Pilgrimage confirms BBC air date for new season – with Helen Lederer and Jeff Brazier

The celebrities taking part in the seventh season were announced back in March, with Jay McGuiness, Helen Lederer, Harry Clark, Daliso Chaponda, Jeff Brazier, Stef Reid and Nelufar Hedayat all announced to embark on this deeply personal journey.

Over 12 days, the celebrity pilgrims will go on a journey through the Alps, travelling along a revived medieval Catholic route.

On their journey, they will travel from just outside Innsbruck on the Austrian Camino and finish near Lake Zurich in Switzerland.

The synopsis for the season reads: "Over 12 days, they will face strenuous climbs, high into the Alps, even reaching the snow line. They will follow the ancient path west across the Arlberg pass, the highest point on the Camino, and continue to their final destination in the foothills of the Swiss Alps, Einsiedeln Abbey.

"Originally inspired over a thousand years ago by followers of the famous hermit St Meinrad, the abbey attracts almost a million pilgrims and visitors every year. They are drawn by its venerated Black Madonna, its unique history and the Benedictine monks who live and worship there.

"Armed with a backpack each, the pilgrims will stay in local guest houses, as well as sharing rooms in a convent and pilgrim hostels."

Lederer said of taking part: "The concept of a Pilgrimage is probably one of endurance, challenge, pain, anxiety, difficulties. So obviously I was drawn to it! I think it's an opportunity that probably won't present itself to me again.

"My faith is that I believe in God but I'm not sure what the God is. My father was born into a Jewish family. Although my Czechoslovakian grandparents were cultural Jews, they never talked about faith. My mother came from the Isle of Wight, and I’m told I was christened.

"Being a mix means that you have respect for both things and there is a particular quality I'm learning and feeling more as I get even older, that you can't shed your background. So, with my mixed background, with all the pain of my family that isn't mine, but theirs, I want to be able to turn it into something that will give me a bit of peace."

Brazier added: "The best way to describe my faith is spiritual. I would say the universe is what guides me, the universe just chucks whatever I need at me, whenever I need it. To answer the question – what is God – is a really tough one, but for me right now, I would say God is love; so God can be within all of us.

"I also love learning from people and on our Pilgrimage, there is every chance that there might be some sort of transformation in terms of my beliefs, my views. So, I see it as a wonderful opportunity to just explore some themes and some conversations that I probably don't have very often."

Pilgrimage: The Road Through the Alps will air on Sunday 20th April at 9pm on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.

Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.