The travelers of the new edition of Beijing Express are ready to embark: here are the couples who will leave for the filming of the Sky Original show produced by Banijay Italia, arriving on Sky and streaming on Now in 2023. Leading the protagonists of the this year’s adventure – which will develop between India, Malaysian Borneo and Cambodia – Costantino Della Gherardesca and Enzo Miccio are back.
The couples that make up the cast are: the influencers Giorgia Soleri and Federippi, the lawyers Alessandra Demichelis and Lara Picardi, the restaurateurs Joe Bastianich and Andrea Belfiore, the actor Dario Vergassola with his daughter Caterina, the former Miss Italy Martina Colombari with her son Achille Costacurta, the newlyweds Federica Pellegrini and Matteo Giunta, the models Carolina Stramare and Barbara Prezja, the former blue of football Totò Schillaci with his wife Barbara Lombardo, the teacher and pupil of “Il Collegio” Maria Rosa Petolicchio and Andrea Di Piero.
Giorgia Soleri, Milanese, author and influencer, is known by the public on social networks for her activism for the recognition of invisible pathologies, presenting a bill in Parliament in 2022, but also for being the girlfriend of Damiano David, the frontman of the Maneskin Semper nel 2022 has published his first collection of poems “La signorina niente”. She loves clutter, listening to true crime podcasts and she has 3 cats of which she proudly calls herself “proud cat mama”. Federica Fabrizio, aka Federippi, from Matera, is an influencer, an online and offline feminist activist, working more generally on the issue of social rights. She is the author of the book “Sis”, which will be released in January 2023, she is passionate about vintage shops and books, in the book time she plays (badly) the ukulele and drinks cedar.
Federica Pellegrini she is the greatest Italian swimmer of all time. In 2004, at the Athens Olympics, she wins silver and is the youngest medal in the history of Italian sport (she is 16 years old). Four years later, with the 2008 Beijing Olympic gold medal, she is the youngest individual medalist in swimming history. At the 2009 World Championships in Rome, with a time of 1’52 ” 98 you set the record for the 200 freestyle, a world record still undefeated. Matteo Giunta, former swimmer, he graduated in Sports Sciences at the University of Turin in 2005. In 2008 he began his career as a trainer and coach following several high-level athletes; in 2012 he began to collaborate with Federica Pellegrini as an athletic trainer, in 2014 he became his coach. Together they win 3 world titles and 3 European titles. He has participated as a coach in three Olympics. Federica and Matteo got married on August 27th.
Carolina Stramare, Miss Italia 2019, is the only Miss Italy who has remained in office for two years in Italian history. You worked as a sports presenter for the Serie B football championship and as an actress for the candid of Scherzi a Parte with Enrico Papi. Barbara Prezja, 31, of Albanian origin, is a model and artist, a lover of acting and music. She is a free spirit and a multifaceted personality.
Martina Colombari she won Miss Italy in 1991. In 2004 she married Alessandro Costacurta from whose union Achille was born. Cinema, television, fashion see her as a protagonist for a long time, but the theater is currently the most dear artistic commitment to Martina. In 2011 she wrote her first book, “La vita è una”, a scathing autobiography with no discounts. Since 2007 you have been carrying out your social commitment with the Francesca Rava NPH Italia foundation, supporting the children of Haiti and actively adhering to other initiatives in favor of children. Her passions for well-being and physical fitness are well known, completed by an authentic path of spiritual enrichment, awareness and responsibility towards the environment. Achille Costacurta, Just turned 18, has recently made her debut as a model and influencer. Attentive to fashion and the latest trends that he interprets with an original personality on social media, he loves the world of music and sport. He is often seen engaged in padel tournaments and soccer matches, which he tells with irony through his profiles. He concluded his summer with a super holiday in Ibiza where he explored, more than its beaches, its famous nightclubs and the many clubs.
Salvatore Schillaci, hero of the Magic Nights of Italy ’90, where he wins the prestigious title of top scorer of the World Cup, is now 58 years old and enjoys family life without giving up keeping fit, playing sports with friends. His football career, from the Sicily where he was born, led him, among others, to obtain a second place in the Golden Ball standings, to wear prestigious jerseys such as those of Juventus and Inter, and even to play in Japan. where he is still loved out of all proportion. Born in Palermo, Totò is a man who has traveled the world thanks to football and sport, but never in an “extreme” way as with the Beijing Express. He defines himself as a shy man who has had to adapt to living in the spotlight. Barbara Lombardo, also from Palermo, with a past as a model and a participation in the regional Miss Italia, today she is a dental technician. With Totò it was not love at first sight, it took 10 years of acquaintance before she trusted him, and today they have been married for 10 years. They live in a country house in Palermo and run their own sports center. As a child they called her “wild” for her attitude to her adventure, but so far she has always only made organized trips. She does not understand football and, according to her husband, this is good.
