plan was going ahead. He declares that “there’s more going on in this game than I realised… good job”, hugging everybody goodbye and wishing them luck before removing his belongings from the RV. The final nine return to the RV for soft celebrations now that they have all at least reached the jury stage of the game. However, tensions appear to be growing after Arthur’s plan failed to repatriate Emily, and ultimately leaving his position in Joshua’s dominant alliance in jeopardy.

Episode #6 - The Ten Hour Trolltunga Trek
As the first week of the road trip draws to a close, the nine remaining players are woken early and told to drive from Oslo to Trolltunga, Norway in a long six-hour journey. On the journey, it becomes clear that Arthur has been doing his best to deflect any blame from the previous round onto Ingrid and Khaled, claiming that he has no responsibility for votes against Emily. In his confessional, Arthur seems nervous that the vote will be his undoing, hoping that Joshua will still want to work with him despite what had occurred. Rather than to let the failed move against her impact her mental state, Emily purposely puts on a brave face and jokes about the occurrence, using her strong social skills to strengthen her bonds with the entire group. Emily claims in a confessional that surviving three repatriations in a row has certainly left her feeling as though she is both a threat, but also “in desperate need of winning a challenge”, joking that she “miss(es) what it feels like to put a key-fob in the holder”. After six hours, the road trippers arrive at the base of the Trolltunga rock formation, with it being explained by Lincoln and Sinead that a gruelling ten hour hike stands between them and the peak of Trolltunga. The hosts go on to explain that for this daily challenge, each player will be split into three teams of three, with the first team to reach the peak ultimately being crowned the winners of the challenge. Moreover, the winning team will be the only individuals voting on who to eliminate from the losing trio.

Sinead brings out nine portions of ‘rakfisk’; salted and aged raw trout served alongside sour cream and raw onions. Each player must attempt to consumed the rakfisk, with the first three to finish being declared the captains for the challenge. Lincoln reminds everybody that whilst the role of captain may not be seen as necessary, it is always worth holding the power on who will be on your team should you win or lose the competition. As the eating begins, the Nordic players are all shown to be stronger in stomaching the delicacy, being watched as Emily and Lewis both flat-out refuse to attempt the eating. Surprisingly, Erinn is the first to completely eat her rakfisk, shortly followed by Goran and Arthur to give the three their captain positions. As first to select a team member, Erinn happily brings Afia over to her team due to believing that they are on the same page strategically. Goran takes Emily, believing that she may be somebody he could hide behind if they’re to lose, whilst Arthur happily takes strong competitor and ally Joshua for his own team. Erinn shocks the group as she takes Ingrid of the remaining three, confident that the oldest player may be able to use her ’jogging skills’ in this task. Goran then selects Khaled, leaving Lewis automatically joining Arthur on the all-male team. In a shocking twist, Lincoln explains to the group that they only have twenty minutes to change and prepare for the ten hour race/hike, and that upon reaching the peak the group will be given just an additional thirty minutes from the last team arriving to make their decision on who to repatriate. Whilst getting ready, Erinn talks to her teammates out loud as she questions whether she “should’ve picked Lewis to give (them) an easy boot” if they lose. Erinn doesn’t realise that Lewis had only been metres away from her as this comment was made, leaving him to immediately confront her. Erinn apologises, claiming it was a poor attempt at humour, but receives no forgiveness from Lewis, who scolds Erinn for having no discreetness about her thoughts on him. After Lewis walks off to join his own team, Erinn is nervously seen mouthing “f*ck” to her own teammates. Minutes later, Goran joins friend and ally Erinn along with her team member Afia, with the trio gossiping about Lewis after the argument. Goran claims that Lewis needs to “man up” about the matter, thinking that it isn’t that serious to overhear others wanting to vote you out. Afia agrees with Goran, believing that Lewis will almost certainly go home if Arthur’s team is to lose the daily challenge. Erinn claims to feel guilt for being caught out, but is more than happy to continue bad mouthing Lewis with the pair, thinking that it would be safer if they sent him home as soon as possible now that he feels negatively towards her. Emily; who had heard about the argument, approaches Lewis before the hike to wish him well and ensure that he “isn’t feeling sad”. She hugs Lewis several times, continuing her flirtatious but caring approach to him, something Lewis greatly appreciates due to feeling somewhat alone after losing friends and allies Hadia and Nicholas so early on.

As the challenge begins, the three teams all race up the hike, eager to get as far as possible before sunset as they realise how difficult things will become in the dark and cold temperatures. Arthur’s all male team is quick to take the lead, with more athletic Joshua and Lewis forcing Arthur to run to increase the distance between them and the two teams behind. Goran encourages teammates Emily and Khaled to keep a fast but steady pace, knowing that it is “a long distance race and not a sprint”, and that to burn too much energy early on could come back to bite them. All-female team Afia, Erinn and Ingrid also keep a steady pace, remaining virtually side-by-side with Goran’s team as they reach the two hour mark. However, Ingrid begins to tire after three hours on the hike without a break, slowing down her team and easily placing the women further and further behind. Similarly, Joshua and Lewis’ insistence on running causes an out of shape Arthur to become exhausted, forcing them to take a break as Arthur sits to catch his breath. This allows Goran’s team to pass Arthur’s, with their team retaining this lead well into the final portion of the course as the sun goes down over Trolltunga. After an exhausting ten hours, Goran, Emily and Khaled are the first team to cross the finish line, having been too far ahead of either of the other teams to even catch sight of them for the final two hours of the race. The trio celebrate their win with an immediate dinner and refreshments, wasting no time to get to discussions about who they should vote if either team are to lose. In relation to the all-male team, Khaled and Emily both speak up in favour of saving Lewis despite Goran’s initial push for him, leaving Goran to admit that he wouldn’t mind alternatively voting Arthur or Joshua in Lewis’ place. However, an hour or so later the all-male team checks into the finish line in second place, ending any need for discussions as to which of them should leave. The all-female team comes in over ninety minutes later after being helped by production in the dark, with Ingrid’s exhaustion destroying any chance the girls had of placing anywhere but the bottom. Sinead tells Afia, Erinn and Ingrid that they have just thirty minutes to pitch their cases to the winning team, as one of them will become the first member of the jury imminently.

