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Race Across The World stars Gaz and Yin got emotional this morning as they opened up about their divorce while on Lorraine.
The former married couple are one of five pairs taking part in this year’s BBC competition, travelling 14,000km from the Great Wall of China to Kanniyakumari, the southernmost tip of India.
Though they’ve been separated for three years, the pair are taking on the emotional adventure as ‘best friends’.
Ahead of tonight’s third episode, Yin and Gaz appeared on the morning show to discuss their ‘wild’ journey.
Asked by Ranvir Singh – who is stepping in for usual host Lorraine Kelly as she undergoes – about their marriage breakdown, Gaz began by saying it was ‘hard’.
‘Like all break-ups, it was hard, and because I’m of that age generation, I try to blank it out, have a few beers.
‘But Yin is an amazing person. I don’t think I’d be here if it wasn’t for you. It wasn’t that bad, but it got to the point where I didn’t like myself. I didn’t like what I was doing.
‘I didn’t want to be around anybody, I was very insular and Yin was the one who kept pushing me and pushing me.’
In response, Yin placed her hand on Gaz’s knee and said, ‘Gaz put in so much hard work.’
However, as she went to finish her sentence to say ‘I’m so proud of him’, she clearly became choked up and very emotional before Ranvir changed the topic of conversation.
Responding on X, @Colabubble described their conversation as being ‘wonderfully refreshing’.
In last week’s episode, Gaz shared: ‘Being married to Yin was amazing, I did feel there’s security being married because you’re a unit, you are together.
‘But the breakdown of the relationship was because I became lazy. I took Yin for granted. Even to this day, I blame myself.’
He continued: ‘I didn’t cope with the breakdown of the relationship at all well.’
Gaz recalled how he would drink himself ‘into a stupor’ because he didn’t speak to anyone about what he was going through.
He said: ‘One of the big key things with Yin is she identified that and whilst I was going through my demons and people had given up on me, she never did. She could see what I was doing was not right.
‘I’m at that point now where I’m in a good place and by doing the race I want to repay her because she was there for me through the dark times and I don’t want to let her down.
‘I’ve let her down too many times in the past, I don’t want to do it again.’
After listening to their story, a number of Race Across The World viewers began to say they were hoping Gaz and Yin get back together.
‘Am I the only one secretly shipping Gaz and Yin for a reunion…?’ Claire wrote on X.
‘We’re all rooting for Yin and Gaz to get back together, aren’t we?’ echoed Roz, adding: ‘What a great relationship Yin and Gaz have. The casting for #raceacrosstheworld is always spot on.’
Gemma Lettington, meanwhile, wrote: ‘Race across the world participants… Gaz and Yin… anyone think they still love each other?’
‘Yin and Gaz, if you’re out there in Twitter land, please tell us you’re back together,’ added Rich.
Not everyone was so enthusiastic about the pair’s potential reunion, though, and were just happy to see an exes portrayed positively for once.
‘Whether or not Gaz and Yin’s relationship is purely platonic or not, is their business,’ wrote @CHEEEKYsausage on X. ‘It’s just nice to see an ex-married couple without spite and malice, support one another. Their dynamic is fascinating to me.’
‘An ex-wife who didn’t give up on her ex-husband. Yin is an angel. #raceacrosstheworld,’ added Honey Bee.
Cex, meanwhile, noted that the pair’s situation isn’t that unusual, claiming, ‘My uncle and aunt are the same, always together but not together.’
When asked about why they wanted to take part in the series, Yin had previously explained: ‘The last year has been quite a personal journey for me.
‘Gaz and I, although we used to be married, we’ve been separated for about three years. And then when we split up, I found another partner, but he passed away suddenly in September.
‘The last year has been tough, but one of the things that Chris gave me was a real sense of adventure, and he really liked travelling.
‘We talked a lot about travelling, and so when this came along, I thought why not, something inside me made me fill out the application form.’
Yin was living in Gaz’s under-the-stairs cupboard at the time as he was looking after her during her grieving period, and suggested the idea of Race Across The World to him.
She added: ‘He was like, yeah, whatever. He probably just said it more to amuse me, because he obviously knew what I was going through at that moment. But before we knew it, he’d filled out the application and the journey had begun!’
The couple split around three years ago, and have a 23-year-old daughter together.
During last week’s episode, Yin held back tears as she spoke about missing their daughter Autumn and not being with her to celebrate her birthday.
Calling their child the proudest part of their marriage, Yin said: ‘We’ve always managed to put our differences aside for Autumn.
‘I don’t know why it works or how it works, but it works.’
Gaz replied: ‘It does, it’s unique, but it does.’
Speaking about their daughter, Yin continued: ‘Taking part in the race, Autumn sees it as a last adventure together. Time has move on, she has now grown up, we are both different people.
‘She understands me and Gaz are going on a different path and living our own lives, we still want to be supportive of each other but me and Gaz want to get back to engaging with life again and start enjoying it again.’
Race Across The World airs Wednesdays at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
This article was originally published on April 30.
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