Why Claudia Winkleman And Alan Carr Almost Didn't Appear In The Celebrity Traitors

Alan Carr and Claudia Winkleman have a heart-to-heart ahead of the Celebrity Traitors finalThe Celebrity Traitors may have finished weeks ago, but we’re all still talking about it thanks to the countless iconic moments it provided, from Celia Imrie’s infamous fart to Alan Carr’s many struggles to keep his identity under wraps, not to mention that unforgettable last vote.Watching over all the action was the show’s regular host Claudia Winkleman, but it turns out she almost didn’t appear in the celebrity version of the reality show at all.On Thursday, the BBC’s chief content officer Kate Phillips appeared on the podcast The Rest Is Entertainment, where she spilled plenty of behind-the-scenes tea from The Celebrity Traitors.This, apparently, included the fact that Claudia initially wasn’t interested in returning to the show to host its celebrity version as she’s so “protective” of the format.Indeed, Claudia previously told Woman And Home she was “scared” that The Celebrity Traitors wouldn’t work as a format, admitting: “I’m in love with this show and I wanted to keep it small. Once a year or maybe once every two years felt like enough.”Luckily, she said her bosses don’t listen to her and she was eventually convinced to return to the reality show.But Claudia wasn’t the only Celebrity Traitors scene-stealer who very nearly didn’t make it on the show.Alan Carr – who emerged as a fan-favourite on day one and went on to win the whole series – originally said no to the offer to take part.“He doesn’t really do reality shows,” Kate explained. However, because she already knew how entertaining he would be as a contestant, she took matters into her own hands to get him on board. “They came back to me and said, ‘Alan’s a no’,” she recalled. “So, I thought, ‘OK, what do I do to change his mind?’, because I knew Alan would be good.Eventually, Kate had the idea to take Alan and his agent out to dinner with the hopes of convincing him to sign up for the BBC reality show.Alan Carr eventually made his way into the Celebrity Traitors castle and went on to win the whole show“I remember walking into the restaurant, and he just went, ‘I know why you’ve asked me for lunch, Kate. And I’m not doing it’,” she revealed. “And I sort of said to Alan, ‘OK, this is why you should do it, Alan’, and I just talked to him about what a great show it was, and how he’d be looked after...”So, what made Alan finally say yes to The Celebrity Traitors? It was the inclusion of Stephen Fry, who was one of the first celebs the BBC booked.“Stephen signed up for it because he wanted to play the game and he did say, ‘look, use me to get others’,” she revealed. Alan did have one interesting condition for signing up for the show, though. “He said, ’you’ve got to promise me I won’t be a “Traitor”. And I was like, ‘well, first of all, I can’t promise that ‘cause it’s the format’. she explained.Fortunately, by the time Alan made it into the castle, he’d changed his mind, which is how he wound up taking his place in the turret in the first place.“And actually, if someone really doesn’t want to be a ‘Traitor’, we wouldn’t make them,” Kate insisted. “We do look after people on it. We don’t want them to have an awful experience.”Following the mammoth success of the first series, a second run of The Celebrity Traitors has already been confirmed for 2026.While the show’s return is undoubtedly still a long way off, a number of famous faces have already been rumoured, while a fourth run of the regular Traitors is due to air in January.MORE TRAITORS:Alan Carr Shares Funniest Celebrity Traitors Moment We Never Got To SeeJoe Wilkinson's Celebrity Traitors Group Chat Story Is As Chaotic As We'd ExpectJonathan Ross Says Ricky Gervais' Reason For Turning Down Traitors Was 'Right'

Comments

Breaking news

David Lammy set to unveil major reforms to UK justice system this week

Independent

Comments

Breaking news

David Lammy set to unveil major reforms to UK justice system this week

Dozens of Palestine Action supporters arrested after fresh wave of protests

Pentagon rolls out the welcome wagon for new MAGA-friendly press corps

Cheating in lightning chess - how unproven allegations ended in tragedy

David Lammy says Labour inherited 'courts emergency' amid plans to axe most jury trials

New trial allows HIV testing kits delivered to your door with results on phone

Gemma Collins 'confirms she is staying in Essex with plans to buy new home after £1.8M payday' despite stalker hell and rumoured Dubai move

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Honesty in politics will count for nothing if Reeves does not quit

Crime boss 'living the high life' after returning to UK fights second deportation on human rights grounds

Reeves will be lucky if the only punishment for this shameful deceit is the loss of her job: DAN HODGES

Now Angela Rayner faces new storm over tax on her grace and favour apartment

EastEnders legend Shaun Williamson reveals heartbreaking reason behind his epic soap return