Before deliberating, Afia and Erinn talk together, agreeing that whilst they both like Ingrid that they would regretfully see her as being responsible for their loss, and as a result would rather positively help one another in the campaign at her expense. They both claim this will clear their conscience, as they are “campaigning for each other, not directly against Ingrid”. For the winning team, all three immediately agree there is no chance that they’ll be targeting Erinn, all citing her to be the closest person to themselves out of the nominated team. When it comes time to vote, the trio unanimously come together without much issue in agreement that they’ll be voting Ingrid from the game in a 3-0 result, with Emily and Khaled both having had better conversations with Afia than Ingrid since the start of the game. A still exhausted Ingrid accepts her fate, somewhat relieved to be able to rest from the increasingly strenuous activities and socialisation of the road trip. Erinn and Afia both give a sigh of relief, glad to have survived at the expense of their ‘friend’. The group say goodbye to Ingrid, who is taken away by production to be sequestered in the jury until the end of the game. The final eight then are escorted to nearby tents and told by Lincoln and Sinead that they’ll be camping overnight on Trolltunga. Although everybody appears excited to see the coveted Trolltunga sunrise, collective groans are heard as they realise a ten hour hike back down the mountain will eventually be required in order for the road trip to continue.

Episode #7 - A Faster Way Down
As the group spend their night atop Trolltunga in their sleeping tents; Joshua and Emily are seen to have paired up in order to spend a night alone together. Moans are heard coming from the tent as the two spend time alone, which other members of the tour become all too aware of due to the lack of subtly from Emily’s moans. The next morning, the group laugh as they question an embarrassed Joshua and Emily about their night-time activities. In a confessional, Emily claims that whilst she is extremely close to Joshua, that she views her potential path to the end with Afia and Erinn as being more viable to get her the win, regretfully admitting that she won’t hesitate too much if Joshua is targeted due to his threat level being ‘too big’. After breakfast, the final eight players grab their belongings and make the long ten hour trek back down Trolltunga. On the way down, Lewis and Erinn have a private conversation to make peace after they had argued following Lewis overhearing Erinn calling Lewis an ‘easy option’ to vote out behind his back. Lewis tells Erinn that he is over the fight, and that he’d like the two of them to be able to potentially work together moving forward. Erinn seconds this, glad that Lewis is forgiving and willing to not focus on her as a target in his game. Not feeling satisfied with his current standings, Lewis continues talking around with as many others as he can, this time approaching Afia who he doesn’t perceive to be ‘on his side’ in the game. Lewis tells Afia that he would like to see Khaled, Erinn, Emily and the two of them be the last players remaining in the game, and by default leaves Arthur, Goran and Joshua out as the three potential targets. Afia is relieved to hear that Lewis is considering this, particularly as it means her beliefs that nobody in the game is currently targeting her are true. Upon reaching the RVs, the group all cram into a single vehicle and make a four hour journey towards Preikestolen in the Ryfylke district of Norway.

That evening, the group remain in their RV to sleep at the base of Preikestolen, having been informed that they’ll yet again be hiking up to its peak in the morning. With most of the road trippers sleeping, Arthur, Khaled and Erinn sit together outside around a fire to discuss their amazement at how few people are left in the game. Erinn mentions her beliefs that these next few rounds will be “brutal”, certain that there will be broken trust and blindsides in store for all those that end up leaving. Arthur and Khaled nervously laugh in agreement, claiming that they find it hard to predict who will nominate who now that obvious or easy targets have been sent packing. Arthur tells both Erinn and Khaled that he has no interest in nominating either, with the pair returning this promise to one another and Arthur, giving them some relief in ‘knowing’ that they have a better chance of surviving the next round should any of them win. The next morning, the group take a four hour hike up to Preikestolen, knowing that at the top they will be taking part in their next daily challenge. On the way up, Lewis continues his heavy socialising that he has been putting in action over the last few days, now speaking with friend and ally Khaled in order to establish who both men should nominate if they’re to win. Khaled claims to not have a specific name, worried that to throw one out could act as ammunition against him. Lewis tells Khaled that he strongly believes they need to settle on targeting Arthur, Joshua or Goran, with Khaled hesitantly and non-directly claiming some agreement as he “won’t nominate any of the girls or Arthur” if he were to win (by default leaving Joshua and Goran). Despite Lewis believing the socialisation to be necessary in helping his position, the entire group become aware of his manoeuvring and discuss it amongst themselves. Feeling somewhat annoyed by Lewis’ less than discreet gameplay, several are shown in confessionals to think that he may have “talked his way into going home” very soon.

