Claudia Winkleman reveals why she agreed to Traitors role after turning it down
The TV star has hosted two series of the game show which sees members of the public try to identify the ‘traitors’ among them.
Claudia Winkleman has revealed she originally turned down hosting The Traitors but was changed her mind after watching the Dutch version of the hit reality show.
The TV star has fronted two series of BBC One’s edition of the tense game show which sees members of the public attempt to identify who among them are “faithfuls” and “traitors” since it launched at the end of 2022.
Appearing on the Dish podcast, Winkleman told presenters Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett that she nearly missed out on being a part of the show.
She said she was asked to host three or four years ago but declined the offer because of her “innate laziness”, adding: “I was like, ‘I’m really sorry I can’t go to Scotland for three and a half weeks, but thank you so much for thinking of me.
“‘And why don’t you ask the following people? Thank you, bye’.”
The TV presenter recalled that the production team offered to send her recordings of the original Dutch version, titled De Verraders, which first aired in 2021.
She said she initially did not watch the show but later binged all the episodes in one sitting.
After she finished the series, she said she texted her BBC boss to say: “I’ll book my own train … I’m coming. I’m going to Inverness.”
The first series of the BBC version gripped viewers when it aired at the end of 2022, with 4.7 million tuning in for the dramatic conclusion, which saw three “faithfuls”: Meryl, Hannah and Aaron ultimately crowned the winners after traitor Wilfred nearly stole the jackpot.
Winkleman won the Bafta for best entertainment performance last year, while the show won best reality and constructed factual programme.
The show continued to go from strength-to-strength in its second series, with more than eight million people watching the tense final where 22-year-old “traitor” Harry Clark outwitted his fellow contestants to win £95,150.
Winkleman admitted the team were “overwhelmed” by the response to series one but hailed the game show and production team behind it as “exceptional”.
She also feels it shows that you cannot always trust your gut, saying: “Everybody tells you all your life … trust your gut.
“Whether you should go out with him, or whether she should be your friend, or whether you should go out with her, or whatever. Should you get this flat? Should you rent it? Just trust your gut.
“And the Traitors throws that out the window. Turns out your gut knows nothing.”
Before series two aired, BBC confirmed the reality show will return for a third series.
