Italian-Americans Joe Bastianich and Andrea Belfiore win Beijing Express 2023 edition. The eight episodes of Sky reality tormented just as many traveling couples, taking them through three wonderful countries – India, Malaysian Borneo and Cambodia – but forcing them to traverse them, according to perfidious tradition, with and without a backpack on their shoulders. The two friends, united by their passion for music and wild adventures, triumphed at the end of the final, playing against the Mediterranean players Barbara Prezia and Carolina Stramare, eliminated first, but above all against the newlyweds Federica Pellegrini and Matteo Giunta, their indomitable rivals from beginning of the competition.
Pellegrini and Giunta, demi-gods out of the running: 10 votes
Lawyers how to shoot yourself in the leg: Voice 4
Italo-Americans, Bastianich and Belfiore like the Blues Brothers: Voice 9
The activists outside the social bubble are umarell: voice 2
Mother and Son, Colombari-Costacurta Deserves a Spinoff: Voice 8
The Mediterranean, Prezia and Stramare common (and perfidious) unknown: vote 4.5
The Sicilians, the guardian angels we would all like to have: Voice 8.5
The Educated, Petolicchio and Di Piero were eliminated early: Voice 7
Enzo and Costantino, a conducting for two (?): vote 6-
The Vergassola hypochondriacs are the only mere mortals, the two of us: rating 7.5
“We always wanted to play with ‘gli Sposelli’ to the end,” explained Bastianich to open the final episode, which began with the resolution of a great unknown factor affecting the Divine: seven days ago, in fact, the reality TV audiences had theirs seen outing and badly injured his ankle. The final cliffhanger kept everyone in suspense: should Pellegrini have given up just a hair’s breadth from the finish line? Luckily the answer was no. The ankle was actually badly dislocated, but not broken. The same was true for Joe Bastianich, who was recovering from a head-on collision with a scooter that left him with serious knee injuries. The former Masterchef judge said he feared for his life after the clash but thanks to good luck nothing fatal happened.
The two couples could therefore duel without compromise, starting with the first penalty that the Italian-Americans inflicted on the newlyweds: a ten-minute delay at the start for the athletes. “I was disappointed as he knows exactly what the condition of my ankle is. “We went to the hospital together and had X-rays done,” Pellegrini said. While Bastinich and Belfiore were already grinning under their mustaches on their way to the finish. The penalty voided the result of the first heat: Pellegrini and Giunta actually crossed the finish line after the Italian-Americans but before the Mediterranean-Americans, who thus officially took third place.
From here it was a neck-and-neck race. After last night in Cambodia, which the future winners spent at the brewery doing public relations to secure a ride for the next day, it was time to finish the 172km leg to Angkor, the ultimate goal of the journey that the two friends first achieved together. In this latest adventure, we saw them being forced to eat fried mice and then get a (real) tattoo right there. Belfiore, who had never done it before, wasn’t thrilled with the trial but relented in the end to avoid inflicting a fatal punishment on the couple. The design was the same for everyone: an icon symbolizing strength and protection from evil spirits. Even though “it looks like a lightbulb,” joked conductor Costantino Della Gherardesca. Perhaps also thanks to this little lucky charm, the Italian-Americans managed to defeat the brave opponents Federica Pellegrini and Matteo Giunta, who scored in the half-second, by a hair’s breadth. Perfect challenge and deserved result. If only because the two pairs of protagonists didn’t even hold back at the sight of the huge (and stinky) nutria they had to rely on to pass one of the final tests.
This edition of the Beijing Express has finally crowned its kings and it is Italian Americans Joe Bastianich and Andrea Belfiore who have triumphed in the magnificent setting of the temples of Angkor, despite having the wrong sanctuary at first. A captivating, majestic and heartbreaking happy ending for the two longtime friends, who add an important milestone to their list of corporate and personal victories with this triumph. Predestined for success? Maybe yes. Beyond sporting merit, they might have ingenuity and creativity, although not particularly smart. Well done, well done everyone.