Su Pollard, Rita Simons and Shane Lynch reveal what a journey of discovery to Portugal meant to them
Pilgrimage: the Road through Portugal Good Friday 9.00pm BBC2
Ed Grenby - 31 March 2023
There aren’t many places you could find Shane Lynch, Rita Simons and Su Pollard on the same bill. But the ex-Boyzone bad boy, former EastEnder and one-time Hi-de-Hi! chalet maid are among the seven celebrities trekking through Portugal in a new series of Pilgrimage. It’s part spiritual journey, part endurance exercise — but could it also be part holiday?
You walked 364km over 15 days. The obvious question is… why?
SU Well, I’m never going to get asked to do a ballet programme! But no, I like a challenge, and my friends Les Dennis and Lesley Joseph had done a previous series of Pilgrimage, so it was a case of “keeping up with the Josephs”
RITA I did it because of Les Dennis, too! He’s a really good friend, he told me I wouldn’t regret it, and I listened to him because he’s very wise. He’s like Yoda.
SHANE I love adventure, the outdoors, trekking, so I was excited about all that. But this was also my sayonara to television for ever. I’ve lived in the world of TV and radio for a long time, but now I’m doing a 180 out of all that. I’ve left the industry.
Wow. Was taking part in Pilgrimage that bad, Shane?
SHANE It sealed the deal! No, don’t get me wrong: the people, the crew, the walk were all brilliant. It’s just the process of making television: the stop-start, the cameras, the fireworks. I’ve played to 100,000 people multiple times, and I don’t need any more fireworks. I need peace and tranquillity and to bow out.
SU We did have some amazing experiences, though!
OK… so would you go back to Portugal?
RITA I’m going back to Porto next week – on actual holiday with my husband. It was so stunning there: one of my favourite bits was this bookshop [Livraria Lello; livrarialello.pt] that apparently gave JK Rowling inspiration for Harry Potter, and it was magical, the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen. But we couldn’t stop there because we had to go and film – and there were so many lovely places like that in Porto that I wanted to go back to.
SHANE Yeah, lots of the countryside was really beautiful, too: the farmland, vineyards, mountains. Then when you’ve been walking in the wilderness for a while, you really appreciate coming into the city, and having some lovely food and wine
Mmmm. Tell us about that food and wine...
RITA We’d go out for drinks at these gorgeous little shacks, and have the best red wines for, like, 75 cents.
SHANE And the suckling pigs! The city of Mealhada is famous for them, and they were delicious.
SU What about those pastéis de nata that Vicky [Pattison, Geordie Shore star and fellow pilgrim] bought everyone? They’re these fantastic little custard tarts – though that word reminds me of something else…
What was the worst bit?
SHANE It was probably Bom Jesus do Monte [in Braga], this basilica with 600-odd steps.
SU Traditionally pilgrims went up them on their knees! The more pain you got, apparently, the closer you were to God. So I just told God, “I’m gonna be a bit far away from you today, because I’m not doing the knees business. Sorry.” But my worst bit was camping, when I was sharing a tent with Rita. It was just like the Warners holiday camp where we filmed Hi-de-Hi!, because if you wanted a shower you had to cross the road with your washbag and towel, and the water was freezing. So you’d hear these screams and we didn’t know if it was people using the showers or being attacked by wolves!
RITA The worst bit for me was just the mundane logistics: the tiredness, the getting up early to wash your socks and knickers, the constipation!
Did you get on with each other?
SHANE Rita, you did my nut in! No, only joking. I think I annoyed her a bit by saying, “Come on, we’re going for a glass of wine” at 10am some mornings.
SU Bobby [Seagull, of University Challenge fame] had some odd habits. He was always washing his underwear, so he was always looking for somewhere to dry it. Every time he went anywhere, his underpants came with him, and he’d hang them out on any available railing.
Did you return home changed by your pilgrimage?
SHANE I came home feeling really relaxed, really calm, and enjoyed a number of weeks of that same feeling afterwards.
SU I didn’t meet God or anything, but I did make some great friends. I met up with Bobby for a walk the other day actually, and I spent Christmas Day at Shane’s house because I was doing panto nearby.
