Geordie Shore's Nathan Henry on grief, reality TV and growing up in the North

In what is an absolute tear-jerker, the four-part series follows Nathan as he sets off on a life-changing journey with his father Glen, who is living with terminal cancer.

Not only does the documentary take a look at Nathan and Glen's relationship as they navigate Glen's diagnosis, but they also return to Glen's birthplace in Jamaica.

The documentary, which Nathan wanted to be a "love letter" to his father, has no retakes - with every conversation and interaction real and honest, something that was important to the TV personality.

"I knew that nothing I said was going to get cut, everything was getting put in," he said in an exclusive interview with RadioTimes.com.

"I was like, 'No matter what I'm saying, it has to be the truth, it has to be realistic.' And it was quite nice not having to worry and censor myself and think, 'Oh, I can't talk about that,' because no subject was off-topic in this situation, which is amazing."

Across the four episodes, Nathan has candid conversations with his family about coming to terms with Glen's cancer and how everyone has dealt with it in their own way, as well as speaking with friends Gabby Allen and Ashley Cain, both of whom have experienced the death of a loved one, which allowed Nathan to see that "grief isn't linear".

"There is no right or wrong way to process it," he explained. "Every single person processes it differently. How I process it, how Gabby did or Ashley processed it, it might not necessarily be the way that people watching this can process things, but it is certainly something that can definitely help."

He continued: "Hearing them speak about what they went through and be so vulnerable and be so honest, I think that was kind of the catalyst for me that was like, 'If they can do this, and I've still got my dad, I can also do that and be the voice and be the person that little me would have wanted to watch this and resonate with.'"

It's hard not to become emotional hearing Nathan's words in our interview and in the documentary, as he references him needing to be what his younger self wouldn't have had growing up.

But not only that, he also wanted to be realistic about what was happening: "I don't want to sugarcoat it. I don't want people to think, 'Oh, you're doing that for cameras.' This is really what my life is like. It's s**t and we're going through it, but we're going to go through it together and bring you along."

This side of Nathan is certainly something audiences may not have seen before, with the Geordie Shore star explaining that this documentary offers "the more realistic version" of him.

He told RadioTimes.com: "I think that was quite hard in itself to wrap my head around at first. It was quite different to transition from that, and I think because I've never been the type of person that puts myself in a vulnerable position or talks about things that I'm vulnerable about, to do that to one extreme, I was like, 'Well, I've started now, I've just got to continue and see it through.'"

For Nathan, it was seeing his dad cry on the first day of filming that made him realise he was going to have to become vulnerable for the documentary to work.

It goes without saying that Nathan and Glen's father-and-son relationship is at the forefront of this series, as the pair went to doctor's appointments and cancer groups together, and it wasn't long before Nathan surprised his dad with a trip to Jamaica, which allowed the pair to connect on an even deeper level.

"It was so nice to see where or what could have been my life and where I've come from," he explained. "It's just seeing where he came from and how his life has changed and how he has grown, it just made me so proud of him and so proud of my roots."

Glen, like Nathan, grew up in northern England, and it was their aim in the documentary to showcase being "the northern experience of being Black [and] the northern experience of being Black and gay".

"It was important cover all [of those] aspects during the filming we did," he told RadioTimes.com.

Above all else, Nathan hopes that Geordie Stories: Nathan and Dad will help someone, even if it be in the smallest way.

He said: "I know my experiences aren't going to be the same as someone else's, but if I can be honest about my experience and that can help other people, then I'm doing my job properly.

"I hold my hands high with this show because I did do this properly and I did explain everything and I was honest about how I was feeling. And hopefully people can take from that and it helps people."

Episode one of Geordie Stories: Nathan and Dad launches on the Thursday 3rd July, with a new episode every week on MTV Shores YouTube channel.

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