Atop Preikestolen cliff, the group find Lincoln and Sinead waiting amongst eight paraglides and professional gliders, leaving everybody to laugh and panic as they become aware what their next daily challenge will entail. Sinead tells the players that for their challenge, they will each be paragliding from the 600-metre height of the cliff along with their instructor, with the aim of the challenge being to spot a four-by-four grid below that consists of sporadically coloured squares (either blue, green, purple, red or yellow). Upon landing, each player must free themselves from their paraglide, head over to a blank replica of the four-by-four grid and insert the correct colours into each square. The individual with the most correct will be declared the winner, whilst the person with the least correct will automatically face repatriation. However, Lincoln tells the players that as part of the challenge they have up to a one hour period to remain in the air over the colour board, and that they can spend the entire hour studying the board. Alternatively, players can tell their instructor to ‘land’ at any moment in this hour, giving them less time to study. In the case of a tie, the individual with the quicker times will be favoured. Emily and Erinn appear to be the most scared going into the challenge, holding one another’s hands as they wait their turn. Khaled, Lewis and Afia are the first three to compete, with Lewis and Afia spending much longer than Khaled in studying their boards, choosing precision over speed. Khaled remarks to the pair as they wait on the ground that he simply wanted to just “get at least half the board right” in a quick time, thinking this would be enough to save him from finishing last. Goran similarly uses this strategy, but finishes his board feeling less than confident as he states “f*cked it”. ‘Partners’ Joshua and Emily go back to back, having almost completely different reactions to the task. Emily’s fear eventually lessens as she flies around and around, doing her best to remember the colours below. Like Emily, Erinn does her best to get over her fears, joking in a confessional that ‘she isn’t winning this one and just needs to do better than somebody else’. Finally, Arthur takes by far the longest of everyone in circling the grid, determined to remember all the correct colours and win outright rather than letting it come down to a tie. The final eight gather around to hear the results from Lincoln and Sinead, not too surprised to hear that Goran has placed last after getting two squares less than Emily and Erinn. Arthur is named the daily winner yet again, having got all but one square correct and therefore narrowly beating runner-up Lewis to have control over the second nomination. Rubbing salt further into Lewis’ wound, Arthur easily names him to be the nominee to face Goran. Sinead tells both men that they will have just an hour until sunset, and that they can immediately get to deliberating with others for their safety in the game.

Knowing not much time stands between them and somebody’s exit, the group separate to their conversations, wanting to settle on the name of the individual they’d like to send home. Although he and Goran have had negative interactions in the past, Arthur voices a want of seeing Lewis leave the game, worried that if his nominee survives he’ll have a firm enemy active in the game. Joshua hears ally Arthur out, happy to vote to eliminate Lewis due to having little care for him as a player. However, Joshua’s ally Emily appears keen in her intention to save Lewis due to their good relationship, working alongside Khaled to try and sway Afia and Erinn to vote against Goran. Erinn quickly shuts down the pair, having no desire to turn her back on Goran due to their unspoken alliance. In a confessional, Emily claims to “love the idea” that she can snub Arthur’s plans yet again, believing it to be revenge for him nominating her two rounds prior. She remains relentless in her campaigning alongside Lewis, even trying again to sway romantic partner Joshua by reminding him that voting Lewis would “help Arthur’s resume” and not his own. Khaled’s own campaigns in favour of Lewis centres around the idea that whilst Lewis is ‘more active’ as a player than Goran, that Lewis has nobody firmly on his side (whereas Goran has Erinn as a ‘confirmed final two’). At sundown, the road trippers all gather and cast their votes, which end up blindsiding Goran, Arthur and somewhat Erinn in a 4-1 result after Emily, Khaled and Lewis were able to run a successful vote-flip campaign in getting Afia and Joshua on side. Goran hugs friend and ally Erinn goodbye before departing for the jury, hoping to see her go on to win the process and claim the £50,000 prize. The final seven return to the RV for their overnight stay, bedding down as they debrief over the night’s results. In a final confessional, Emily is seen laughing and celebrating the result, sticking both middle fingers up at the camera and declaring “that’s for nominating me, Arthur”.

Episode #8 - Second Times the Charm
With just seven road trippers remaining, the group drive five hours to Bergen in Norway. On the drive, Emily is heard subtly teasing Arthur due to his nominee yet again surviving repatriation. Arthur appears sad as Emily notes “that’s crazy that both Lewis and I are still in, and you nominated us both… but everyone else’s nominations have left when they won”. Emily hides her smirk as Arthur lets out a big sigh, soon being kicked under the table by Afia who is half-amused by Emily’s actions. After a short pitstop, Afia sits by Lewis towards the back of the RV, listening as Lewis tells her that he believes they need to come together to target a either Joshua or Arthur in this next round. Afia pushes Joshua’s name, feeling that he is a more viable threat than Arthur who “isn’t a great social player”. Lewis claims to be more than happy to target Joshua, but worries that it will be difficult due to his friendship with Emily and Arthur. However, Afia reminds Lewis that they have four votes (theirs plus Erinn and Khaled), and therefore a better chance of ensuring one of them can win and send Joshua home. The two realise that regardless of who loses the challenge, that if they want to send Joshua home it is imperative one of the four are the winners to break any worst case scenario tied result. Arriving in Bergen, the group head to a local market where they’re treated to a spread of fish and vegetarian dishes, all of which has been locally sourced and supplied. Noticing a free moment, Lewis tells Khaled and Erinn privately of his and Afia’s plan to oust Joshua at the next repatriation. Both appear more than happy with the plan, thinking that they’ve got a good shot to pull it off thanks to all being on the same wavelength. Erinn and Khaled are then shown in separate confessionals to feel confident about their current game positions, suspecting that regardless of which side wins that they’ll easily be advancing to the final six.

