Pilgrimage is back with a brand-new series on iPlayer and BBC Two, as seven well known personalities, of differing faiths and beliefs, tackle a challenging 300km pilgrimage through the majestic and awe-inspiring Austrian and Swiss Alps.
Across 3 episodes, Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps follows celebrity pilgrims as they bond and immerse themselves in a journey that starts just outside Innsbruck on the Austrian Camino, a revived medieval Catholic route. On foot and by bus, they follow the ancient path west across the Arlberg pass, the highest point on the Camino, and continue to their final destination in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, Einsiedeln Abbey.
On this physical and spiritual journey are agnostic Jay McGuiness, singer with boy band The Wanted; actor and comedy legend Helen Lederer, who comes from a mixed heritage with a culturally Jewish father and a Protestant mother; practising Catholic Harry Clark, winner of the second series of The Traitors; standup comedian Daliso Chaponda, who grew up in a religious Christian family but is now veering towards the Baha’i faith; presenter Jeff Brazier, who went to Catholic schools but now is spiritual and meditates as part of his everyday life; retired Paralympian and practicing Christian Stef Reid and journalist Nelufar Hedayat, who refers to herself as a modern Muslim.
Watch Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps on iPlayer from 20 April.
Read an interview with Helen Lederer below
What were you expecting from your Pilgrimage experience?
I was expecting to be anxious about the physical demands and requirements of actually walking (uphill) longer distances than I have ever done before - I didn’t want to be the last!
Any revelations about yourself or your faith?
I began cautiously, in the sense that I didn’t NOT have a faith, but it was nebulous in that any ‘belief’ didn’t belong to any one defined religion. I ended up being more certain there was an ‘other’ and feeling closer to that than I had anticipated.
Did you have to prepare in advance for the pilgrimage? What did you do?
I bought myself some proper walking boots from a proper walking boot shop and made myself walk a few thousand steps every day more or less… If I hadn’t done that, I would not have been able to do it – we had to buy certain kit which was a first for me and be fitted with a ruck sack as if it was a bra!
What did you NOT do? In hindsight, was there anything you should have done to prepare yourself?
I should have been more prepared as to the range of personality types that are inevitable in any group of strangers and I should have seen that as a positive from the start…I’d have liked to have been more zen!
What was the biggest challenge you faced during this pilgrimage?
One of my biggest challenges was one day when the walk was very very high and it was pouring with rain and we needed to reach the summit. On the other hand, when I did it with the help of Jay and Harry, it felt wonderful.
What was your highlight?
My highlight from the trip was my birthday party spent in a curiously eccentric pilgrim hotel with lots of chickens in the fridge but a huge cake for me and lots of laughs from fellow pilgrims, who had been strangers just a few weeks before. We all wanted a party, and we got one!
What about the actual physical route – how would you describe it?
The route was tough but not impossible and I became fitter and quicker on my feet when I got home, as a result.
Did you find the experience emotional?
I found my Pilgrimage experience emotional at times. Talking to some fellow pilgrims about their own stories and being released from everyday life meant we shared more with each other. The rhythm of walking released some inhibitions, and we got close to our own ‘purpose’ far quicker.
Were you surprised by any of your fellow pilgrims’ reactions to any situations?
It was that thing where you learn that we are all certain types and we jostle along in a group. Some people become leaders, some become talkers etc. My fellow friend and pilgrim Jay cried when we spoke of the death of his dear friend, Tom (Parker) together and I found that to be a really emotional experience.
Were you surprised by any of YOUR reactions?
Yes, I didn’t expect to be so emotional.
Are you affiliated to any religion?
I believe in a God. My background is mixed heritage but I do not practice one or other formal religion.
How would you describe your faith?
I would call myself a mixed heritage believer.
What helps you explain the world?
Humanity towards others, kindness and the fact that we all want to survive and celebrate the time we have on this earth.
Is your faith/religion something you have previously felt comfortable openly discussing with your peers, the public or within the press?
No not at all. It hasn’t featured in my conversations in the past.
Has the experience changed or increased your faith?
I became closer to feeling a faith that was there all along, it’s just been a bit buried.
For me, it has heightened the importance for humans to have faith, however that is defined or interpreted.
Were there any particular instances or experiences during the pilgrimage that triggered any kind of change?
My biggest change came from a conversation or two with the pilgrims who I was drawn to more. But I also found watching how others opened up almost more touching than when I spoke with the ones I connected with most. These conversations and experiences were a reminder for me that we are all similar and trying to make sense of our lives with the same urgency.
Since returning home from the pilgrimage, have you felt different or engaged in activities around your faith that you would never have previously considered?
