MICHAELA Strachan has been a fixture on screens for more than 30 years – but has always been cautious when it comes to reality TV.
The Springwatch host, 58, describes the championing of televised rows and clashes for entertainment as “sad” and takes no pleasure from watching programmes descend into “b****fests”.
Not all reality shows are equal though, and she revealed her recent stint on BBC Two’s Pilgrimage – which saw seven celebs trek across North Wales on a spiritual journey – helped her grieve the deaths of four people close to her.
In an exclusive interview with The Sun, Michaela says: “I must say when I watch those programmes, I think it is very sad that that is what people seem to enjoy watching.
“It’s when it is, as you say, quite a toxic environment where you are pitted against each other and it ends up being a b****fest. And I think that’s really quite sad that that’s what people enjoy as their viewing habits.
“I think we need to have a little check on that as a viewing public. And this certainly doesn’t have any of that. And you know what? I always worry about being part of a reality show because you never quite know how you’re going to be edited.”
There were no such concerns when she put pen to paper for Pilgrimage.
Along the way she experienced meditation at a Buddhist centre, stayed in a nunnery and visited the holy well at St. Winefride’s Church.
The group also hiked up Mount Snowdon, visited Bardsey Island, stayed in an eco-centre and traded personal stories en route.
“I knew going into Pilgrimage that there was no way they want to edit you in a nasty way,” says Michaela.
“It’s supposed to be a nice programme that goes out over Easter that makes people feel good rather than sort of promotes people being b****y. So that I wasn’t worried about.
“I knew that it would be edited in a fairly sympathetic way. But I would always worry about going on something like, I’m a celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! Because I think sometimes the script is written before you come in.
“And they know how that particular celeb, they know how they want them to look. And that can be, I wouldn’t like not having any control of that at all.”
Furthermore, Michaela ruled out ever taking part in I’m A Celeb’s famous bug-eating challenges as she doesn’t agree with the treatment of the critters.
Nature enthusiast Michaela arrived on the the two-week expedition straight from attending her best friend’s funeral.
Lucy Bowden, who Michaela met in the 90s while working on The Really Wild Show, died following a battle with breast cancer – a similar type to the one Michaela overcame years earlier by having a double mastectomy.
There were tears along the way as discussions turned to life and death and what, potentially, comes next.
Michaela says: “I think in a normal situation when I’m robust, I would have thoroughly enjoyed really getting stuck in, but I’d come straight from my best friend’s funeral. And so I was quite fragile. And so those sorts of conversations can be quite triggering.
“So I found it emotionally challenging, there’s no doubt about it. But having said that, by the end of it, I think I look back on it and think what a gift it was to have those two weeks, to be able to explore my own emotions and actually process various different grief scenarios that I’ve been through.
“I lost four people that’s in my close circle last year and so that, you know, there was a lot of grief to process.
“I think actually it was an amazing opportunity to be able to do that. And, you know, other people have said to me, ‘but isn’t that difficult when you’ve got a film crew?’ Yes, of course, it can be challenging when you’ve got a film crew with a camera pointing in your face.”
One emotional conversation saw her and Spencer Matthews discussing his brother Michael’s tragic death on Mount Everest in 1999.
Michael was just 22 when he died descending the summit after becoming the youngest Brit ever to do so.
I knew going into Pilgrimage that there was no way they want to edit you in a nasty way
Michaela Strachan
Spencer recently filmed a documentary for Disney+ called Finding Michael that saw him set about discovering his sibling’s body.
Their conversation led to a teary phone call between Michaela and her partner that night where she voiced concern that she couldn’t complete the programme.
He managed to talk her down and help her refocus on the task at hand.
Michaela continues: “But, you know, to be able to actually explore your emotions for two weeks and not have to compartmentalise your emotions and put them in a drawer that you lock was probably a real gift.
“And also what was a gift was to meet people along the way that was just so kind and gentle.
“I think we live in a world that can be very abrupt and I think people can be quite abrupt sometimes. And yet you meet people, it doesn’t matter what faith they’re from, but if they’re connected to their own faith and in a spiritual way, they tend to be very kind, gentle people with words of wisdom and comfort.”