After eating, Lincoln and Sinead join the group, walking them a short distance to Bergen fish market, where much of their lunch had come from. Lincoln explains that for their next challenge, they’ll be tasked with rummaging through the ‘fish wastage’ (guts, heads and inedible scales) that has amounted over the last few days and been left to fester. Sinead then tells the players that they’ll all be given an equal sized crate of fish guts that they’ll search to find six puzzle pieces for a tiered puzzle. However, all seven players are barred from using their hands to locate the puzzle pieces, and instead are only allowed to use their mouths or feet to retrieve them. The first individual to finish will be declared the winner, whilst the last will automatically face the dreaded repatriation. All seven rush to find their pieces as the challenge begins, with Afia and Erinn being the only two to use their feet for the entire length of the competition. Joshua initially uses his feet, but soon realises the difficulties in this method, switching to instead use his mouth and stomach sticking his head into the fish guts. Khaled, Arthur and Lewis are the first to get their puzzle pieces to the table, soon followed by Joshua and Emily, with Afia and Erinn lagging behind due to their refusal to get their heads into the fish guts. After fifteen minutes struggling with the puzzles, Arthur becomes the first to reach its completion, securing his second consecutive win and third overall. Khaled and Joshua are able to use Arthur’s finished puzzle to complete their own, whilst Emily secures temporary safety by taking fourth place. Despite having reached the puzzle building station before both women, Lewis begins to panic as Erinn is able to finish in fifth, leaving it down to himself or Afia to take last place. In the end, Lewis is able to beat Afia, who makes little progress on her puzzle after a poor all-around performance and now finds herself facing repatriation. A victorious Arthur is asked to select his nominee, yet again confidently picking Lewis in hope that second time will be the charm. Nominated players Afia and Lewis look at one another regretfully, joining Erinn and Khaled in the realisation that any hope for a big move has been completely thwarted for the day.

Sinead and Lincoln allow the group to get cleaned up, telling them that once they have all changed that they’ll be travelling to the Fantoft Stave Church; a reconstructed medieval Norwegian church that dates back to the year 1150. Once clean, the final seven join Lincoln and Sinead in the RV as they drive a short distance to the church, giving them a brief opportunity to talk in their groups as they travel. Lewis appears irritated at being Arthur’s nomination a second time, wanting to know from Arthur directly why he “keeps shooting for (him)”. Arthur claims the move is nothing personal, and instead states a belief that it was “a good way to put different sides against each other”. Arthur goes on to mention his belief that his “only other option to nominate was Erinn”, and that he felt it would be “a waste to put Erinn against Afia”. Erinn seems immediately irritated by this remark, not certain if Arthur is claiming that she isn’t a threat or that she and Afia are “too similar to nominate”. Although Arthur tries to rephase his wording, Erinn refuses to let go of the remarks, becoming harsher in her tone as she declares Arthur to be “a shit talker and an even shitter liar”. Feeling nervous, Arthur retires to the back to the bus, realising that he shouldn’t have let Lewis goad him into revealing his mindset. Khaled (who had already been at the back of the RV) tries to comfort Arthur, wanting to take the opportunity to strengthen their bond knowing that both will be present in the final six. Arthur appears grateful to have Khaled listen to his side of the story, firmly believing that of everybody that it is Khaled who has his best intentions at heart. The two men proceed to continue swearing loyalty to one another, ultimately establishing their final two pact with a handshake.

The group arrive at the church with just two hours before sunset, giving them a comfortable amount of time to explore the grounds and interior of the church, taking photos to truly enjoy their experience. Although both Afia and Lewis want to enjoy what will be one of their final moments, the pair continue campaigning for their safety, worried to let any decision come down to Arthur if the vote results in a tie. Afia pulls Arthur and Emily to one side with an hour to go before the vote, believing that both may be key for her survival after being confident that she already has Erinn on side. In a confessional, Afia mentions a belief that Khaled is voting Lewis, leaving it “paramount that (she) can get Emily and Joshua, or at least one of them and Arthur to break the tie”. Afia explains to the pair that she doesn’t believe herself to be a threat in the same regards as Lewis, labelling him “an underdog and largely more likeable” to a jury than herself. Emily maintains difficulty in the vote, having felt a closeness to Lewis that she is confident benefits her game, but also believing that she can work alongside Afia and Erinn to reach the final three. As the sun sets, the eligible voters take a final moment to ponder whether they should keep ‘lonesome’ Lewis and his underdog status, or ‘appeaser’ Afia and her more under the radar approach to playing the game. The foursome place their key-fobs, which are revealed to be a 3-1 result in eliminating Lewis from the game after only Khaled attempted to save his friend from leaving. Although saddened, Lewis hugs the entire group goodbye, being somewhat colder towards Arthur due to a continued belief that he has a ‘clear issue with him’. Now down to six, the remaining road trippers head back down the hill towards the RVs, leaving Lewis sat by the darkened church exterior.

Episode #9 - All's Fair in Lavvu and War
Immediately following Lewis’ repatriation, the group board the RV for a long twenty-four hour journey north to Kiruna in Sweden; the northmost town in the entirety of Sweden. The group are provided with a driver for their journey, allowing them to sleep and relax through the difficult roads. Having survived the last vote, Afia states in a confessional that she’d like to use this second chance in the game to ‘improve her position and ultimately start to take control’, being all too aware that in the endgame it is pivotal to ensure that you retain control in order to reach the final two. Afia’s strong social manoeuvring throughout the journey (which she masks through casual conversations and acts of kindness) leave everybody feeling more positively towards her, deterred from any notions that individuals may have had of making her their next intended target. Sharing a bed, ‘romantic partners’ Joshua and Emily whisper to one another about their plans moving forward in the game. Whilst Joshua appears to fully intend of going to the final two with Emily, Emily remains silent that she has ‘set herself up’ with two potential paths; one with Joshua and the other with Afia and Erinn. Despite Arthur initially being Joshua’s close ally, he voices his issues with the current comp beast to Emily, believing that Arthur is becoming too much of a threat to take to the final three and “hope he won’t win”. Emily adds fuel to Joshua’s fire, mentioning that she has no trust that Arthur isn’t scheming behind their backs, believing that it may be in their interest to try and get him out next. The pair agree that they’ll ‘keep loyalties between them’, leaving their final three plans wide open for anybody else to join now that neither wants to keep Arthur around.

