Spencer Matthews: 'Finding Michael helped me understand who my brother was'
The reality TV star says the documentary brought him closer to his late brother.
Spencer Matthews is opening up about the tragic loss of his brother Michael Matthews in his new Disney+ documentary, Finding Michael.
Michael became the youngest Briton to summit Mount Everest in 1999. However, just three hours after the journey he disappeared and his body was never found.
Last year, Spencer returned to the spot of his brother's disappearance, along with the help of Bear Grylls and expert mountaineer Nims Purja for the one-off film, in which they try to recover the body of Michael.
On his way to base camp, the reality TV star embarked on some of the same things Michael would have experienced in his last days - something Spencer tells us helped him to understand his brother better.
"It was an experience that I'll always remember fondly. I grew to be more comfortable around the circumstances of his death and began to understand who he was more as a person and the kinds of things that he enjoyed," Spencer told RadioTimes.com exclusively.
"The film is obviously only 90 minutes and we shot so much amazing stuff, which doesn't make the film because it's perhaps less relevant to the story but, the trek for eight days is one of the most remarkable treks imaginable, not that I go trekking particularly."
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He continued: "It was so beautiful and we stayed in all of the same hostels (or tea rooms, as they call them) that Mike stayed in, and I met some people who were still in charge of the same tea rooms that were there in 1999 and played pool on the same pool table as Mike. I experienced exactly what he experienced, albeit with different people and we enjoyed ourselves on the way to Everest."
Spencer was just 10-years-old when Mike passed away at the age of 22. He says he grew up resenting many people, as he didn't believe his brother's death was an "accident".
"I always grew up with the understanding that Mike's 1999 expedition was badly organised and his death could have potentially been avoided. I grew up feeling like his life was the price paid for the mistakes of others and that made grieving him harder because it felt like it wasn't so much an accident, which would have almost been easier, I think to deal with, so I had this kind of hatred and resentment towards certain people growing up," he explained.
"The film just to be clear isn't about that. It's a story of loss and grievance and recovery. But it helps me to move through some painful emotions that I've grown up with."
Read More:
- Spencer Matthews didn't consider documentary's “detrimental effect” on family
- When is the Finding Michael release date? Spencer Matthews documentary latest
Finding Michael launches on Disney+ on Friday, 3rd March. Sign up to Disney Plus now for £79.90 for a year or £7.99 a month.
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