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.The 23-year-old, who won the BBC travel competition alongside best friend Owen Wood in 2024, said tensions with his remaining relatives became ‘worse and worse’ as he became more successful, and ‘completely boiled’ over in the past year.Alfie, who was raised by his grandmother in St Albans, said he now no longer speaks to his family and has instead been forced to find a support network ‘outside my bloodline’.Speaking on Matt Willis’s On The Mend podcast this week, Alfie said: ‘Me and my family have never got on. Basically, I cannot resonate with a giving-up attitude. It’s not in me. And they gave up. And that really annoyed me.’Even from an early age, I didn’t know why I didn’t have that connection.’Alfie explained that after his mother’s death from breast cancer aged 39, he felt the relatives around him had stopped embracing life, while 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 fiveHe said: ‘I think at that point, they just decided that 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 hobbies, any urge to go and see friends.’He added that he also felt guilty when he did try to enjoy himself because he believed he was expected to share the same level of grief.Alfie said the gulf only widened as he grew older and became more successful, culminating in a complete breakdown in their relationship.He added: ‘That has just got worse and worse as I’ve got older and I guess, quote-unquote, more successful.’And it’s completely boiled over in the past year. We now just don’t talk to each other.’He added that he had instead created a new support network around himself, saying: ‘Family [doesn’t] have to be by blood. And that is so true for me because I’ve had to find my family outside my bloodline.’Alfie also opened up about how difficult family occasions had been while he was growing up, admitting he came to dread Christmas Day. Alfie explained that after his mother’s death from breast cancer aged 39, he felt the relatives around him had stopped embracing life (pictured with his mother)He said: ‘I cannot tell you how much disdain I have for Christmas. I love Christmas, like the build-up to it. I love being around Christmas.’And then the day hits and it’s like, wow, this is c**p. I hate every minute of Christmas Day with my family because it just feels like a pit of misery.’His grandmother had retired around 15 years early to care for both Alfie’s mother and her own mother, leaving the household living on what Alfie recalled was an income of around £15,000 a year.He also remained in his late mother’s bright pink bedroom until he was around 15 because the family couldn’t afford to redecorate it.Alfie said: ‘I’m never, ever, ever in a million years going to sit here and say that I had it really incredibly difficult because I had food, I had shelter, there were people who were always going to have worse than me, but bloody hell, it was hard.’His mother had been given just six weeks to live shortly after Alfie was born but survived for another five years. Alfie found fame in the fourth series of Race Across The World in 2024, travelling around 15,000km from Japan to Indonesia with childhood friend Owen He has now also revealed that his father was not named on his birth certificate and said the circumstances surrounding his parents’ relationship have never been fully explained to him.Alfie said: ‘My dad was never on my birth certificate, and that bit has never really added up to me. It’s not a particular conversation that anyone in the family wants to navigate.’He eventually reconnected with his father at around 14 but admitted he had built up hopes that their reunion would transform his life, only to find their relationship did not develop in the way he had imagined.Alfie later found fame in the fourth series of Race Across The World, travelling around 15,000km 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 its 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 following her death.Since appearing on the programme, Alfie has spoken extensively about childhood bereavement and became an ambassador for Winston’s Wish, which supports grieving children and young people.