Twenty-four hours later, the group arrive in Kiruna and head to a local café to quickly grab some breakfast. Afia and Erinn talk over their morning coffees, quietly agreeing that they cannot allow Arthur or Joshua to win the next daily challenge. Afia also mentions a reluctance to seeing Khaled win, not feeling safe unless a girl is to take control at the next nominations. The two women jokingly pray together in the snow, hoping the ‘spirits of the land’ will guide one of them to a daily challenge win. The group then take a short journey to Kiruna Church; a large wooden church that has been dubbed ‘the Shrine of the Nomadic people’ for its popularity amongst those in Sweden and abroad. In the church, Arthur awkwardly decides to try and talk game to Afia and Emily, worried that he could be at risk if Erinn is to win the daily challenge after their fight two days prior. Emily laughs, asking Arthur if he would nominate Erinn if he were to win, which Arthur confirms he would. Both Afia and Emily decide to agree with Arthur in this moment, clearly willing to throw Erinn under the bus to ensure that one less player is nominating either of them should they win. Whilst neither Afia or Emily are willing to say who they’d nominate, both are quick to announce that their targets would be “outside this trio”, with Emily considering Khaled, and Afia targeting Joshua. Later on, it is shown that Afia has warned Erinn that “Emily and Arthur” had been talking badly about her, mentioning in a confessional that she is utilising a ‘divide and conquer’ approach to get through these last few rounds of the game.

Leaving the church, the group then travel to the Samegården Museum; a museum dedicated to exploring and displaying the cultural history of the native Sami people of Lapland. Lincoln and Sinead meet the group to take them on a tour of the museum, ultimately leading the players outside where they’re all shown an identical ‘Lavvu’ display (a temporary tent dwelling used by Sami people). The group are told that they must recreate the Lavvu using equal supplies as the example, ensuring that everything is positioned in the same places. A museum expert remains to judge the competition, telling competitors when they have successfully finished their Lavvu to an acceptable standard. The group all spend hours trying to figure out how to best put up the tent, unable to work together as per the rules of the challenge. Emily mentions that she had been camping at music festivals, but admits that she would’ve been “too faded” to remember how to pitch a tent. Joshua appears to be making the best progress, with his successful strategy in getting his Lavvu up being imitated by Afia, Arthur and Erinn. However, these four are shown to struggle to ensure that all items are put in exactly the same place inside the Lavvu as per the example. In this moment, Emily is able to finally pitch hers, placing all five neck and neck as Khaled continues to struggle to get his to structure to stand. After almost two hours, Afia’s eye for detail proves to pay-off as her Lavvu is declared to be acceptable, acting as her first daily win of the season. As Afia celebrates, Erinn is shown to finish just moments later, with both girls hugging as they declare that “the spirits heard us”. Both women immediately begin whispering as to who Afia should nominate, trying to theorise votes should Khaled remain in last place and lose the daily challenge. Arthur is able to finish in third place, soon followed by Emily, leaving Joshua still stunned as he is unable to realise that several of his items are not positioned correctly in his Lavvu. In the end, Joshua is able to alter his mistakes, keeping him ‘safe’ for now as Khaled is left automatically facing repatriation. Lincoln asks Afia to name her nominee to face Khaled, to which she announces that Joshua will be her choice, happy to take the shot at her perceived ‘biggest threat’ in the game. Joshua laughs and gives Khaled a reassuring hug, knowing that he now has to campaign against him to survive. Sinead tells both men that they’ll have just an hour until sunset, at which point one of their journeys will come to an end.

Remaining around the museum, Joshua is quick to approach Emily and ‘ally’ Arthur, seeking the two needed votes required to remain in the game. Emily undeniably declares her loyalty to Joshua, trying to keep Arthur comfortable in their conversation so that he will remain on their side. Arthur swears allegiance, happy to still be in the groups final three plans. However, Arthur speaks in his confessional about his final two deal with Khaled, wondering if that is a better option for him, as Emily and Joshua “only guarantee top three”, no doubt intending to cut him there should he lose the final challenge. Khaled is shown to be speaking with Afia and Erinn, glad to know that both intend to speak to Arthur to sway his vote and send Joshua home. Khaled seems confident that he has Arthur on side, suddenly feeling relaxed in ‘knowing’ that Joshua will be the one leaving. Unconvinced by Khaled’s certainty, Afia pulls Arthur to one side in order to fight hard to guide his vote. Afia tells Arthur that Joshua is seen by most to have controlled much of the game, and that many of Arthur’s ‘moves’ have “either failed or been overshadowed in claim by Joshua”. She tells Arthur that if he fails to save Khaled, that she believes any chance Arthur has of winning the game is ultimately diminished. Arthur questions Afia, knowing that she will be the one to claim Joshua’s elimination as her own if ‘he and Erinn do her dirty work’. However, Afia reminds Arthur that her hands are already dirtied against Joshua for nominating him, and that he would be unwise to place the entire credit of the round in her lap simply because she won. In a confessional, Afia highlights her belief that freeing up Emily as an ally will be key in her winning the game, particularly as no Joshua would leave Emily having “nobody to work with other than Erinn and (herself)”. At sundown, the final six meet in the snow around a campfire to cast their votes for either Joshua or Khaled to leave the game. As both men remain confident they have Arthur’s vote on side, the computer programmer is shown to tremble with nerves as he places his key-fob into the holder, knowing that he is about to break one sides complete trust in him. After the votes ties 1-1, Lincoln draws the final vote, revealing that Arthur has joined Erinn in blindsiding Joshua from the game. Emily and Joshua are shown to be in a state of shock as the result is declared, looking at one another and then Arthur in disbelief. A smiling Khaled reassuringly thanks Arthur, Erinn and Afia, knowing that the three of them having his back is the only reason he managed to survive the night. Joshua hugs and kisses Emily goodbye, wishing everybody luck as he gives each one a hug. Upon hugging Arthur, Joshua whispers that he believes Arthur to be “a punk of a man”, looking at him in disgust in an almost threatening manner. Arthur wipes sweat from his forehead as he seeks refuge next to Khaled, watching as Joshua and his things are driven away in a taxi. The final five return to the RV, with Emily determined to survive now that she is completely lonesome for the first time all season. In a confessional, she is shown to describe herself as “a scorned woman”, promising to seek revenge on Afia, Erinn and Arthur for “playing (her) like a fool”.

