Alan Carr says agent did not think he would go far on Celebrity Traitors

Comedian Alan Carr has said his agent booked him into events two weeks into filming The Celebrity Traitors as they did not think he would get far.

The presenter was crowned the winner of the hit BBC spin-off series during Thursday night’s highly anticipated finale.

Carr burst into tears after he revealed to the remaining faithfuls, comedian Nick Mohammed and historian David Olusoga, that he was a traitor and told host Claudia Winkleman that the prize money, which amounted to £87,500, will go to a children’s cancer charity for neuroblastoma.

Speaking about the victory on the visual podcast, Uncloaked, Carr said: “It still hasn’t sunk in, it’s insane.”

Asked if he expected to get so far, he said: “No, no, no, no, I did not even think I would get this far.

“My agent had actually booked in things for the second week saying, ‘With your poker face you’ll be out’.

“I go through customs I start sweating, when I go to a newsagents and it says no shoplifting.

“I’ve got the worst poker face going, it’s a tug of war with my face.”

Carr has also said that humour was his “secret weapon” in the castle and that he would “often deflect scrutiny and make a gag about something which would then throw everyone off the scent”.

“My sense of humour was probably more useful to me than a shield,” he said.

Carr added: “So I’m really, really proud, I can be a chameleon, I can chat, I can lie when I need to. Idiots can do well.”

The comedian was a traitor from the very beginning of the game along with singer Cat Burns and presenter Jonathan Ross, who was banished earlier on in the series.

They went on to “murder” a number of players including singer Paloma Faith, comedian Lucy Beaumont and Olympic diver Tom Daley while faithfuls including actor Sir Stephen Fry, presenter Clare Balding and actor Mark Bonnar fell under suspicion and were banished by their fellow contestants.

Speaking about the emotional reveal and his chosen charity, Carr said: “I think all the deceit, the lying, the murdering of Paloma (Faith) and Celia (Imrie) had all taken its toll and then I think it dawned on me that I had won such a huge amount for my charity, Neuroblastoma UK.

“The charity is so close to my heart that it all became a bit too much. Hopefully when people see how upset I was they won’t feel so bad that I killed all those national treasures.

“I told one person at the charity and they started crying, so that gives you some idea of how important this money will be to them.

“Neuroblastoma is such a cruel disease, and this money will literally save lives. It’s a charity and disease that no one has really heard of so with the viewing figures being what they are it’s going to be so good for the charity.”

The finale saw two heated roundtables take place which began with Burns being banished after an alliance between former rugby player Joe Marler and Mohammed, who convinced Olusoga to also vote for Burns.

The remaining players did not know they successfully banished a traitor from the game and had to rely on their gut instinct and trust alone.

The second roundtable saw Marler leave the game after a shock vote from Mohammed, who turned against him after becoming suspicious of the faithful.

Millions of fans have watched The Traitors UK on the BBC since it first aired in 2022 and has since picked up a Bafta TV Award for best reality and constructed factual programme and best entertainment performance for host Winkleman.

This was the first UK celebrity series of the popular reality show and has been a ratings hit for the BBC, attracting more than six million viewers when it launched on October 8.

The Celebrity Traitors can be watched on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.