Crying on camera helped me cope with a year of loss
Michaela Strachan
mbers’ hut, a forest eco-retreat and ddhist meditation centre.
The Pilgrimage was emotional and gh but I definitely feel lighter,” haela adds. t’s really important to nect with the outdoors disconnect from things aren’t important. veryone should do a of pilgrimage ome stage heir life. t was what I needed.” The Pilgrimage isn’t the first time Michaela, who lives in South Africa with partner Nick Chevallier, has taken the time to deal with her emotions.
After breast cancer, she tried traumarelease therapy.
She says: “It teaches you to get rid of one trauma so it doesn’t add on to the next trauma.
“We all go through traumas in life but if you don’t deal with
the trauma then the traumas just stack up one on top of the other. Then a small trauma triggers a big trauma – so I’m a great believer in dealing with stuff.”
Michaela first burst on to our TVS aged 20 as a children’s presenter doing silly sketches for the Wide Awake Club, then came The Hitman and Her.
Then came what she calls “falling into wildlife television” on The Really Wild Show alongside Chris Packham, which she joined in 1993.
She is still lighting up our screens on nature favourite Springwatch, again with Chris, and barely seems to have changed, despite insisting she’ll never have cosmetic Botox treatment.
She does wear make-up when appearing on camera though, despite one unfortunate incident years ago.
Filming for the BBC’S Orangutan Diary documentary, some curious young apes stole her make-up bag from her backpack, chewed it and smeared it all over their faces.
Michaela was not happy at doing the remaining 10 days of filming make-up free, but says looking younger is not something she frets about.
“We all want to make the best of what we’ve got. Why do older women want to look like 20-year-olds? I don’t want to look like a 20-year-old any more.
“I’ve been through breast cancer and a mastectomy. I’m proud of all my lines because they tell my story of struggle and resilience.
“I’ve had to get used to having scars and freaky-looking boobs. Why can’t we celebrate our wrinkles?”
Pilgrimage: The Road Through North Wales, tonight at 9pm on BBC Two. Whole series is on BBC iplayer.