Episode #10 - Welcome to Hell-sinki
The morning after Joshua’s repatriation, Emily continues to feel anger towards the other two girls and Arthur for their deception, no longer trusting any of their words moving forward. The final five begin a thirteen hour drive from Sweden to Helsinki – Finland’s capital city. Erinn spends time talking to Emily on the drive, wanting her to be aware that their decision to blindside Joshua is not an indication that she (Emily) will be next to be eliminated. Although Emily claims to want to believe Erinn, she admits that the move left her feeling betrayed and alone, particularly as nobody had come to let her know what was happening prior to the results being made public. Erinn gives Emily an apology hug, hoping that she will accept the apology and work alongside her to oust Arthur at the next opportunity. Later on in the journey, Khaled takes time to also speak with Emily, recognising that she is potentially a swing vote leading into the next round. Khaled does well to reiterate that Afia and Erinn have been ‘playing both sides’, not feeling confident that both wouldn’t vote him out next if they had to. These comments are met by nods from Emily, who asserts that her goal is to win the next daily challenge and “see what everyone can offer”. Before ending their conversation, Khaled tries to claim to Emily that the two of them are ‘the underdogs’ now in the game, and that it will be up to them and Arthur to take power away from Afia and Erinn, who he feels are currently “in control of the game”.

After a thirteen hour journey, the group arrive in Helsinki just in time to attend an evening service at Temppeliaukio Church; a church built in 1969 that has been completely carved into solid rock, earning it the nickname ‘Church of the Rock’. The fivesome sit and listen to the evening service, amazed by the beauty of the church’s interior as they take in the Finnish culture. After the service, a group discussion takes place as everybody talks about their different religious backgrounds; Khaled being Muslim, Afia having Eritrean Orthodox and Islamic heritage, Erinn and Emily being Catholics and Arthur a committed atheist. The group celebrate their diversity of backgrounds in this holy place, confidently believing that in this moment they can all come together and be grateful for the experience. Afia and Khaled retire to the RV after the service, choosing to get an early night whilst the other three head out in order to get a small evening meal. The trio eventually find a small open coffee shop, grabbing hot drinks and sandwiches as they walk around snowy Helsinki in the late hours of the evening. All three end up talking about how important the win would be for them outside of the game, detailing their need for the money or the glory of victory. Both Arthur and Emily talk about wanting to pay-off some student debts, also wanting to invest the money into finding a more comfortable living quarter. Erinn admits that whilst the money would be helpful, that for her it would feel greater to achieve the victory and be able to be amongst an elite group of players who have achieved this feat. Realising that there is no single individual amongst them not determined to fight for the win, the three finish their sandwiches and head back to the RV, taking rest alongside Afia and Khaled before one of their final days on the road trip.

The next morning after breakfast, the final five head to a nearby lake where they find Lincoln and Sinead already waiting for them. The hosts tell the players that for their next daily challenge, each player will be made to submerge themselves up to the neck in ice water. Due to the danger of the challenge, each player may only spend up to ninety seconds in the ice water, and will be pulled from their icy pools by production if they fail to get out in time. Whilst in the water, each player must do their best to move as little as possible, with their movements being measured by a device attached to their foreheads. The player who records the least movements in ninety seconds will be declared the daily winner. However, players may exit the ice water at any stage upon entering, but in this instance anybody who fails to last the full ninety seconds will be graded based on time alone. Therefore, a player who moves less but lasts the least amount of time in the water will ultimately be declared the loser and automatically face repatriation. The five players theorise how to approach the challenge, pondering if anybody will drop before ninety seconds are up. A majority of the players come to the conclusion that nobody will reach ninety seconds, and that rather than preventing movement they should ‘try to last as long as possible’. Emily is first to head into the water, shaking violently as the shock of the ice cold water hits her body. Emily is unable to last the entire ninety seconds, tapping out and being taken to a warm enclosure less than thirty seconds after entering. Erinn and Arthur are also unable to last the entire ninety seconds, unsure how anybody will be able to do so as they join Emily in the warmth, hoping that they’ve all done enough to not fall into last place. As the fourth to compete, Afia shocks Lincoln and Sinead as she calmly slides into the water, seemingly mentally shutting down and remaining completely motionless for the entire ninety seconds. Afia is pulled from the icy water by production, who wrap her in safety blankets and whisk her to the warmth, shocking the other three who now panic knowing that at least one player has been able to finish the whole task. Khaled is the last to perform, being unaware of how the others have fared, and hoping that he can complete the full ninety seconds and secure his first individual daily win. After Khaled has warmed up with the others, Lincoln and Sinead join the shivering group to read out the results. Lincoln confirms that Afia was the only player able to last the full ninety seconds, giving her another daily win and the right to nominate somebody for repatriation. Emily and Erinn are announced to have both fallen into last place, having been unable to last longer than the thirty second mark. In the end, Erinn is revealed to have lost the challenge by less than three seconds, leaving her vulnerable and facing repatriation. Nervous for her friend, Afia contemplates who to nominate in order to give her the best chance for survival. She eventually selects Khaled to be her nominee, believing that he is the bigger threat between himself and Arthur, and somebody that Emily would recognise as someone who cannot be allowed to reach the final two.

