Hey Y'all,

In this special episode, we sit down with four of the stars from the BBC’s Pilgrimage 2026 - Patsy Kensit, Hermione Norris, Jayne Middlemiss, and Ashley Blake - for an honest, reflective, and often deeply personal conversation about their journey.

From questions of faith and identity to moments of vulnerability on the road, Part 1 explores what happens when very different lives and beliefs come together on a shared spiritual path.

Key Themes

• Spiritual curiosity vs religious structure
• The power of shared experience
• Vulnerability as a catalyst for connection
• Walking as a metaphor for inner change
• Finding common ground across different beliefs

Standout Moments

• Early conversations where differing beliefs are openly challenged
• Moments of unexpected emotional honesty between participants
• Reflections on why stepping outside everyday life creates space for deeper thinking
• The first signs of group connection forming despite differences

Join the Spill the Spirituality community, follow the show and reach out to the hosts - we'd love to hear your thoughts, stories and feedback!

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Hey Y'all,

In this milestone 100th episode, host Trey Hall sits down with Harry Clark - the breakout star of BBC's The Traitors Series 2 - for a wide-ranging and deeply honest conversation about faith, mental health, masculinity, and what happens when a council kid from Slough decides to take his questions straight to the Pope. Harry opens up about how prayer pulled him back from the edge during his darkest days in the British Army, why he went to confession for the first time in 10 years in Rome, and the AI-assisted message he sent to the Vatican. Funny, moving, and refreshingly real.

Timestamps

• 0:00 — Intro & welcome to Spill the Spirituality
• 1:13 — The iconic Traitors reveal moment
• 2:00 — How Harry got cast on The Traitors (from a "scam" DM)
• 4:50 — Going on the show to change his life & the Uber driver story that changed everything
• 7:28 — Trey's team's crushes on Harry (shoutout Holly & Allie)
• 8:41 — The "Jekyll and Hyde" life: Army Corporal vs. Harry from Slough
• 10:15 — Harry Clark Goes to Rome: the new BBC documentary
• 11:35 — Faith as a wave: growing up Catholic and questioning the church
• 11:49 — The origin story: homebrewed beers in the Alps with a producer
• 13:38 — "I'll just go to the headteacher" — why go straight to the Pope
• 15:00 — Trey's own experience at a Papal audience in St. Peter's Square
• 16:00 — What is it about the Pope? The sense of calmness and humility
• 17:01 — Arriving in Rome with his mum
• 17:47 — His mum's advice: "Just pray"
• 19:10 — Questions for the Pope: good vs. bad Catholic, LGBTQ+ inclusion, modernising the church
• 21:11 — "What's your favourite emoji?" — the lighter questions
• 22:33 — What is confession? Harry's first confession in 10 years
• 25:20 — Trey on confession, AA, and telling the truth to another human
• 27:21 — "God is working through them" — seeing God in people
• 28:20 — Is there such thing as a bad Catholic? Already recognising your struggle means you're winning
• 29:59 — Harry's darkest moment: suicidal thoughts, losing friends, and hitting rock bottom in the Army
• 31:46 — The Army as "the hammer and chisel" — joining at 16 and growing up fast
• 33:29 — The prayer journey: from screaming at God to gratitude
• 35:34 — "I'd rather believe and be wrong" — Pascal's Wager, Harry Clark style
• 37:43 — Masculinity, vulnerability, and what it means to be a healthy man
• 40:19 — The Memento Mori tattoo from Rome
• 41:25 — Wheel of Fortune game: AI — Friend or Foe?
• 42:42 — Harry used ChatGPT to message the Pope (and reads the message live)
• 46:48 — Outro & where to watch Harry Clark Goes to Rome

Guest

Harry Clark - Winner of BBC's The Traitors Series 2, former British Army Corporal, and star of the BBC documentary Harry Clark Goes to Rome. Follow him on Instagram and catch the documentary on BBC iPlayer.

Host

Trey Hall — Methodist minister, Tennessean living in London, and co-host of Spill the Spirituality (a project of the Methodist Church in Britain).

Join the Spill the Spirituality community, follow the show and reach out to the hosts - we'd love to hear your thoughts, stories and feedback!

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Hey Y'all,

A banker turned comedian who describes himself as a "lapsed Muslim," Eshaan Akbar has appeared on Sex Education (Netflix), Live at the Apollo (BBC), and even voiced puppets on Spitting Image. In this deeply funny and moving conversation, Eshaan opens up about the wild days of pre-crash banking, his mother's sudden passing and the Muslim burial that changed everything, navigating faith as a South Asian man in the West, Muslim dating apps, and how grief ultimately gave him the freedom to pursue comedy with complete abandon. A masterclass in finding humor in life's heaviest moments.

Guest: Eshaan Akbar - comedian, writer, podcaster (The Early Evening Shows)
Hosts: Trey Hall & Jaz Ampawfarr
Produced by: Rachel Matthews & John Ryan | A project of the Methodist Church

Where to find Eshaan: YouTube special (coming soon), The Early Evening Shows podcast, Live at the Apollo on BBC iPlayer, @EshaanAkbar on socials

Timestamps

• 0:00 — Welcome & intro to Spill the Spirituality
• 1:21 — Eshaan's entrance & boxer name banter
• 2:09 — The corporate-to-comedy pipeline
• 2:58 — Life in banking before the 2008 crash: debauchery and high-octane culture
• 5:40 — Feeling like an outsider: being the only Asian guy in the building
• 6:47 — Dreaming of becoming a diplomat (since age 6)
• 7:41 — Taking a comedy course to learn tighter writing
• 8:17 — His mother's sudden passing and "comedy chose me"
• 9:20 — First gig after grief & making the Edinburgh Fringe final
• 10:25 — The Muslim burial: climbing into the grave to lay his mother to rest
• 12:18 — How grief unlocked total creative freedom
• 13:43 — "Was she funny?" — inheriting his mum's sense of humor
• 14:38 — Feeling connected to his mum through dreams
• 15:57 — Religion's infrastructure around death
• 17:36 — Islam's 40-day mourning period as a "deadline" for grief
• 21:39 — The viral Ramadan "Call me" bit
• 22:45 — Muslim dating apps: Minder, Mismatch & wild DMs
• 24:38 — Growing up devout: religious education at home
• 25:33 — The mosque vs. home: two very different versions of God
• 29:07 — Separating God, mind, body, and soul at age 24
• 31:31 — "Are you spiritual?" — the levels of being a lapsed Muslim
• 33:02 — Daily gratitude and "I cannot believe my luck"
• 33:56 — Comedy as a spiritual practice
• 34:20 — "Even God isn't loved universally"
• 35:36 — The Wheel of Trust game
• 36:50 — Reflection on "Chapter" — life before and after mum
• 38:27 — "We are all writing the book of our own lives"
• 39:46 — Where to find Eshaan & sign-off
• 41:37 — Outro & credits

See you next time folks!

Join the Spill the Spirituality community, follow the show and reach out to the hosts - we'd love to hear your thoughts, stories and feedback!

• Learn about Spill the Spirituality Podcast, Community & Events
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• Follow us on Twitter
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• Find us on TikTok