Emotional Spencer Matthews reveals moment he heard late brother’s voice for the first time in 24 years
FORMER Made in Chelsea star Spencer Matthews has opened up about the heartbreaking moment he heard his late brother’s voice for the first time in 24 years.
The reality star, 34, said he watched footage of his older sibling Michael, who disappeared while climbing Mount Everest in 1999 at the age of 22.
Spencer retraced his late sibling’s steps for documentary Finding Michael, which is released on Disney+ today.
During the film, viewers see Canadian climber Dave Rodney, who had been on the expedition with Michael, join Spencer on his search.
Spencer said: “Dave in particular brought to the table footage from the 1999 expedition of Mike and Dave climbing and Mike’s attitude to the mountain and I actually had never, prior to flying to Canada to meet Dave, had never seen Mike on camera ever.
“We weren’t the kind of family that made home videos and when I said to mum and dad, when we agreed to make this documentary, I said I need all footage of Mike and they said ‘We don’t have any’.
“Fortunately, Dave had this incredible film that I hadn’t seen so I saw it in Canada for the first time and it’s the first time I’d heard Michael speak since he was alive, since I was 10.”
Climbing expert Dave said Michael was the “best mate I could ever have hoped for on the mountain”.
He went on: “Our dream was to be together on summit day. Sadly, although we climbed every single day of the expedition, together on summit day, we were not.
“I was to be with two other people and he was to be with his guide.
“I only found out the next day that he had not come down and 40 below had become 50 below and breezes became hurricane winds.
“But I’m so pleased that Spencer and Bear and the crew have filmed something that is I think going to be not only legendary, it’ll touch absolutely everyone who’s experienced grief and loss and help them through that process.”
Michael’s body was left behind on the mountain’s chillingly named Death Zone at around 8,500 metres after he was caught in a storm.
The arduous journey was fraught with emotion, not only for Spencer but his family.
His mum Jane and sister Nina, speak for the first time publicly about losing Michael in the film.
In the film, Jane explains: “Mike was supposed to summit on the 13th and by the 14th we hadn’t heard anything.
“A storm had come in and Mike was missing. But it was too long after by then, I sort of knew that was it, he was dead. You don’t know if he’s fallen into a crevasse or over the edge or whether just from exhaustion sat down and collapsed.”
Spencer appeared on The One Show on Thursday and told hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp: “When we took the difficult decision to undertake the mission I knew I wanted to be there myself.
“We scrapped together any information we had. Some of the footage of Michael on the mountain I’d never seen before.
“It was the first time I’d seen him on camera, because as a kid we didn’t do home movies or anything.
“Retracing his steps and understanding his final days a bit better was quite cathartic for me…”
Spencer cut off as his eyes filled with tears and fell silent.
Host Alex stepped in to bring the interview to a close after describing Finding Michael as “one of the best documentaries I’ve ever watched”.