The Springwatch star - a breast cancer survivor - admitted the past year has been "a shocker".
Michaela's sister-in-law also died, and two of her close friends lost children.
"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 The Pilgrimage.
"So I was carrying grief, which made it a different journey." The TV star, also known for presenting the long-running Really Wild Show with Chris Packham then Steve Backshall, said she would not have processed her grief without going on The Pilgrimage.
The show sees a group of seven celebrities with different faiths and beliefs walk the North Wales Pilgrim's Waya route which celebrates early Christian saints.
Filmed across three hour-long episodes, Michaela walks with Eton School-educated Spencer Matthews, a former reality TV star turned entrepreneur, who was christened Church of England, and Sonali Shah, a journalist and TV presenter who was raised in a Jain household.
They were joined by comedian Eshaan Akbar, a lapsed Muslim who walked in memory of his late mother; Amanda Lovett, a practising Catholic who starred in the first series of BBC's The Traitors, actor Tom Rosenthal, star of Channel 4's Friday Night Dinner, who has Jewish heritage; and former model Christine McGuinness, who said while she is spiritual, she does not practise a particular faith.
Michaela says: "I don't think I would have processed the grief.
This story is from the March 24, 2024 edition of Sunday Express.
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This story is from the March 24, 2024 edition of Sunday Express.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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