A winner of the BBC hit series Race Across The World has spoken out about feeling 'discriminated against' during his travels in a popular holiday destination.
The Maldives is a small island nation, located in the Indian Ocean near India and Sri Lanka. It is a favourite among British tourists for its stunning white sand beaches, crystal clear waters, and year-round warm temperatures.
However, series 4 winner Alfie Watts, who spent a week there in December, said he felt singled out for being a solo traveller. In a TikTok video posted during the trip, he shared: "I’m in the Maldives this week and I have never felt more discriminated against in any other country in the world.
"I’m not being discriminated against because of my skin colour or the fact that I’m a man, I’m being discriminated against because I am single." He added: "Never in my life have I felt so vilified for being single, they can’t believe it.
"These people that work in the hotel cannot believe that I’m here on my own, it’s like a foreign concept to them. Everyone comes here on honeymoons and things like that, the fact that I’m single blows their minds.
"The fact that I could possibly be here on my own and I wouldn’t dare bring a companion to have a rampant holiday love with just baffles people here so much so that last night the guy who was serving me at dinner poured me two drinks and told me that I could pretend that someone was sat opposite me."
Despite the Maldives being a bucket list destination, Alfie wasn't sure whether he'd recommend the idyllic location for people travelling alone. "So would I recommend solo travelling around the Maldives? Well, it depends if you want to be an absolute victim for a week. If you do, crack on," he explained.
"If you don't I'd probably still say crack on because the views are worth any kind of abuse. It’s worth taking it, trust me."
His TikTok post – which was captioned ‘Solo travelling the Maldives is not for the faint hearted’ – quickly gathered attention, having garnered 187,000 views, 10,000 likes and nearly 300 comments at the time of writing. Engagement soared as followers chimed in on the discussion about solitude in paradise – one empathetic user commented: "Being told to pretend you have a partner by a waiter is crazy."
Seemingly echoing Alfie's experience, another user shared: "Haha I get that all the time! I’m travelling solo to the Maldives for the fifth time. People always say I’m breaking the rules by coming to the Maldives and not being on my honeymoon."
In the comments of Alfie's video, it emerged that even locals in the Maldives feel the pressure of being single. One local shared: "Been there bro, I am from Maldives. I don’t know why being single feels like a crime like people be in disbelief."
Another shared their own experience: "Stay here longer, they'll probably find someone for you. That’s nothing compared to what we locals deal with...this bullying usually starts at home."
However, not everyone agreed with Alfie's solo travel woes. A fellow traveller commented: "I always travel solo in the Maldives and never had this kind of issue, people are amazing on local islands."
And another added a contrasting experience: "I had the opposite experience - they just gave me an insane free room upgrade just because they thought I’d appreciate it the most."
To which Alfie sarcastically responded: "Great. Thanks for ruining my morning."
English (US) ·