Exposed: the Dubai-based fat cats making millions from asylum-seekers' taxis

Linda Robson shares update on best friend and Birds Of A Feather co-star Pauline Quirke amid dementia battle

Neighbours star Holly Valance snapped lounging on a steam train with hard-Right thug Tommy Robinson... as friends of the pop star say she has gone down a 'rabbit hole'

Alex Scott jokes she's too boring for I'm A Celebrity after Lioness is first kicked out of the jungle

Andrew told Epstein victim: I know he's been 'inappropriate' with another woman... a YEAR before ex-prince met his accuser Virginia Giuffre, lawyers for abused actress claim

RIP Sir Tom Stoppard: The woman-loving wordsmith who fled Hitler to become the greatest (and wittiest) playwright of his generation

Freddy Brazier's pregnant ex Holly Swinburn breaks silence on their split as she claims star had 'drug parties with girls in her house'

Catastrophic south-east Asia flooding leaves at least 600 dead with tens of thousands displaced as villages are submerged

Ellie Goulding strolls in west London wearing padded £2,950 Miu Miu jacket... but is it to hide some 'good news' for her and boyfriend Beau Minniear?

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi backtrack on plan to stay in UK while Trump is in power as couple plot return to sunny California to escape chilly Cotswold winter

TALK OF THE TOWN: V&A is just not ready for Freddie as it turns down Queen frontman's fashion collection

Corbyn's Your Party in chaos after co-founder Zarah Sultana snubs her own conference

Thousands of men with prostate cancer risk life-changing side effects because they aren't offered type of therapy received by David Cameron

The five things that set the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season apart

Is tracking your adult children OK or should parents learn to let go?

They have six packs - but they're still jumping on and off weight-loss jabs

A simple test could have given our son a very different future

The Papers: 'Reeves must go' and Tom Stoppard tributes

It's time to lock in and let your winter arc begin

The Ex-President Whom Trump Plans to Pardon Flooded America With Cocaine

Syria Tiptoes Toward Transitional Justice One Year After Assad’s Ouster

First picture of ‘genuine and funny’ man, 25, who died after falling from tower block

Lotto jackpot rolls over to £8,600,000 after no one claims prize

MP Ayoub Khan ‘killed a dog with his hands to save a baby’

Prince William ‘moved by courage’ of Gazan children brought to UK for treatment

Arrests made in New York after protesters appear to foil ICE raid with barricade of bodies and garbage bags

Thanksgiving home invasion leaves dog dead and widow without wedding ring and mortgage payment

Female cop banned from force after making 'unwanted sexual approach' to senior officer

Ukrainian officials head to US for peace talks - while dramatic footage shows Russian oil tanker being hit

Woman jailed for having sex outside busy shopping centre in broad daylight

Councils given record funding to fix potholes - but could lose it if they don't

Man accused of shooting Glasgow gangsters dead at Spanish bar pictured

'Severe allergic reaction made me lose my memory - I couldn't recognise myself'

Mum and dad screamed 'help us' as son 'beat them, set fire to home then escaped'

Rapist Met cop David Carrick's downfall - from 'popular' boy to serial sex offender

'Black hole' row: Call for Financial Conduct Authority investigation

Reeves must go for her Budget lies, say voters: Poll delivers damning verdict on Chancellor as No 10 admits that PM also knew there was no 'black hole'

I'm A Celebrity's Alex Scott reveals she is leaving Australia early to be with her girlfriend Jess Glynne

I'm A Celeb viewers brand Vogue Williams 'Superwoman' as gym loving model 'smashes' brutal 'Total Wipeout style' trial

Extraordinary moment explosion sends concrete blocks and chemical tank flying through the air near homes in Sydney's west - with factory fire set to burn ALL DAY

Vanessa Hudgens gives birth! High School Musical star welcomes second child with Cole Tucker

Greta Thunberg launches foul-mouthed tirade at 'fascist' Italian government during pro-Palestine protest in Rome - days after climate activist was banned from Venice

Was Charles' secret Cotswolds meeting with King of Bahrain a summit on his brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's future?

Paige, 27, was told she was going to die from terminal brain cancer. Months later, doctors looked at her scans in pure disbelief

Russian drone and missile blitz on Ukraine's energy infrastructure leaves more than 600,000 in Kyiv without power

German hard-right party sets up new youth wing as thousands of furious protesters descend on town

Romeo Beckham showcases his toned and tattooed physique as he goes shirtless for mirror selfie

Norris 'will try everything' to win title in Qatar