Harry Clark with the Pope. (Photo: BBC)
A new BBC One documentary follows Traitors winner Harry Clark on a personal journey to Rome as he explores his Catholic faith and unexpectedly secures a private meeting with Pope Leo XIV.
Harry Clark Goes to Rome, which aired on Thursday and is available on BBC iPlayer, centres on Clark’s attempt to understand his beliefs and identity more deeply while asking what it means to live as a Catholic today.
The programme builds towards an audience with the Pope, a moment presented as the emotional high point of the documentary.
Clark, who travelled with his mother, Georgia, described the meeting as one of the most extraordinary experiences of his life.
He shared: “I never thought The Pope would want to meet me but here we are. It was a life changing experience and it was great to do it alongside my mum. It’s one of the coolest experiences of my life.
“It was the first time in my life my mind was blown and I thought wow, I’m just a kid from a council house in Slough and here I am sitting opposite Pope Leo XIV … My message to other young people is to never let anyone tell you can’t achieve or accomplish something. Keep dreaming big.”
During the encounter, they discussed topics including mental health and football, and he presented the Pope with a custom Chelsea shirt.
The documentary traces a wider spiritual journey as Clark reflects on the role faith has played in his life. Speaking ahead of the show airing, he said faith sustained him during some the most difficult periods, including serious mental health struggles, painful personal setbacks, and the loss of direction he experienced after serving in the army.
He says his faith “saved” him, describing it as central to the person he has become, and prayer gradually becoming a source of strength when he felt overwhelmed.
Clark describes himself as a “modern Catholic,” saying he believes in God while still wrestling with some Church teaching and traditions, and how religion connects with younger generations.
The trip to Rome is framed as an effort to confront those questions directly by speaking to senior Church figures at the centre of Catholicism.
His mother’s presence is a key part of the story. Clark says she was the one who first grounded him in the faith and later encouraged him to return to prayer during one of the lowest points in his life, making it especially meaningful that she was beside him for the journey and the papal meeting.
He shared: “My mum is a superwoman. She had five kids and while she was raising us, getting us to school, pressing out uniforms, and getting everyone fed, she was studying for a nursing degree. She’d go to uni, come back, pick us all up, cook food, put us all to bed, and then study.
“We’d never been on holiday together … She’s never really travelled. Neither had I, despite joining the army to see the world. So being in Rome at all was just enough for both of us. Plus, I’m going for favourite child, and I think I’ve secured that title for at least a year.”
The documentary also includes Clark’s visits to significant religious sites, as well as moments of worship and reflection.
He has been moved by seeing major places of Catholic history for himself and says the experience changed his understanding of faith from something inherited in childhood to something more consciously embraced.
He also suggests the programme is aimed not only at believers, but also at those who may be curious, sceptical or searching for meaning.
Clark said: “Like, what would you rather? A life where you believe in faith, but you’re wrong, or a life without faith, and you’re wrong? It doesn’t make sense to me as someone who would want to not believe and then be wrong, because then you’re not going to have a turn of your happiness. But then, if you do believe, and you’re wrong, at least you’ve lived your life with peace in your life. At least you’ve lived your life treating other human beings as human beings, with peace.”
He says he wants viewers to see that faith and modern life do not have to be in conflict, people with different beliefs should still be able to live with mutual respect, and that life has value whether or not someone has faith.
Clark added: “If I can talk about my religion wherever I want, other young people definitely can. And I want kids to see that. You can be cool and still believe in God. You can do both. And I think if that’s what we all try to do, just try to be better and help people, the world would be a much better place.”
