For most celebrity couples, honeymoons are spent on luxury, no-expenses-spared romantic getaways to the best exotic hotspots the world has to offer. But Kelly Brook and her husband Jeremy Parisi spent five weeks backpacking from the Amazon rainforest to the Andes in a race against three other duos for the second season of the BBC's hit reality show Celebrity Race Across the World.
With no access to their bank cards or smartphones, the couple – who wed in July 2022 in Jeremy's hometown of Arpino in southern Italy – had to rely on each other to make the epic journey to the finish line. Sitting down with HELLO! as the series draws to a close, Kelly and Jeremy opened up about their relationship and their exciting new plans.
Kelly and Jeremy, you said the trip was like an alternative honeymoon because you didn’t have one. Do you think you still will?
Kelly: "Life moves so quick, and Jeremy's going to be 40 next year, so we're already thinking about what to do for his birthday. We go on nice holidays anyway, so it was hard to have a honeymoon."
Jeremy: "It was a special honeymoon."
K: "It was definitely a lot cheaper for Jeremy to take me there than the Maldives."
Where would you like to go for Jeremy's 40th, Kelly?
K: "I was going to suggest Japan, and the whole Kyoto, Tokyo thing. Then Jeremy said he'd like to go back to Brazil. Going back would be incredible, but to have our phones and stay in nice hotels with the budget out the window."
Was there anything you learned about each other during the show that you didn't know before?
J: "My wife is very strong, physically and mentally. But because we've never done a race or anything competitive, I never saw this side of her. I'm really proud of her."
K: "I didn't realise how competitive he was going to be. He takes it to another level. I found that at times stressful. It was a race, but it's also a TV show, and we want to see Jeremy's face. We don't always want to see the back of him running, because he was so far ahead of us all the time."
Did you feel as though the show made you closer?
J: "After ten years, me and Kelly are very close. I'm not English, so in England, I've just got Kelly. She's very protective of me. It was five weeks of being a very close team. I think that's something we always will be."
K: "I sat down and talked him through what these TV shows are. You do become public property afterwards. I think he trusts me enough to know that I'd look after him and guide him through that. So it didn't really impact [our relationship] because I feel we've had those roles anyway."
What made you fall for one another?
J: "It was step-by-step because she was in America, I was from France and Italy."
K: "We spent six months chatting via FaceTime and Skype. Jeremy was a judo fighter, I was in LA doing martial arts training. So our relationship was based on chatting about martial arts, fitness, health and diets and that's how we started to get to know each other. It just kind of evolved."
Kelly, you lived in the Kent countryside for 16 years before moving to London. Do you think you'll ever move back?
K: "A big reason why I sold my farm in Kent is because we think we may have a chapter in Italy on Jeremy's farm. We feel like Italy, which is his happy place, could be our happy place."
J: "I want to show Kelly what it is like at my farm in Italy. A little chapter there is important for me."
What's next for you?
K: "We shot a TV show on his farm in Italy. It looks so beautiful and his family come across so well. The pilot's at ITV at the minute, and they really want to make it. Let's hope people love our relationship enough from Celebrity Race, that they'll be excited to see our next chapter."
Celebrity Race Across the World airs on Wednesday's at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.