Sinead tells nominees Erinn and Khaled that unlike other repatriations, they’ll not have until sundown in order to fight for their place on the tour. Instead, they’ll be given just thirty minutes to speak to eligible voters Arthur and Emily, with Afia knowing that she will have to cast the deciding vote in the event of a tie. Khaled is first to campaign, pulling Emily for a chat due to his confidence that he has Arthur on side after they established a final two deal. Afia decides to lurk in on Khaled and Emily’s conversation, wanting to prevent him having any sway over Emily’s vote for this round. Khaled speaks frankly about his belief that Erinn is a threat to win the game, going as far to openly tell Emily that Erinn and Afia are aligned in ‘a final two pact’. Although Afia challenges this point by claiming that she hasn’t promised final two to anybody, she decides to try and match Khaled at his own game, telling Emily that Erinn is “a big threat socially to sit with against the jury”, hoping that this reverse psychology will convince her that the two of them can be the final two instead. Emily seems somewhat flustered by hearing multiple arguments, finding some humour in the fact that she was blindsided at the previous vote, and now dubs herself “the person holding all the cards” in who goes home. Arthur flat-out tells Erinn that he’ll be voting to save Khaled, leaving Erinn to alter her campaign to Emily to put forth the idea that the men are almost definitely in a final two deal, and that it would be foolish of the three girls to allow Road Trip to produce its seventh male winner rather than a third female one. As the thirty minutes draws to a close, Erinn and Khaled stand side-by-side and wish one another luck, waiting to see whether Emily’s vote will cause a tie and see Khaled’s game ended by Afia, or join Arthur in sending Erinn to the jury. Emily decides to enact ‘revenge’ on the girls after feeling more burned by their actions, also believing their pairing to be a bigger threat to sit with at the final two over Khaled or Arthur. Erinn and Afia both appear silently irritated at the 2-0 result, believing Emily may have just ended both their chances of winning in one foul swoop. Once Erinn says her goodbyes and departs the area, the final four are told by Lincoln and Sinead that they’ll immediately be heading to the next and final location on the road trip; Stockholm.

Episode #11 - The Winner Takes it All
The final four begin a long journey from Helsinki to Stockholm, Sweden; travelling via ferry to their final location of the season. Afia remains somewhat stoic after losing close-ally Erinn at the last repatriation, having been lead to believe that Emily would side with them to create their goal of an all-female final three. Emily continues to assure Afia that their final two can go ahead, believing it would be foolish of either of them to stick with Arthur and Khaled, who would “definitely vote (them) out” if they lost the final daily challenge. Afia tells Emily that she believes voting for Erinn is a costly mistake, particularly as it has now guaranteed a fifty-fifty split of power at the end, and that the entirety of the days power will rest on both winning the challenge as well as ensuring that neither of them fall into last place. Emily confesses to Afia that had she nominated Arthur that she doesn’t think she’d have voted to eliminate Erinn, having blamed Arthur more than anyone for the move against Joshua. She appears to pass some of the blame onto Afia’s lap for ‘playing selfish’ by going for Khaled, rather than being smarter and getting ‘unlikeable’ Arthur out of the game. Both women sit and mull over their potential mistakes in the last round, hoping that they’ll be able to recover and send Arthur or Khaled home next. Elsewhere, Arthur and Khaled sit and eat together on the ferry, feeling celebratory after surviving the last round and both making it to the top four. Arthur tells Khaled that he is still “one-hundred percent” locked in to their final two, with Khaled feeling the same way, believing in his mind that he would have a much easier time of beating Arthur than he would Afia or Emily. The foursome arrive in Stockholm early in the morning of the following day, having spent the night sleeping aboard the ferry. After eating their breakfast, the remaining road trippers head to Stockholm’s metro, finding Lincoln and Sinead already waiting for them. Sinead congratulates the players on making it this far, confirming that they’ll now be taking on their next daily challenge. For this challenge, each player will be given a folder containing eight artwork pieces found across the highly-decorated metro stations in Stockholm. Lincoln tells the players that these eight images act as a reference for which stations they need to arrive at, finding small tokens representing this station by ‘’Road Trip’’ coloured flags within each of these locations. If a station has no flags or tokens, players can assume it is not correct. The first player to find all the tokens and return to Lincoln and Sinead’s station will be declared the daily winner, whilst the last will automatically face repatriation. Players are told they may not work together directly, but that there is nothing stopping them ‘stalking’ one another in progress. However, with half of them guaranteed to be nominated by the end of the challenge, all four worry that stalking someone else’s progress will get them second place at best.

As the challenge begins, the four rush around their station, showing the array of photos to locals in hope that they’ll be able to identify some of the stations for them. Perhaps at an advantage, Swedish individual Arthur is able to communicate more effectively in discovering the station names, leaving before any of the others to head to his first location. Khaled decides to follow Arthur, believing that if they can place in the top two then all will be well for their desired final two. Afia’s basic grasp of communicating enables her to leave the station in third, heading to a completely different station than Arthur and Khaled. Emily nervously hops on a train after being told two of the eight stations by a station worker, hoping that she as ‘a pretty girl’ can get men to help her throughout the day. However, Emily finds the local men uncertain about much of the artwork, giving multiple names and seeming too busy to help her. Emily declares to a nearby camera that “maybe they’re all gay”, trying to find light in a challenge that is going less than well for her. Arthur continues to excel ahead of the others throughout the challenge, obtaining his fifth token and allowing Khaled to stay on his tail. In the end, Arthur’s lead is never taken by any of the others, allowing him to finish in first place and claim his fourth daily win of the season. Khaled; who had allowed Arthur to take first place due to following him throughout the challenge, comes in second, securing his safety and celebrating with Arthur as they declare they’ll have the entire power for the round. Afia arrives an hour later, sighing in disappointment as she sees both men have already finished. Emily is eventually contacted by Lincoln and Sinead, and told to head back to the main station after retrieving just half the tokens required. Emily seems in good spirits despite her loss, realising that it simply wasn’t a ‘good task’ for her. Arthur names Afia as his nominee to face Emily, telling her that it is nothing personal and simply keeping to his deal with Khaled, with it being no secret that the group is split down gender lines. Afia begins whispering “I told you” to Emily in this moment, greatly annoyed that she has condemned one of them to leaving the game after saving Khaled at the last repatriation. Remaining in the metro, Lincoln and Sinead tell Khaled that as the sole voter he will be given a few hours to make his decision as to who between Afia and Emily will be leaving the game next. Both women take twenty-minutes each with Khaled, hoping to convince him that their remaining in the game is better for him. Afia’s plea largely centres around Emily having more friends in the jury, reminding Khaled that she would likely pick up Lewis and Joshua’s votes with ease. Emily’s campaign relies on the idea that she has been a friend to Khaled in the game, reminding him that her vote prevented his leaving at the last repatriation. Emily also promises Khaled that if she wins the final three challenge that she would send Arthur to the jury, whereas she is confident that Afia would want to sit next to Arthur at the final two as per her intentions of getting Khaled out in the last round. Khaled takes a moment to consider, eventually breaking the news to Afia directly that he’ll be voting her out. Afia takes the news well, having expected that her game was finished the moment he and Arthur secured their own safety. Khaled thanks Afia for “being a good sport” about the matter, to which Afia somewhat coldly tells him “I have no choice”. Moments later, Khaled’s decision to oust Afia is made public after his key-fob is drawn, leaving Afia to say her goodbyes before departing on the train to be sequestered with the rest of the jury. The final three exit the metro, enjoying their remaining free time in the evening, knowing that in twenty-four hours one of them will be £50,000 richer.

