If you're anything like us, you will have been obsessed with The Celebrity Traitors. The BBC show has managed to attract one of the best reality television casts of recent years, with the likes of Sir Stephen Fry, Tom Daley, Jonathan Ross, Celia Imrie, Clare Balding and Charlotte Church joining forces to play the ultimate mind game. Despite some of our favourite celebrities agreeing to be on the show, others sadly turned down the opportunity to head to the iconic Traitors Castle in the Highlands.
What makes a perfect Traitors cast?
Speaking ahead of the series, Mike Cotton, the creative director of unscripted shows at Studio Lambert and executive producer for The Traitors, opened up about the casting process. Speaking to the Playlist, he explained how some of the stars were chosen due to their existing connections to one another. "If you watch the British version of The Traitors, none of the cast know each other," he said.
"They all come in. Some of them have lied about who they are or hid that their son or their sisters are in the show as well. And what we've learned to do more in the US version is to embrace people's preconceived notions about one another, and embrace the different relationships that they have. And that's 100% a learning that we are taking through for that."
Meet the stars who decided against being on the show…
1/5
© Getty Images for BAFTARichard's intelligence would make him a great player
Richard Osman
Best-selling murder mystery author and presenter Richard Osman would have been the perfect fit for The Celebrity Traitors. Teaming up with Celia Imrie, who plays one of his characters in The Thursday Murder Club, the pair would have been a formidable team, but the 54-year-old opted not to appear.
During an appearance on Good Morning Britain, he said: "I love Celebrity Traitors. I said I would only do it if I could be a Traitor. Only because I couldn't bear [it] if I was a Faithful, that thing where you go back to your room at night and you're just lying there. You know there's three people up in that tower, having a load of fun in cloaks and filming something. I'd just be lying there going, 'I could be murdered any second'. I wouldn't have that control. Obviously, they can't say, 'yes, you can be a Traitor'."
2/5
© David Fisher/ShutterstockMartin wanted to be on the show
Martin Lewis
Martin Lewis is known for helping people save money, but could he save himself on the show? Martin's intelligence means he'd be strong as both a Faithful or Traitor, but sadly fans were robbed of seeing him on the series due to scheduling conflicts.
He confessed in a social media post: "I'm no Traitor, sadly. I've got FOMO looking at the Celebrity Traitors line-up. I was asked if I wanted to do it, but said no as I couldn't commit the time. I hadn't watched it then, but watched the last series after that and loved it. So now I feel a little gutted – though I still don't have the time. Sigh!" Hopefully he'll be there for series 2!
3/5
© Dave J Hogan/Getty ImagesThe sibling duo would have been iconic!
Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper
The Traitors isn't a stranger to contestants having connections and we love the idea of sibling duo Daisy May Cooper and Charlie taking on the game together, especially if one of them ended up as a Traitor, like Armani and Maia in the third series of the civilian version. The duo were apparently cast, before reportedly dropping out weeks before casting in order to look after their young families.
4/5
© Getty ImagesBaroness Brady won't be appearing on the show
Baroness Karren Brady
She's known for being Lord Alan Sugar's right-hand woman on The Apprentice, but Baroness Karren Brady turned down the opportunity to step away from the boardroom and into the Traitors Castle. Speaking to the Metro back in January, she said: "I was asked and the answer was no."
When asked about her reasons, she explained: "One, I've never seen it. Two, I don't have the time. I mean, I have a full-time job and The Apprentice is filmed just in my sweet spot in the summer when the football season is over, so I can just about fit it in. But that's it."
5/5
© Getty ImagesMiriam isn't a fan of the hit show
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam Margolyes has become a British institution thanks to her various rude stories that she's more than happy to share on national television. And while she no doubt is at the top of many people's wish lists for the game, it sounds like it's never going to happen. Speaking at the Cheltenham Festival, she said: "I was offered this job. No. Just recently and I can't think of anything I'd rather less do. I'm not into that. I've never watched it. I don't intend to watch it."
