All the celebrities who turned down Celebrity Traitors – and now ‘regret it’

We’re only two episodes into the latest series of The Celebrity Traitors, and it’s already off to a fantastic start.

So far,Richard E. Grant has admitted to being a Traitor, James Acaster has been recruited, and Ross Kemp is convinced everyone is out to get him.

All that, and we didn’t even mention Amol Rajan’s face-to-face murder!

With all this drama, it’s no wonder that the show is pulling in record-breaking ratings, with 9.1million viewers tuning in to watch the first episode.

And with viewing figures that robust, it explains why so many celebrities are desperate to set foot in Calaudia Winkelman’s castle.

Still, not everyone is desperate to play this high-stakes version of wink murder. In fact, some big names claim to have turned down the chance.

So from money-saving experts to comedy legends and Ricky Gervais, here are the stars who said no to Traitors who might regret it now.

Which celebrities have missed out on doing Celebrity Traitors?

Liam Gallagher

Earlier this year, there were rumours that Liam Gallagher was going to swap the Oasis tour bus for the Traitor’s turret.

Liam later admitted on X that he’d been asked about appearing on the show but had said ‘no’, much to the chagrin of his fans.

In October, the 54-year-old explained his decision on X when he was once again asked about starring on the show, saying he ‘wasn’t a celebrity’.

I guess that means he can do the civilian version then?

Lorraine Kelly

Despite being a fan of the show, Lorraine Kelly said no to the Traitors team when they came knocking.

Apparently Lorraine just couldn’t commit to the show due to her busy schedule.

And while she’s never directly commented on that, she appeared to confirm the story when she interviewed Joe Wilkinson, saying: ‘If I’d had known you were on The Traitors, I’d have been there as well.’

Miriam Margolyes

Harry Potter star Miriam Margolyes defintiely doesn’t regret turning down an invitation to Ardross Castle.

The outspoken 85-year-old told a crowd at the Cheltenham Festival that she ‘can’t think of anything she’d rather less do’ than appear on the show.

‘I was offered this job,’ she said. ‘I’m not into that. I’ve never watched it. I don’t intend to watch it.’

So we won’t see Miriam on season three then?

Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais was initially linked with the first season of The Celebrity Traitors, and his pal Jonathan Ross later confirmed The Office co-creator had been offered a spot on the show.

‘I had a chat this week with Ricky Gervais,’ Ross explained on his podcast Reel Talk.’He called me after The Traitors. And he was asked to go in.

‘He said, “Are you doing this Traitors thing?” I said, “Yeah, I’m doing it. Stephen Fry is definitely doing it, and Alan Carr is.”‘

Apparently Ricky told Jonathan that he wasn’t going to do it because he feared that the ‘bigger names’ would be targeted first, a prediction that sort of came true.

Ricky later tweeted that he’d seen rumours he was going to be on the show, but joked the BBC ‘couldn’t afford him.’

Peter Capaldi

Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi also said no to The Traitors despite it arguably being the biggest show on the BBC.

The former Time Lord told Laura Kuenssberg that he didn’t want to do the show because he feared becoming too famous.

‘I think there’s a level of fame that… I think it propels you into the public eye, at a level of exposure that I don’t really want,’ he explained.

‘I like doing, you know, it’s like doing my music things – it’s very difficult for people in that business to understand that you want to keep it small.’

Richard Osman

The Rest is Entertainment’s Richard Osman was also asked to be on the first season of Celebrity Traitors but declined.

‘I said I would only do it if I could be a Traitor,’ he told Good Morning Britain.

‘I couldn’t bear – if I [were] a Faithful – that thing where you go back to your room at night, and you’re just lying there, [while] three people up in that tower, having a load of fun in cloaks and filming something.’

Sadly, then, as the BBC wouldn’t confirm he was definitely going to get a cloak, he never got the chance to walk into Claudia’s castle.

Danny Dyer

TV hardman Danny Dyer has also said the Traitors’ producers were sniffing round him when casting the first series.

As he hadn’t seen the civilian version of The Traitors, however, he wasn’t interested, a decision he says he regrets now he’s finally caught up on the popular reality show.

‘If they ask me I’ll do it, but no one’s asked me,’ he told Jonathan Ross.

Martin Lewis

ITV money-saving guru Martin Lewis revealed to his fans how he was devastated not to be featuring in Traitors.

Taking to Instagram, the 52-year-old said: ‘I’m no Traitor, sadly.’

He added: ‘I’ve got FOMO (fear of missing out) 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!’

Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper

This Country stars Daisy May Cooper and her brother Charlie also turned down a trip to the Scottish Highlands.

The duo were said to have pulled out from the show just weeks before filming, according to the Mirror.

It is believed that both actors decided they did not want to be away from their young families.

This came as a blow to BBC bosses who were hoping to replicate the drama of having family members in the show, like with Diane and Ross in the second series of Traitors last year.

There were even claims that tennis star Sir Andy Murray and his mum Judy turned down the opportunity to feature before Charlie and Daisy pulled out.

Karren Brady

Former Apprentice star Karren Brady told Metro she was asked to join the celebrity version of Traitors.

Baroness Brady has always been faithful to The Apprentice and its main star Lord Alan Sugar.

And it appears that she is going to remain faithful after she declined the opportunity.

The West Ham vice-chairman 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 in. But that’s it.’ So it doesn’t seem like Baroness Brady has any regrets in this case!

Other shows that she has rejected include Dragons’ Den and Strictly.

Lesley Joseph

British actor Lesley Joseph revealed that she was rejected from Celebrity Traitors despite her best efforts.

The 79-year-old star is best known for her role in the sitcom Birds of a Feather opposite Linda Robson and Pauline Quirk.

She has also appeared on the TV series Night & Day and the 1998 TV movie of Macbeth, as well as enjoying a fruitful stage career that landed her an Olivier nomination.

But, speaking to Metro, she said: ‘I wanted to take part in The Traitors, but that didn’t happen, so I think that would be the one I’d do.’