Since returning from the pilgrimage, I have found myself becoming more open and I can see that being with others gave me an opportunity to become more tolerant and to feel kindness towards others.
Since returning home from the pilgrimage, have you changed your behaviour or activities in any way regarding your faith or beliefs?
I have found myself walking more, and I now invite others to walk with me. I feel the need for nature more, so since I’ve returned and I’ve found myself looking up more, and now I see more trees.
Is there any one thing you now do in your life that you didn’t do before you went on the Pilgrimage?
Since returning I try and be more tolerant of all types of people.
Did you learn anything new about your own faith/beliefs while you were away?
I had an increased sense of faith (of my own).
Has the experience changed you in any way?
Yes, I made a good friend in Jay McGuiness, I laughed more than I had done for a long time and I felt the joy of camaraderie and shared goals.
You spent two weeks with a group of strangers. Did you learn anything new about yourself through the experience?
Being away with a group of strangers for that period of time, I learnt that I need to be more tolerant of people who have a different vibration to me and I learned that I loved being made to laugh, as well as making people laugh.
Did it highlight any particular strengths/weaknesses?
It highlighted to me that I need to be more self-reliant, and zen...
What did you learn about other faiths that you didn’t know before?
I learned that I didn’t know much about the Baha’i faith, which sounds very intriguing and tolerant, and I learned that Stef knows loads about the Bible, which was impressive and fascinating also.
Prior to this pilgrimage, had you ever found yourself discussing faith and religion with your contemporaries before?
Yes... stemming from a philosophy module I did years ago, when we tried to establish what is good and what is real and what is right and what is wrong. Morality is a fascinating subject.
Did anything about this pilgrimage surprise you?
Yes - I was surprised at how close we all got in our shared common purpose each day, which was to achieve the walking quota set out for us.
What do you hope Pilgrimage viewers will take away from watching you take part in this series?
I think people will see me more as someone who thinks a lot, because I don’t think that comes across in my work life.
How did you feel when you reached final moments of the Pilgrimage?
When we came to the end, I felt sad, reflective and changed. I found that to have become close to people is triggering, especially when you have to say goodbye.
Would you do it again?
Yes, absolutely.
Summarise your experience on this Pilgrimage
I found this Pilgrimage life affirming, challenge testing. It was there to teach me some things I didn’t know I needed to be taught, ie. to be tolerant towards others.
Read an interview with Daliso Chaponda below
What were you expecting to experience on this pilgrimage?
I was looking forward to the conversations and the camaraderie. I love to discuss faith and philosophy and possibilities. I was not looking forward to the walking or cold weather though!
Any revelations about yourself or your faith?
My faith has been constant all my life, but it sort of just became a background thing and I no longer actively pursued it or struggled with questions of faith as I did in my 20s. This Pilgrimage definitely reignited that fire. I also haven’t been a part of a faith community for the last five years and it’s just personal. Pilgrimage made me recall the value of having a small community of friends who you can discuss faith with.
Did you have to prepare in advance for the Pilgrimage?
I should have prepared more! I knew I should have started walking and getting fit earlier (I procrastinated with that!) I knew I should ‘break in’ my walking boots (I didn’t). So I knew all the things I should do from reading online, and I did none of them. Except order walking poles. They helped a lot.
To be honest, I was unprepared but that was part of the fun.
What was the biggest challenge you faced during this Pilgrimage?
We all had complex interpersonal dynamics, and particularly when discussing faith, it can be difficult. You remember the old advice for dinner parties... “avoid religion and politics,” well we were diving into discussing faith, while also trying to come together.
There are other reality shows which are about conflict. What I love about Pilgrimage is it’s more about bonding, finding common ground and self exploration, so the challenge was to navigate the chasms of difference and come together. Laughter helped a lot.
What was your highlight?
It’s difficult to pick one, but there was a conversation I had with Stef Reid about prophets, which was illuminating, even though we saw things very differently. It made me think and read loads and loads to reply to the final point.
What about the actual physical route – how would you describe it?
On the warm days it was beautiful and a delight. When it rained, it was hell and I uttered many epithets, which I’m sure the editors had to remove from the final cuts!
Did you find the experience emotional?
I’m not a very emotional person so the journey for me was one of reconsidering things that I’d stopped thinking about and accepted. Not sure if that makes sense, but the best way of saying it is probably there were some things I’d sort of ‘figured out’ and knew where I stand, that have been ‘unfigured out’ and I’m confused about again. Which is kind of beautiful at my age.
Were you surprised by any of your fellow pilgrims’ reactions to any situations?
I had no preconceptions as I knew none of them, but the relish they all took in walking barefoot in icy water made me realise I was travelling with mad people!