SHANE My family adored her. RITA I didn’t change my viewpoint on how religious I am, either. But being on the journey with these guys did make me appreciate how lucky I am to have a community around me. Religious or not, that’s important, right?
You walked 364km over 15 days. The obvious question is… why?
SU Well, I’m never going to get asked to do a ballet programme! But no, I like a challenge, and my friends Les Dennis and Lesley Joseph had done a previous series of Pilgrimage, so it was a case of “keeping up with the Josephs”
RITA I did it because of Les Dennis, too! He’s a really good friend, he told me I wouldn’t regret it, and I listened to him because he’s very wise. He’s like Yoda.
SHANE I love adventure, the outdoors, trekking, so I was excited about all that. But this was also my sayonara to television for ever. I’ve lived in the world of TV and radio for a long time, but now I’m doing a 180 out of all that. I’ve left the industry.
Wow. Was taking part in Pilgrimage that bad, Shane?
SHANE It sealed the deal! No, don’t get me wrong: the people, the crew, the walk were all brilliant. It’s just the process of making television: the stop-start, the cameras, the fireworks. I’ve played to 100,000 people multiple times, and I don’t need any more fireworks. I need peace and tranquillity and to bow out.
SU We did have some amazing experiences, though!
OK… so would you go back to Portugal?
RITA I’m going back to Porto next week – on actual holiday with my husband. It was so stunning there: one of my favourite bits was this bookshop [Livraria Lello; livrarialello.pt] that apparently gave JK Rowling inspiration for Harry Potter, and it was magical, the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen. But we couldn’t stop there because we had to go and film – and there were so many lovely places like that in Porto that I wanted to go back to.
SHANE Yeah, lots of the countryside was really beautiful, too: the farmland, vineyards, mountains. Then when you’ve been walking in the wilderness for a while, you really appreciate coming into the city, and having some lovely food and wine
Mmmm. Tell us about that food and wine...
RITA We’d go out for drinks at these gorgeous little shacks, and have the best red wines for, like, 75 cents.
SHANE And the suckling pigs! The city of Mealhada is famous for them, and they were delicious.
SU What about those pastéis de nata that Vicky [Pattison, Geordie Shore star and fellow pilgrim] bought everyone? They’re these fantastic little custard tarts – though that word reminds me of something else…
What was the worst bit?
SHANE It was probably Bom Jesus do Monte [in Braga], this basilica with 600-odd steps.
SU Traditionally pilgrims went up them on their knees! The more pain you got, apparently, the closer you were to God. So I just told God, “I’m gonna be a bit far away from you today, because I’m not doing the knees business. Sorry.” But my worst bit was camping, when I was sharing a tent with Rita. It was just like the Warners holiday camp where we filmed Hi-de-Hi!, because if you wanted a shower you had to cross the road with your washbag and towel, and the water was freezing. So you’d hear these screams and we didn’t know if it was people using the showers or being attacked by wolves!
RITA The worst bit for me was just the mundane logistics: the tiredness, the getting up early to wash your socks and knickers, the constipation!
Did you get on with each other?
SHANE Rita, you did my nut in! No, only joking. I think I annoyed her a bit by saying, “Come on, we’re going for a glass of wine” at 10am some mornings.
SU Bobby [Seagull, of University Challenge fame] had some odd habits. He was always washing his underwear, so he was always looking for somewhere to dry it. Every time he went anywhere, his underpants came with him, and he’d hang them out on any available railing.
Did you return home changed by your pilgrimage?
SHANE I came home feeling really relaxed, really calm, and enjoyed a number of weeks of that same feeling afterwards.
SU I didn’t meet God or anything, but I did make some great friends. I met up with Bobby for a walk the other day actually, and I spent Christmas Day at Shane’s house because I was doing panto nearby.
SHANE My family adored her. RITA I didn’t change my viewpoint on how religious I am, either. But being on the journey with these guys did make me appreciate how lucky I am to have a community around me. Religious or not, that’s important, right?
ED GRENBY
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