Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder reflect on their trip to India.

Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder are headed to India in a new edition of their BAFTA award-winning travelogue series.

Launching on BBC Two this weekend, the friends and presenters embark on their own passage to India as they discover how the country’s ancient wisdom, art and culture can challenge them both personally, intellectually and physically.

Like in Italy, the pair spend a lot of time viewing art, with much of it revolving around sex and death – two subjects that fascinate the duo. In the series, they also visit the sites of ancient erotic art in Khajuraho and are captivated by the artwork.

In an exclusive interview with Radio Times magazine, Rob says: “We have so many conversations about sex and shame and the body, but at the centre of ancient Indian cultural and religious life is the celebration of sex. And there are lots of feminist examples in the depictions of sex – women on top, for example.”

Radio Times cover featuring Rob Rinder and Rylan Clark.

Photographed exclusively for Radio Times by Adam Lawrence.
In the interview, released on Tuesday in the latest issue of Radio Times and available in full from midnight on RadioTimes.com, the pair also open up about love and relationships, with Rylan admitting he would love to have children one day.

“I really want to have kids. I’ve got a lot of love to give,” he says, while Rob offers a different take: “I’m over a decade older and when I came out that wasn’t on the buffet of possibility. It wasn’t in the conversation. It was very rare.”

Rylan noted that Rob is only 47, adding: “We live in a world where age isn’t really a problem no more. And sexuality isn’t a problem.”

Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder.

Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder. BBC/Rex TV, Zinc Media/Jakob Borges

In their new series, the pair follow in the footsteps of Rob’s favourite author EM Forster, who wrote A Passage to India and changed the way the world saw the country.

“Following in the footsteps of my literary hero EM Forster and being in India gifted me the sense of being more alive – it’s been a beautiful experience,” he explained in a statement.

“I still can’t believe that I had to walk barefoot through Varanasi to find spiritual enlightenment while Rylan went to a yoga class, but what I’ve taken from the art and the people here has changed my life.”

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Rylan Clark and Rob Rinder standing in front of a colourful background.

Photographed exclusively for Radio Times by Adam Lawrence.