The final three awaken on the last day of the road trip, receiving note that they’ll be heading towards ‘ABBA The Museum’, much to their amusement. The trio arrive at the museum, being given free time to look around at the history of ABBA; including costumes and displays that honour the famous Swedish pop group. In a confessional, Arthur claims that the museum has given him hope, making an analogy between ‘Swedish underdogs’ Abba dominating Eurovision, and his dominance of challenges in the season despite being pitted to be the first one eliminated. After spending several hours looking around the museum and taking a moment to rest their mind from the games, the road trippers are brought to Stockholm City Hall, heading to the hall’s riverside gardens, finding three seats waiting next to Lincoln and Sinead. For the final challenge, Lincoln and Sinead alternate asking questions about the road trip as a whole, with questions ranging from locations, activities and other road trippers. 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. Arthur, Emily and Khaled all dramatically tie after getting seven points each, leaving a tiebreaker question to be asked by Sinead in order to determine the winner. Setting a Road Trip record, Arthur wins the tiebreaker and claims his fifth daily challenge win, giving him complete autonomy in selecting Emily or Khaled to join him at the end. Although both claim to be the better option, Arthur chooses to ignore Emily’s claims that Khaled is “too likeable” to sit next to at the end, voting to eliminate her from the game and take ally Khaled to the final two in the third consecutive all-male final. Emily congratulates both men, wishing them luck before heading down the path, convinced she was just one round away from becoming the season’s winner.

An hour later, Arthur and Khaled retake their seats by the river, now joined by the seven members of the jury who will determine the winner (Ingrid, Goran, Lewis, Joshua, Erinn, Afia and Emily). The jury as a collective body is allowed to question or make statements to Arthur and Khaled whilst they pitch their case as to why they should be crowned winner of the road trip. Despite many slating him as being ‘unlikeable’, ‘socially awkward’ or ‘a messy player’, Arthur is unanimously credited by the jury for his dominance of challenges, setting a record in five daily wins across the season. Joshua also ensures to point out that despite Arthur being called ‘unlikeable’ by many, that he never once was selected to be a nominee, and that he only placed last in a single challenge at the start of the season. However, Goran and Lewis both heavily argue that Arthur was ‘meant to be eliminated’ in that first vote, believing that to give him the win would ignore the fact that “the one time Arthur was nominated he had no support”. The two men also highlight their personal issues with Arthur, wanting to know why Arthur seemed to ‘have it out for them’ when he won power. Lewis goes on to tell Arthur that he is “the luckiest player in history”, thinking that he would have been eliminated any time he was nominated, and that he was only left alone by others “because no one wanted to waste their move on (him)”. Comparatively, Lewis credits Khaled with his genuine approach to socialising, vocalising that this above anything else will have won Khaled his vote. Arthur denies this claim, believing that many people had wanted to vote him out, but that he considers his social game as having been strong enough to deter this. Alternatively, many feel Khaled’s game somewhat lacklustre in that he never appeared to have great dominance strategically or in challenges, and that socially he was ‘simply likeable and nothing more’. Ingrid in particular calls Khaled’s potential win “a bit of a boring way to end” the season. Erinn ends up speaking in favour of Khaled, thinking that unlike Arthur he rarely had to play sneaky or betray, and that he simply stuck with friends and made sure to always be social enough to stick around, crediting his social game with being what ultimately saved him both times he was nominated. The jury take a moment to consider their votes, placing their key-fobs for either ‘Arthur’ or ‘Khaled’ into the holder once they have made their decisions. Lincoln and Sinead alternate in drawing fobs, with it temporarily tied 2-2 after Ingrid and Joshua decide to give their support to Arthur for his superior challenge performances and greater impact on the game, whilst Goran and Lewis happily vote Khaled to win due to their immense disliking of Arthur on a personal and game level. Endgame girls Afia, Emily and Erinn all combine their votes to give Khaled a comfortable 5-2 victory, believing that a stronger social performance and less sloppy strategic game is more worthy of the win, believing that Arthur was ‘parasitic’ in his venture to reach the end. Khaled celebrates his victory as Sinead blasts ‘The Winner Takes it All’ on speakers; he thanks the jury and hugs clearly upset friend Arthur, having fulfilled his long-term plan of sitting next to somebody at the end who he would beat. Lincoln and Sinead leave the nine players to debrief, looking at Sinead’s phone and reading a text that states ‘second time’s the charm’.