Maria Rosa Petolicchio, teacher of mathematics and reality science Il Collegio, became famous as the “terrible Petolicchio”, but she has an aesthetic and sensitive vein so much that as a child she had undertaken the study of the piano with excellent results: she had to interrupt it to be able to graduate and enter immediately in the world of work. Today she teaches in her city of hers, Pontecagnano, and is delighted with her role. She defines herself as touchy but also accommodating. She has never left Europe.
Andrea Di Piero he was a pupil of Professor Petolicchio’s own college and is attending the last year of the Liceo Linguistico. He says he is passionate about politics and Church history, so much so that he declares that his favorite place in the world is Vatican City. He loves to speak correct Italian and always dress appropriately and elegantly, often in a suit and tie, despite his young age. He likes the idea of backpacking but not so much having to give up some comforts. And his style of him, of course.
Alessandra Demichelis, lawyer and ski instructor from Turin. In January 2022, she creates the DC Legal Show social page in which she combines the forensic activity with aspects of her private life. The page immediately triggers a lot of controversy and a great media hype that leads Alessandra to be a guest of radio and television broadcasts, as well as being interviewed by the major national newspapers and websites. Dynamic, ironic and competitive, she loves traveling and new adventures. Lara Picardi, a civil lawyer of the Turin Bar, has been managing the family law firm for years. She is engaged in training and consulting with trade union associations. Passionate about trekking and yoga, she participates with her dear friend Alessandra with whom she has already shared many trips.
Joe Bastianich divides his time and soul between the United States and Italy. Born in Queens into a family of Istrian origins, he is a restaurateur, television personality, author, triathlete, wine producer and musician. Andrea Belfiore, Italian by birth (from Ancona) and American by adoption, moves to Boston with a scholarship to Berklee College of Music. Histrionic drummer with a passion for cooking, he founded Event bringing his iconic “pasta making parties” to NYC.
Dario Vergassola he was soon noted for his skills as an improviser, for his spontaneous and tasty unpredictable comic vision and in 1992 he won the San Scemo festival. Loved by the general public for his participations in Zelig, Mai dire Gol, Speak to Me, Quelli che il calcio, Sei in a Meraviglioso Country, he stands out for his irreverent and ironic interviews. Lent to the cinema but also to publishing, he writes several books, including the novel ” The ballad of anchovies “and the collection of fairy tales” True stories for an imaginary world “. His daughter Caterina, 35, returned to live in Spezia after studying and working in Milan. She works as a marketing consultant and manages vacation rentals in the Cinque Terre. She has never been to a campsite and she has never seen a camping tent except outside a shop. The only adult trip he took with his dad was to New York to celebrate his 60th birthday: that week they all left together (Caterina, mom, dad, her brother and her daughter) but traveled on two different flights.
This season “Beijing Express” arrives in the heart of Asia, in three territories rich in ancient cultures and adventurous scenarios: India, Malaysian Borneo and Cambodia. They are places where oriental spirituality is intertwined with wild nature, where the jungle coexists with the ruins of past kingdoms and the cities of the present, where men have developed unique uses and ways of life to lead their existence.
The travelers’ route will start in India, from the urban jungle of Mumbai, the city with the most population density in the world, and then cross the heart of the “sub-continent”, revealing its thousand contrasts, between sacred rites, spices, colors and singular customs of daily life, up to the splendid scenery of the Kerala backwaters; he will then dive into the wild nature of Malaysian Borneo, among animal species unique in the world and ancient cultures still made today of mysterious rituals; finally it will reach Cambodia, where between the majesty of the capital Phnom Penh, lying along the Mekong river, and the internal territories dotted with villages and forests with a magical and suspended atmosphere, it will end in the fantastic scenery of Angkor, an archaeological site famous all over the world , an ideal place to represent that mixture of wild nature, oriental charm and ancient and modern cultures that will accompany the entire journey of this edition. Along this fascinating and spectacular route, this season’s adrenaline-filled race will unfold, a race that promises to be as always full of amazement for discovery and joy for solidarity (the final prize is donated to support one of the NGOs that operate in the countries visited during the edition), all supported together by the very strong interactions between human beings, distant from each other in culture and habits but able to collaborate and unite even in the most extreme conditions.
COPYRIGHT LASICILIA.IT © REPRODUCTION RESERVED
Beijing Express, between couples competing former Miss Italy and former top scorer Schillaci