Freddy Brazier has revealed that he used part of the BBC’s allocated spending money to buy drugs while filming Race Across the World with his father, Jeff Brazier, in 2024.
The 22-year-old, the youngest son of the late Jade Goody, said he was not in the right mental state to take part in the reality competition and struggled particularly while filming during Mother’s Day.
Contestants on the BBC travel show are given a limited budget and must rely on it to make their way across the country while racing against the other teams.
However, Freddy said he withdrew money from the joint budget he shared with Jeff to buy cannabis in Brazil, later smoking it on a beach after finding the emotional pressure of Mother’s Day difficult to manage.
Speaking on The Terry Stone Connection podcast, Freddy explained that the timing of the filming made the experience especially challenging. He and Jeff eventually finished third, while Scott Mills and his husband, Sam Vaughan, took the win.
“It came at a bad time, to be honest,” he said, recalling the period before his main interviews for the show.
Freddy Brazier has admitted using part of the BBC’s show budget to buy drugs while filming Race Across the World with his father Jeff, after discussions about his late mother became overwhelming
Freddy said he had travelled from Birmingham after spending time with a woman he was dating and had smoked cannabis the night before the interviews, despite promising his father he would not arrive while under the influence.
He admitted that he had lied to Jeff, turned up without having slept and looked so exhausted that he felt the production team applied an unusually large amount of makeup before filming.
“I almost forced myself to do it,” Freddy said. “I wasn’t in the right place mentally. When I realised we would be filming over Mother’s Day, I thought, ‘I’m going to have cameras in my face when I just want to be alone.’”
He then described leaving the hotel on Mother’s Day and spending time on the beach with two local bracelet makers.
Despite the difficult emotions, Freddy said the day also included some memorable moments. He and Jeff went swimming, watched the sunset and attended a local Mother’s Day gathering where people applauded as the sun disappeared.
Later that evening, Freddy said he climbed out of the hotel window. He recalled a member of staff warning him that the surrounding area was not particularly safe.
Freddy said he reassured the employee before walking to the beach, where he recognised two people he and Jeff had previously seen making bracelets.
The pair bought him a beer, he said, and he then took some of the money from the travel budget to purchase what he described as a small amount of weed in Brazil.
He smoked it with the bracelet makers on the beach as they looked up at the night sky.
Although Freddy remembered the scene as beautiful, he acknowledged that taking the money was wrong and selfish, saying his decision could potentially have jeopardised his and Jeff’s place on the show.
Freddy, 22, said he used money from the joint travel budget to buy weed and smoked it on a Brazilian beach after finding Mother’s Day difficult
He admitted the moment was “beautiful” but wrong, saying his actions were selfish and could have cost him and Jeff their place in the competition (pictured with his brother Bobby and Jade)
Freddy said he still felt the cannabis had helped him cope at the time. “I genuinely felt I needed that joint,” he explained, adding that he believed he might have been forced to leave the series anyway because he was in such a difficult headspace and did not want to be filmed on Mother’s Day.
The Daily Mail has contacted Freddy’s representatives and Race Across The World representatives for comment.
Since appearing on the show Freddy has opened up about how he was sectioned amid mental health struggles and claimed grandmother Jackiey Budden got him hooked on drugs aged just 12.
He told fans in 2025 that he has been addicted to smoking from a young age and would be heading to rehab.
Speaking on the A Load Of Old Cobblers podcast, Freddy said while he didn’t try drugs for the first time with his grandmother Jackiey, 68, she was ‘definitely the person’ who got him addicted.
‘No it wasn’t with my nan [the first time] although my nan is definitely the person who introduced me to reefer and got me hooked. It’s one of those things, I was 12.’
He continued: ‘I’ve been smoking since I was 12, I’ve been to rehab, I’ve been sectioned, I’ve had manic episodes, I’ve been sectioned. There’s been a real journey and it’s been a tough one.’
Freddy also claimed that he had spent years fearful that Jackiey would end her life if he didn’t ‘prioritise’ their relationship, amid her ongoing feud with his father Jeff.
Freddy later announced on Instagram that he was going to a rehabilitation centre in Spain and was keen to seek treatment.
He said: ‘I’ve been smoking from the age of 12 and it’s time to stop it was a bad coping mechanism that turned into an addiction something I relied on and something that made me feel sane and somewhat okay.’
But days after the admission, Freddy posted again online saying he had changed his mind, writing: ‘You know what I don’t need rehab. I just need a holiday with a good group of boys or a retreat.’
Freddy lost his mother, former Big Brother star Jade, to cervical cancer in 2009 when he was just four years old.
Jeff has long insisted Jackiey is a bad influence on the troubled youngster – with the pair enduring a series of very public disputes over the years.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article contact Mind on 0300 123 3393 or if you need help with addiction call FRANK 24 hours a day, seven days a week 0300 123 6600.
