Get the latest entertainment news, reviews and star-studded interviews with our Independent Culture email
Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter
Get the latest entertainment news with our free Culture newsletter
Joe Marler has revealed that his Celebrity Traitors appearance has scored him a follow from actress Dawn French.
The former England rugby union player, 35, is one of the five finalists on this series of the BBC spin-off reality gameshow.
Speaking ahead of the finale on Thursday, Marler opened up on the lovely messages” he has received from fans, and expressed surprised for one particular interaction online.
Marler said: “My highlight would be getting a follow from Dawn French off the back of one of the memes on Instagram.
“I didn’t think I’d get on the show let alone make it to the final. It is a privilege to have made it this far.”
Celebrity Traitors follows a group of celebrity contestants as they play for the chance to win up to £100,000 for their chosen charities while trying to banish the unknown traitors in the group who “murder” players in the middle of the night.
open image in gallery
Marler revealed he received a follow from Dawn French after his performance on the show (PA)
French, 68, is best known for her comedy partnership with Jennifer Saunders and became a household name with their first series of their sketch show French And Saunders in 1987.
She is also known for playing Geraldine in The Vicar Of Dibley as well as starring in the blockbuster film Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban and a range of TV series including Let Them Eat Cake, Psychoville and The Wrong Mans.
The comedy duo also featured in a Traitors sketch for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day in 2023.
The series, which began with 19 celebrities, has since been whittled down to five finalists made up of Marler, singer Cat Burns, historian David Olusoga and comedians Alan Carr and Nick Mohammad.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Carr was selected as a traitor alongside Burns and presenter Jonathan Ross, who has since been banished, added that it feels “amazing” to be in the final.
open image in gallery
The Celebrity Traitors finalists: Cat Burns, Alan Carr, David Olusoga, Nick Mohammed and Joe Marler (BBC/Studio Lambert/Paul Chappells)
He said: “I think me and the entire nation didn’t believe I would get through the first roundtable let alone be in the final five. What a journey. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
“The strange thing is, weirdly even though we’ve been murdering and banishing national treasures, Olympians, intellectuals and popular entertainers, my family are still strangely proud of me – which is frankly quite odd.”
Other contestants who appeared on the series but were either banished at the roundtable or murdered by the traitors included Olympic diver Tom Daley, singer Paloma Faith, actress Celia Imrie and comedian and TV presenter Sir Stephen Fry.
Speaking about the fan reactions, Carr added: “I’ve been bathing in the love, it really has put a spring in my step, and I am loving the constant flow of memes that pop up on my feed.
“The public scrutiny and all the theories, some actually quite bizarre, have been really interesting to read, but I guess when you have such huge ratings this analysis of your every move comes with the territory.”
The Celebrity Traitors finale airs on 6 November at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
