‘Cool and religious too’: BBC Traitors winner Harry Clark supports Cafod Lent walk

‘It’s cool now to be able to speak about faith and make other young people think: oh, if he can be religious, so can I,’ Traitors winner Harry Clark told The Tablet in an interview. ‘No matter whether you’re Catholic or Jewish or Muslim, at the end of the day, at least you have something you believe in.’

Harry Clark, broadcaster, author and winner of the BBC reality game series The Traitors visited St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School in Slough to encourage students as they take on a charity challenge for Cafod.

Cafod’s “Big Lent Walk” started during lockdown as a “Walk for Water” to remember the millions of people who walk miles every day just to get clean water to drink, and involves participants walking 200km over 40 days to fundraise for safe water access for communities around the world. 

Over 1,000 supporters are taking part this year, as well as hundreds of schools across the country. Cafod’s global network of local experts work alongside communities around the world to deliver access to clean water, for example by constructing water tanks to serve remote villages.

Clark, 25, has written a book, Staying Faithful, about what his Catholic faith means in his life and wants to show young people that it’s possible to be a “cool, modern religious person”. In a new documentary, From Slough to the Vatican, coming out on BBC One at Easter, he embarks on a journey to Rome to meet Pope Leo XIV.

Clark said, “I’m very proud to be here for Cafod and supporting this year’s Big Lent Walk.  I never realised how much walking and running could help strengthen your faith.  I’ve definitely found it helps my thoughts and my understanding of what my faith is about.” 

St Bernard’s Headteacher Paul Kassapian said, “Students have been learning about how climate change is affecting communities around the world. It’s wonderful that they are now taking action and doing their bit to help tackle this global issue.” 

Clark told The Tablet in an interview: “When I went through dark times as a teenager, the one thing that saved me was my religion and my faith in God. I honestly believe that’s why I’m still here today. It was like, sort of like a switch. Since then, it’s been my sort of armour to wear throughout the rest of my life.

“Everyone has a different way of coping with stuff, with their emotions. It was actually my mum, who is like an angel in my life, who encouraged me to pray. She said, ‘You know, what’s the one thing you know you can do?’

“I said I don’t know, but I wish I knew how to do what you’re on about, because it would help! And she was like, ‘Well, just pray’. So, from there, I started praying, and that’s just when my life got a lot better.”

People sometimes ask him whether being on Traitors conflicted with his faith: “It’s weird: for some reason, everyone keeps asking the question of, like, did it not go against your religion or to backstab people? It was just a game – like, chill out. Like, I don’t know why people even ask that question. Even when I was up there, I still had my strong sense of faith.”

“It’s very easy for people to assume that if you’re religious, then you’re some kind of religious nutcase who can’t talk about anything else,” he admitted. “But actually, it’s not like that. I want to show people that you can also be cool and be religious too. It’s just something that brings me my calmness and my sense of happiness.

“None of my friends are religious, but they wouldn’t say anything negative to me about faith. I couldn’t care what anyone really thinks. If you’re going to be a person who puts someone down just for what they believe in, then you’re the person in the wrong, and at the same time, I sort of feel sorry for people who would get a kick out of doing something like that.

“It’s cool now to be able to speak about faith and make other young people think: oh, if he can be religious, so can I. No matter whether you’re Catholic or Jewish or Muslim, at the end of the day, at least you have something you believe in. Faith is a personal connection. No one can tell you how to do it, right? It’s just what you feel deep down.

Clark told The Tablet that he’s witnessed a rise in interest in faith: “I think it’s great that people are finding faith, especially the youth. This is all thanks to social media. While social media can be a bad thing, it can also be a great thing, because it can open people up.

He continued, “I’m very Gen Z in that my inspiration and what has helped me is scrolling through Tiktok, and my social media is filled Bible verses for the day and King Henry VIII facts and mad things that I want to learn about.

“When I think about everything Gen Z has been through – there’s so much comparing your life to others, so much stress, the cost-of-living crisis, and we’ve just been through covid – there seems to be a gap. People are searching for something, and having faith in God fills that.”

Clark thinks the Church needs to “get with the times” and get onto TikTok: “On social media, people can find answers to their questions. Seeing churches and people of faith on Tiktok, I think that’s the best thing for kids to see.”

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