Were you surprised by any of YOUR reactions?
I loved every monastery and nunnery and chapel more than I imagined I would. I’m an ex-Christian but still clearly have a strong connection to places of worship.
Are you affiliated to any religion?
I’m mostly Baha’i but I don’t know if I can call myself a Baha’i as I don’t practice, go to community events etc. I simply read the texts all the time, pray, and independently explore (which doesn’t feel like being a true part of a faith). This may be changing though because post Pilgrimage, I’m engaging a bit more with the community.
What helps you explain the world?
Humour and creativity
Is your faith/religion something you have previously felt comfortable openly discussing with your peers, the public or within the press?
When I work in Africa yes. When I work in the UK, only with one or two peers, as more people are secular and in the comedy world, a lot are downright hostile towards faith.
Has the experience changed or increased your faith?
It has increased my faith, paradoxically, by instilling more doubt, which has led me to read more about faith, listen to more podcasts about faith, discuss it more, write about it more… and faith is active.
Were there any particular instances or experiences during the pilgrimage that triggered any kind of change?
There was a night where I tried to explain core elements of the Baha’i faith to everyone (and I’m no expert) and that was difficult but then trying to answer some of their questions led me to have to search the writings of Abdu’l-Baha and Baha’u’llah and that led me down a metaphorical spiritual rabbit hole.
Since returning home from the Pilgrimage, have you felt different or engaged in activities around your faith that you would never have previously considered?
I’ve been talking about my faith on stage. IN SECULAR ENGLAND!!!! I never would have thought I would.
Since returning home from the Pilgrimage, have you changed your behaviour or activities in any way re your faith or beliefs? What and why?
I’ve spent more time reading about faith, more time discussing it, and more time listening to podcasts about faith and watching YouTube clips.
Is there any one thing you now do in your life that you didn’t do before you went on the Pilgrimage?
Not totally new, but things I haven’t done in ten or so years have resurfaced. As I mentioned, I was more actively religious in my 20s and I think I’ve been given a second wind (maybe third or fourth as in the journey of life there have been other peaks and troughs).
Did you learn anything new about your own faith/beliefs while you were away?
I didn’t know how defensive I was of them until I heard people challenge them.
Has the experience changed you in any way?
I think that since the Pilgrimage, I want to discuss my faith more in my art. I always have but I had hidden it in parables and scaffolding. I think I will be more overt from now on.
You spent two weeks with a group of strangers. Did you learn anything new about yourself through the experience?
I made some close new friends who I will carry with me for life and that’s a gift.
Did it highlight any particular strengths/weaknesses?
I think I learnt that I’m bad at hiking, I’m good at mediating and relieving tension, I’m bad at sleeping in a room with people snoring nearby and I’m good at asking questions to peel away people’s onion layers.
What did you learn about other faiths that you didn’t know before?
I didn’t learn much about faith itself as I’ve always been a faith gourmand but I did learn a lot more about specific moments in history.
Prior to this pilgrimage, had you ever found yourself discussing faith and religion with your contemporaries before?
I have one or two friends who are my ‘faith’ friends with whom I discuss faith. Since Pilgrimage, I have gently been bringing it up with my non-faith friends. Not in an evangelising manner, more in an expression of curiosity.
Did anything about this pilgrimage surprise you?
I was surprised and delighted by how much I enjoyed the passionate faith discussions.
What do you hope Pilgrimage viewers will take away from watching you take part in this series?
The beauty of the Ba’hai faith is to me, partly, in its acceptance of the complexity of human experience and understanding that not all paths to the truth are the same and different paths can be equally valid. I worry that I was not the perfect person to represent this ethos as it’s one I’m grappling with myself, but if in my clumsy verbal blundering around, I conveyed a measure of that and made people curious enough to look further, I’d be very pleased.
How did you feel when you reached the final moments of the Pilgrimage?
I was sad it was over. And this is from the pilgrim who grumbled most about the weather and the walking.
Any other key moments or stories you want to share?
Helen’s birthday party was beautiful. The long descent down a mountain with lots of falling boulder signs was most disturbing. And the kids (three adolescent minded pilgrims with a penchant for horsing around) were hilarious and kept us in good cheer.
Would you do it again?
I would. Somewhere hotter. Desert Pilgrimage, give me a call. Cold mountains, find someone else.
Summarise your experience on this Pilgrimage
Lots of once in a lifetime conversations, walking , more walking, illuminating moments of faith, more bloody walking, laughter, more walking, delicious meals, what more walking. Rain, snow, rain. More walking. Walking. My feet hurt. I’ll miss you all.
Pictures: BBC/CTVC
Interviews supplied by BBC
