British acting legend reveals rejection from BBC series: ‘They didn’t want me’
The final cast is yet to be announced.
British actor Lesley Joseph has revealed that she was rejected from Celebrity Traitors despite her best efforts.
The 79-year-old star is best known for her role in sitcom Birds of a Feather opposite Linda Robson and Pauline Quirk which ran on the BBC from 1989 to 1998 and returned to ITV from 2014 to 2020.
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.
And she is no stranger to doing the rounds of reality TV, whether a regular on This Morning, a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing and Masterchef, a favourite on Gogglebox or rising to victory on Celebrity Coach Trip.
But there’s one show she definitely won’t be appearing on anytime soon – the BBC’s Celebrity Traitors UK.
Lesley attended the Spring Ball at the Bloomsbury Ballroom on Wednesday where she told The Sun her dream reality show.
She recently revealed she had tried to join the show (Picture: Getty/ Dave Benett) She has done plenty of reality TV before (Picture: BBC/Shine TV)‘I couldn’t do Big Brother, because I like my own bathroom too much, and I wouldn’t do I’m A Celeb with putting things in my mouth,’ she started.
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Then added: ‘I wanted to take part in The Traitors but that didn’t happen, so I think that would be the one I’d do.’
When asked if she had attempted to join the cast, Lesley responded: ‘I did but they didn’t want me.’
There’s still no official word on who will make up the line-up for the first season of the UK version which will be helmed by the Traitors queen herself, Claudia Winkleman.
The rumoured line-up includes Stephen Fry, 67, who addressed the reports earlier this year to Metro.
‘I can say that the BBC would slice off my testicles if I were to comment publicly on the possibility of such a thing as dwelling in a castle in Scotland for a week or two – or indeed for a day or two, quite likely.
‘I would be fired in the driveway, which is the thing they sometimes do, isn’t it, before you even get there, if you say the wrong thing.’
There is currently no official line-up but there are plenty of rumours including Stephen Fry (Picture: Corbis via Getty)There’s also chatter that GMB presenter Kate Garraway has signed up for the series as well as sporting legend Joe Marler.
Other names that keep cropping up include The Rivals star Danny Dyer, comedian Alan Carr, presenter Alison Hammond and even Friends icon Courtney Cox.
Elsewhere, The Apprentice star Karen Brady shared that she had batted off the BBC’s advances to get her on the murder-mystery game show.
And it’s been reported that This Country’s Daisy May Cooper, 38, and Charlie Cooper, 35 had to pull out of the show at the last-minute due to Daisy reportedly finding the off-the-grid commitment ‘tough’ for such an extended period of time away from her young children.
The Traitors – helmed by Claudia Winkleman – is a huge success in the UK (Picture: BBC / Studio Lambert)The first three seasons of The Traitors have proven a mammoth success for the channel with millions of viewers at home locked in to watch the castle inhabitants try to pick out the Traitors among them.
The latest season saw Faithfuls Leanne Quigley and Jake Brown take home a cash prize of £47,300 each from a total jackpot of £94,600.
There is currently no release date for Celebrity Traitors but the final day for the general public to apply for The Traitors season four is March 28 aka today, so get moving.
The Traitors seasons one to three are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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