Destination X’s casting decisions are holding it back from success

The BBC’s latest blockbuster reality TV show – Destination X –  has been hailed ‘The Traitors meets Race Across The World’.

It’s hard to imagine a greater expectation to live up to and all the foundations are there for it to be bigger and better than both.

But after the reaction to the first two episodes, it now feels unlikely. In fact, there’s one key problem with the show that I believe is the root of its downfall. 

Hosted by Rob Brydon, Destination X begins with 13 strangers meeting at a busy airport before they board a claustrophobic coach with opaque windows, and absolutely no idea where they’re going.

The contestants have to rely on clues sussing out red herrings to decipher, as precisely as possible, where they are in Europe.

At the end of each episode, players must try and pinpoint their location on a map with the one furthest away from the correct spot being eliminated.

Eventually, they will make their way to Destination X – wherever that may be.

When I first heard the show was coming to BBC, I was convinced it was going to be one of the standout moments in television of 2025.

It’s been a smash in Belgium, has already been imported to the US where it was presented by The Walking Dead’s dreamy villain Jeffrey Dean Morgan and – granted I say this with some bias – I firmly believe Britain makes the best reality television in the world. 

I had high hopes Destination X would stand on their shoulders as a true giant of reality TV. 

But, after watching the first episode, it became clear I was way off the mark. 

It felt like a chore to watch. The game, which sounded fairly simple on paper, was so muddled – the clues were impossible to weed out from the red herrings and the spectacular landscapes that make any great series about travel were intentionally hidden.

That, however, is not the fatal flaw. 

Destination X has already made a big mistake that, at least in this series, can’t be fixed.

No matter how the game unravels and how much the players turn on each other, Destination X is never going to reach top tier reality TV with this cast who are absolutely… fine.

I actually like them all as people – but they’re not reality TV stars.

It feels like they were carefully handpicked because of their ability to play the game, which in reality television is sacrilege. Reality television isn’t the Olympics and it should never be treated as such.

The second series of The Traitors was unmissable because its eventual winner Harry Clark was so unnervingly good at deception I genuinely suspect one day he’ll be recruited by the secret service, if he hasn’t been already. 

But The Traitors would be nothing without the Linda Rands of the world, who gave herself away seconds after Claudia Winkleman tapped her on the shoulder to be a traitor and then made wonderful mistakes day after day until even she had to concede her time was up.

If you had to be a qualified dancer to compete on Strictly, it might be a more spectacular watch – but it definitely wouldn’t be as fun.

I believe that reality television, bar none, lives and dies by its casting. A great format gets you so far but it’s the characters that will keep viewers invested.

And after three episodes of Destination X, I can safely say I like everyone on that coach. I’d probably have a lot of fun with them if I met them in person. 

But great people and great reality TV stars are not part and parcel, and this is proven by the ill-judged casting for Destination X.

There is, however, one real character on that bus. 

London cabbie Daren wants to use the £100,000 prize money to buy his wife – Jackie P – a new kitchen. He’s built his career on knowing the streets of the UK’s busiest city like the back of his hand but is easily one of the weakest players in Destination X. 

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And thank god he’s in there. 

He’s yet to do anything particularly memorable like Alison Hammond breaking the garden table or throwing a tantrum like Peter ‘what a sad little life, Jane’ Marsh – but he is by far the show’s biggest, and arguably only, real character worth truly rooting for.

Thankfully, should Destination X be commissioned for another series – which I really hope it is – it’s a problem that can be easily fixed. Players should be handpicked for their personalities, not if they’ve run marathons across the world, can fly a plane or are a nuclear engineer.

Reality television is at its best when it shows how extraordinary ordinary people can be. Diane Carson was just like so many people you could meet at the pub or sit next to on the Tube but she accidentally became a star because of her natural, high-camp energy. 

Destination X needs a Diane if it’s ever going to grab the attention it deserves. Because aside from Daren, there’s no one I’m rooting for. 

Destination X airs Wednesdays and Thursdays on BBC One.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk. 

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