SPRINGWATCH's Michaela Strachan has opened up on 'shocker of a year' after three devastating losses and a battle with breast cancer.
The 57-year-old presenter has signed up to take part in the new series of Pilgrimage on BBC Two.
Michaela and six other celebrities of different faiths and beliefs take an emotional journey through north Wales.
Ahead of the first episode, Michaela has opened up about how a difficult year prompted her to agree to do the show.
Michaela lost her sister-in-law and two of her close friends had children who sadly passed away too.
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She said: "These were people our age. I know I’m getting on but I’m 57 – I shouldn’t know this number of people who have died.
“I went from her funeral, basically, to Pilgrimage. So I was carrying grief, which made it a different journey.”
Michaela added to Express.co.uk: "I don’t think I would have processed the grief.
“I would have compartmentalised it. I can be quite controlling in my own emotions sometimes.”
As well as the three tragic losses in the space of a year, Michaela previously underwent a double mastectomy when she was 48 after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Two years later, her close friend Lucy Bowden was also diagnosed with breast cancer.
Michaela said: "We became particularly close in recent years because she had breast cancer. She was diagnosed two years after me with a very similar diagnosis.
“I was one of the first people she found when she said ‘I’ve got breast cancer.’ I said, ‘I’m going to help you through this, you’re going to be okay. You’re going to be like me – same diagnosis’.
Sadly, Lucy's cancer came back and she passed away, leaving Michaela heartbroken.
She said: "It really hit me hard on The Pilgrimage, but when I look back we had some incredibly meaningful conversations. Meaning of life, death, what are we all here for?”
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The other celebrities taking part in Pilgrimage are reality star Spencer Matthews, former model Christine McGuinness, journalist Sonali Shah, comedian Eshaan Akbar, The Traitors' Amanda Lovett and actor Tom Rosenthal.
Pilgrimage: The Road Through North Wales stars on Friday, March 29 at 9pm on BBC Two.
