Race around the world Winner Alfie Watts has revealed he is now estranged from the family who raised him following the death of his mother when he was five.
The 23-year-old, who is the BBC travel competition alongside best friend Owen Wood in 2024, said tensions with his remaining family members became “increasingly worse” as he became more successful, and “completely boiled over” over the past year.
Alfie, who was raised by his grandmother in St Albans, Hertfordshire, said he no longer speaks to his family and has instead been forced to find a support network ‘outside my bloodline’.
Speaking Matt Willis‘S On The Mend podcast this week Alfie said: ‘Me and my family never get along. In short, I cannot resonate with a give-up attitude. It’s not in me.
“And they gave up. And that really annoyed me. From a young age I didn’t know why I didn’t have that connection.’
Alfie explained after his mother’s death from the breast cancer At the age of 39, when he was five years old, the family members around him stopped embracing life as he increasingly wanted to pursue his ambitions.
Race Across The World winner Alfie Watts has revealed he is now estranged from the family who raised him following the death of his mother when he was five
He said: ‘I think at that point they just decided there was nothing left to live for.
“Even though they had so many years to turn things around and make something for themselves, there was never any passion to go out and see anything, any kind of hobby, no urge to go see friends.”
He added that he also felt guilty when he tried to enjoy himself, because he believed he was expected to share the same level of sadness.
Alfie said the rift only widened as he grew older and became more successful, culminating in a complete breakdown of their relationship.
He added: “That’s just gotten worse and worse as I’ve gotten older and I think, quote-unquote, more successful.
“And in the last year it has completely boiled over. We just don’t talk to each other anymore.’
He added that he had instead created a new support network around himself, saying: “Family [doesn’t] must be by blood. And that is so true for me, because I had to look for my family outside my bloodline.’
Alfie also talked about how difficult family events had been growing up, admitting that he started to dread Christmas.
Alfie explained that after the death of his mother from breast cancer at the age of 39, he felt like the family members around him no longer embraced life (pictured with his mother)
He said: ‘I can’t tell you how much disdain I have for Christmas. I love Christmas, just like the run up to it. I love being around Christmas.
‘And then the day comes and you think: wow, this is nonsense. I hate every minute of Christmas Day with my family because it just feels like a pit of misery.”
His grandmother had retired about fifteen years earlier to care for Alfie’s mother and her own mother, leaving the household to live on what Alfie remembered was an income of about £15,000 a year.
He also stayed in his late mother’s bright pink bedroom until he was about fifteen, because the family could not afford to redecorate it.
Alfie said: ‘I will never, ever, ever in a million years say I had it incredibly hard because I had food, I had shelter, there were people who were always going to have it worse than me, but damn, it was hard.’
His mother had been given just six weeks to live shortly after Alfie’s birth, but survived for another five years.
Alfie rose to fame in the fourth series of Race Across The World in 2024, traveling approximately 9,000 miles from Japan to Indonesia with childhood friend Owen.
He has now also revealed that his father is not listed on his birth certificate and that the circumstances surrounding his parents’ relationship were never fully explained to him.
Alfie said: ‘My dad was never on my birth certificate and that bit never really meant anything to me. It’s not a particular conversation that anyone in the family wants to have.”
He eventually reconnected with his father around the age of fourteen, but admitted that he built up hope that their reunion would change his life, only to find that their relationship did not develop as he had imagined.
Alfie later found fame in the fourth series of Race Across The World, in which she traveled approximately 9,000 miles from Japan to Indonesia with childhood friend Owen.
The pair went on to win the series, with Alfie’s emotional tribute to his mother in Vietnam becoming one of the most memorable moments.
He lit a lantern in her memory in Hoi An, explaining afterwards that his family had traditionally released Chinese lanterns with messages for her after her death.
Since appearing on the programme, Alfie has spoken extensively about childhood grief and become an ambassador for Winston’s Wish, which supports grieving children and young people.
