Michaela Strachan signed up to BBC2’s faith-based series Pilgrimage not because she’s religious (she’s not) but because the outdoor presenter was keen to tackle the two-week tour of Wales.
However, fate got in the way and it was a journey filled with sorrow for Michaela, who is best known as the co-host of Springwatch.
“Last year was heartbreakingly sad,” she says. ‘I lost several people in a short time. I lost my sister-in-law to cancer, my partner Nick’s best friend had a heart attack, a friend of mine lost her son at 35, and then one of my closest friends died.’
Michaela, 57, and Lucy Bowden, a former Springwatch producer, grew close when Lucy was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years after Michaela, who had a double mastectomy and breast reconstruction in 2014.
For Michaela Strachan, who is best known as Springwatch co-host, the trip was a journey filled with sadness
Spencer Matthews hoped it would help him get in touch with his feelings, particularly over the loss of his older brother Michael, who died on Mount Everest in 1999 aged 22.
‘After Lucy’s diagnosis we became very close and I helped her through it, but her cancer came back in 2021. I was with her three days before she died. We started filming Pilgrimage last September a week after her funeral, so I was grieving.
“The point of a pilgrimage is to explore your emotions. We had conversations on the program that triggered for me. I found it emotionally challenging and went off on my own a lot. Normally I would join the group, but I had a lot to process .’
Michaela is joined on the show by reality star Spencer Matthews, Plebs’ Tom Rosenthal, Traitors contestant and practicing Catholic Amanda Lovett, Paddy McGuinness’ ex-wife Christine, stand-up comedian Eshaan Akbar, who is Muslim, and Escape To The Country’s Sonali Shah , who was raised in India’s Jain religion.
The journey saw them tackle the Pilgrim’s Way, which links churches honoring early Celtic saints. They travel – on foot and by bus – 220 km through the slate landscape of Wales and Snowdonia.
Spencer Matthews hoped it would help him get in touch with his feelings, particularly over the loss of his older brother Michael, who died on Mount Everest in 1999 aged 22 and whose body has never been found.
“I felt comfortable sharing the story,” says Spencer, 35. “That’s when things turned around for me. I became more open to the spiritual experiences we shared as a group.’ But it was Tom Rosenthal who was most affected by the pilgrimage.
Although he is of Jewish heritage, Tom was raised without religion, but he found that visiting the ancient churches and enjoying the awe-inspiring views had a profound effect on him.
Tom (pictured) was brought up without religion, but he found visiting the ancient churches and enjoying the awe-inspiring views had a profound effect on him
“I had what I would consider two, maybe three, religious experiences on this pilgrimage that I didn’t anticipate,” says Tom, 36.
‘These were moments when I feel the divine revealed itself to me. It’s one of the best things I’ve done in my life and I’m just deeply grateful for this whole experience.’
A holy moment occurred when the group visited the 15th-century St Winefride’s Chapel and Holy Well in Flintshire, where a 7th-century Welsh abbot is said to have brought Winefride, his niece, back to life.
‘Without wanting to sound like a lunatic, sitting on a mound outside, Winefride talked to me,’ says Tom.
‘She said we were on the right track as a group. This crazy thing you hear religious people talk about happened to me and now it doesn’t sound so crazy. It was amazing and I left feeling much more spiritually connected than I have ever been.’
- Pilgrimage: The Road Through North Wales, Good Friday, at 21, BBC2.