The family of Jo Gardiner, a star of the BBC's travel competition Race Across The World, has remembered her as a "brave, kind, witty and endlessly loving" mother. Gardiner died on Friday, August 21, at the age of 61, following what her family described as "a long and courageous battle with cancer."

In a statement, her family said she had "a rare gift for making everyone around her feel more alive" and that she "lived fully, fiercely and never did anything by halves." They added that she was "blessed with countless friends, drawn to her extraordinary magnetism" and was "our family, our joy, our safe place and our absolute treasure."

The BBC show also released a statement offering its "deepest and heartfelt sympathies" to Gardiner's son, Charlie.

Gardiner's death occurred a year after her younger son, Sam, who had appeared with her on Race Across The World, died in a car accident at the age of 24. Gardiner and her ex-husband, Andrew, had adopted Sam when he was six months old.

During her 2020 appearance on the show, which followed her and Sam's journey across South America, Gardiner spoke about their bond. She recalled her initial worries about forming the same level of attachment to an adopted child as she had with her birth child, Charlie, who was three at the time of Sam's adoption. She described a moment of realization about her deep love for Sam after reading a story about the 2004 tsunami, where a mother had to choose between her two children. Gardiner stated she had nightmares about being unable to hold onto either of her sons, concluding that she loved them both equally.

Gardiner and Sam also discussed his experiences living with ADHD and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) on the program. Sam was diagnosed with FASD, a condition that can result from alcohol exposure during pregnancy, after concerns were raised about his behavior at nursery. Sam credited his mother as being the "biggest reason why I never lost faith in myself" during his challenging school years and expressed a desire to spend more time with her by participating in the show.

Sam had explained that he had not actively sought out his birth mother, finding comfort in the idea of being "different and special, in the way that you've been chosen."

At the time of his death in 2025, Sam was working as a landscape gardener. He died from a brain injury in hospital three days after his car left the road while he was visiting family in Manchester.

Sam's social media accounts featured photographs of his travels with Jo and Charlie, as well as with fellow Race Across The World contestants.