Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps sees a group of intrepid celebrities undertake an epic trek across Europe as they explore their spiritual beliefs.
The latest run of the documentary, airing on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer this Spring, will be part of the BBC’s upcoming Faith and Hope season and follows the new, seven-strong team of famous faces, all with different faiths, as they travel in Austria and Switzerland.
Here’s everything we know about Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps…
Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps release date
The three-part series is due to air this Spring on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, but we will let you know an exact date once it has been announced.
Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps – where are the celebrities trekking?
While previous series have seen famous faces journey to Santiago, Rome, and Istanbul as well as through the Scottish Isles, Portugal, and North Wales, the new batch of celebrities will be travelling 300km over 12 days across the Austrian and Swiss Alps on a revived Medieval Catholic route.
Their journey, which will include tough climbs into the Alps up to the snow line, will begin just outside Innsbruck on the Austrian Camino, or pilgrim trail, in the village of Inzing. As they travel west across the Arlberg Pass, the highest point on the Camino, the pilgrims will end up in the foothills of the Swiss Alps at Einsiedeln Abbey, near Lake Zurich.
The abbey, which is home to Benedictine monks, is over 1000 years old and was established by followers of hermit St Meinrad. Almost a million pilgrims and visitors go there every year and one of its key draws is a Black Madonna.
Along the way, the pilgrims will board in guest houses, pilgrim hostels and a convent.
“Pilgrimage always delivers something new and unexpected!” says Caroline Matthews, executive Producer and CEO of production company CTVC.
“Against the epic backdrop of the Alps, our incredible celebrity pilgrims take a deep dive into faith, whilst pondering life’s big questions. Cue tears, laughter, struggles and an outdoor bathtub with an Austrian hostel owner…”
“The cast of this year’s Pilgrimage embraced the challenge of the journey - and then some,” adds Daisy Scalchi, BBC's Head of Commissioning, Religion and Ethics.
"They each laid their souls bare as they got to know one another, trekking together through stunning, and often challenging, landscapes. I hope viewers will connect with their honesty and genuine curiosity about what guides us all through life.”
Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps – who are the famous pilgrims?
The series will see The Wanted’s Jay McGuiness, actor Helen Lederer, The Traitors’ Harry Clark, comic and Britain's Got Talent star Daliso Chaponda, presenter and Celebrity Race Across the World's Jeff Brazier, retired Paralympian and Dancing On Ice's Stef Reid and journalist Nelufar Hedayat take to the road and here, they reveal why they wanted to take part…
Jay McGuiness
The singer, 34, and champion of Strictly Come Dancing in 2015, is agnostic.
“I agreed to go on this pilgrimage because it just sounded the perfect thing to do. I was born and raised in Nottinghamshire to an Irish Catholic family and we'd go to our Catholic school and sing church songs and on Sunday, we'd all go and sit next to each other on the pew. But as time's gone on, I think that the rule book that comes with being a Catholic is too judgmental for where I am.
“I think the closest I can get to what I am, would be considered agnostic. I don't believe there is a God, and I don't believe there isn't. I think it's impossible for us to know, and maybe that's what being a human is; we are stuck here in this mortal realm, and you only find out once you go beyond the curtain. But I would love to know a little bit more about what I am. So, I'm looking forward to that. Who knows what I'll find on this pilgrimage.”
Helen Lederer
The actor and comedian, 70, whose credits include Absolutely Fabulous, has a mixed heritage in terms of her faith, with a culturally Jewish father and a Protestant mother.
“The concept of a pilgrimage is probably one of endurance, challenge, pain, anxiety, difficulties. So obviously I was drawn to it! I think it's an opportunity that probably won't present itself to me again.
“My faith is that I believe in God but I'm not sure what the God is. My father was born into a Jewish family. Although my Czechoslovakian grandparents were cultural Jews, they never talked about faith. My mother came from the Isle of Wight, and I’m told I was christened.
“Being a mix means that you have respect for both things and there is a particular quality I'm learning and feeling more as I get even older, that you can't shed your background. So, with my mixed background, with all the pain of my family that isn't mine, but theirs, I want to be able to turn it into something that will give me a bit of peace.”
Harry Clark
The former soldier in the British army, 24, who won The Traitors UK season two, is a practising Catholic.
“I've always had faith. I was baptised and all my family are Catholic. I was an altar server in church and played the violin in church with my sister, so I was always around faith.
“I'm so excited to go on this pilgrimage, to meet the other pilgrims and find out about their religions, what they believe in and why, and if they don't believe, why? Because I've questioned who God is my whole life, not in a bad way, but as in no one knows who God is.”
Daliso Chaponda
The stand-up comedian, 45, grew up in a Christian family but is now looking into the Baha’i faith.
“I think I will struggle a lot with the physical part of the pilgrimage. I mostly live a very sedentary life. Typing is the most physical I get. I am expecting to be in a lot of pain, very tired, and possibly the slowest person in the group.
“I believe in God, and I believe there are many paths to worship God, so I am hoping this pilgrimage will help me find some definition. I grew up in 14 different countries, and my family was religious, but I don't know yet which is the perfect path for me. I feel weird labeling myself with a particular faith because I feel like I'm no faith and all faiths. I know that I'm close to Baha’i, I know I'm close to Quaker, I know I'm close to Unitarian, but I'm not anything yet. Maybe by the end of the pilgrimage I'll be able to say, ‘This is what I am'.”
Jeff Brazier
The presenter, 45, attended Catholic schools, but now embraces meditation.
“The best way to describe my faith is spiritual. I would say the universe is what guides me, the universe just chucks whatever I need at me, whenever I need it. To answer the question – ‘What is God?’ - is a really tough one, but for me right now, I would say God is love; so God can be within all of us.
“I also love learning from people and on our pilgrimage, there is every chance that there might be some sort of transformation in terms of my beliefs, my views. So, I see it as a wonderful opportunity to just explore some themes and some conversations that I probably don't have very often.”
Stef Reid
The retired Paralympian, 40, is a practising Christian.
“I would describe myself as a Christian and for me, the fundamental thing is to ask if we believe that Jesus was the son of God, and are we trying to live like him and make the world a better place? And if so, awesome.
“I have a strong faith, but it doesn't mean that life doesn't get really hard, and I've had a lot of questions to answer recently. I need time to think but I've just not given myself the time, even though I know it's so important. I have never done a pilgrimage and it's scary because thoughts are going to come up, but they have to come up, otherwise we're never going to move on and think about newer or better things.”
Nelufar Hedayat
The journalist, 37, refers to herself as a modern Muslim.
“I was born in Kabul, in Afghanistan. When I was a young refugee in Britain, my faith took a firm back seat as that was part of my past and why I was here, so I didn't want anything to do with it. Those feelings lasted for quite a while, until I was at secondary school when I was with other young Muslims, and I realised I could be both British and Muslim.
“As a modern Muslim, I'm trying to find a way through the faith that I was born into, and even now, it's strained at the very best. I get really annoyed when people think that faith is a box-ticking exercise. Faith is an experience and it's one you can be drawn to and drawn away from. So, I want to bring a sense of openness to this pilgrimage. I want to bring myself, but I'm angry with God and I want to find a connection to God that isn't me feeling anger or disillusionment and that's what I'm most looking forward to.”
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