Spencer Matthews climbs Mount Everest in Disney+ Finding Michael documentary to find his brother's body

Spencer Matthews is embarking on one of the most important journeys in his life as he climbs Mount Everest to try and find the body of his late brother Michael Matthews in the upcoming Disney+ documentary, Finding Michael.

Michael, who is the brother of the Made in Chelsea star and Pippa Middleton’s husband James Matthews, was aiming to become the youngest Briton to climb the world’s highest peak when he suffered the tragic accident in 1999.

The then-22-year-old followed in the footsteps of TV adventurer and friend Bear Grylls who conquered the peak the year before at just 23.

Michael was an experienced mountain climber, having conquered Kilimanjaro before his Everest challenge, however, his body was never found despite an initial attempt in early 2022 when Bear Grylls led a secret expedition to try and recover Michael's body.

Grylls, who is also a friend of the Princess of Wales, said: “We actually had an expedition to try and recover the body of the brother of a good friend who climbed in the year after I was there but was never found.

“We really tried. We had the best team in the world,” the Daily Mail reported.

Grylls climbed Mount Everest with ten Nepalese men and other climbers to try and find Michael’s body and despite being unsuccessful, the team did uncover another climber’s body.

Grylls said: “The story has not come out yet, so I am not going to talk too much about it, but it was a really special moment for [Michael’s] family.”

Although Bear Grylls was unable to locate Michael Matthews' body, it was reported that a guide believed they knew where his final resting place was, prompting Spencer Matthews' documentary.

A source said in March 2022: "[The documentary] is a hugely emotional project and will be a very upsetting journey for many reasons, but Spencer is hugely passionate about embarking on it if he can make it work.”

Spencer is joined in the Disney+ documentary by Bear Grylls and record-breaking mountaineer Nirmal 'Nims' Purja, in the 'one of the highest search and recovery missions in history.'

A trailer was released a week ahead of the documentary arriving on Disney+, that focused on Spencer embarking on the mission to try and find his brother and if so, bring his body 'back home' .

It began with Spencer looking at a picture of Michael, before revealing he was sent a photo of a body they believe could be the eldest Matthews child, prompting Spencer to try and reunite their family: "My heart says we should go find him, and if we can, bring him home," he said.

Commentary played over the clips of Spencer preparing to climb the mountain with statements such as 'seven people die every year trying to climb Everest' and 'no mountain is worth dying for, a second time over'.

You can see Spencer face Everest and try to locate Michael Matthews' body in Finding Michael from 3 March on Disney+.