WILDLIFE HOST
WI don’t want to look 20.. I’ve got used to my freakylooking boobs
hen they cry on screen, celebrities usually let a single tear roll wistfully down their cheek, not even smudging their immaculate make-up.
Not so for Michaela Strachan, who had a bout of “ugly crying” in front of the cameras recently. This however, is entirely understandable when you realise the heartache the wildlife presenter has faced in the past year.
She not only lost her best friend Lucy to cancer but also suffered the death of her sister-in-law to the same disease.
Her partner’s best friend had a heart attack and a friend’s son died at just 35.
Filming at a church for new series The Pilgrimage, where celebrities walk 135 miles through Wales, it all became too much for the Springwatch host.
“I was carrying a heavy load of sadness,” Michaela says.
“But I feel as though I’ve processed a lot of the hurt and that I’m better for it.
“The vicar was lovely, he asked us to collect a pebble from the beach and write on it something we were trying to let go of or someone we were saying goodbye to.
“Obviously, that is very triggering if you’ve gone through a year of loss. I started to sob.
“It was what I call ‘ugly crying’. It’s not something I felt completely comfortable doing in public and especially not on camera!”
While the experience at St Hywyn’s church in Aberdaron, West Wales, brought her grief bubbling to the surface, she also felt a weight lift from her shoulders.
The trek made her appreciate having turned 58 on Saturday.
Michaela says she feels lighter and, rather than worrying about ageing, is grateful for every wrinkle after surviving breast cancer herself.
She says of the shock news after going for a routine mammogram 10 years ago: “Suddenly my world was turned upside down.
“I just remember hearing the word ‘cancer’ which was completely out of the blue. I could hardly breathe. I’m extremely fortunate 10 years later to sometimes forget I had breast cancer.”
In the BBC Two show, Michaela rambles along the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way with former reality star Spencer Matthews, journalist and TV presenter Sonali Shah, comedian Eshaan Akbar, Amanda Lovett from The Traitors, actor Tom Rosenthal and ex-model Christine Mcguinness.
Their two-week adventure takes them to stopovers including a caravan, a