Joe Marler reveals he thought he would have to pay for Celebrity Traitors role

Former England rugby player Joe Marler has revealed he thought he would have to pay to take part in The Celebrity Traitors.

The 35-year-old reached the final of the BBC reality gameshow earlier this year where he was ousted by comedian Nick Mohammed, 45, after he wrongly suspected he was a traitor, having initially formed a friendship and pact with the former Harlequins player to defeat the traitors.

Speaking on Waitrose’s Dish podcast with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, Marler said: “It was bonkers. I was a big fan beforehand and then I … went for a booking meeting, or coffee, whatever, and I was like, ‘how much is it going to cost me then?’, and they were like, ‘what do you mean?’.

“I was like, ‘well, I’ll obviously pay to come on the show’, that’s how desperate I am, and they were like, ‘no, no, it’s not a lot of money’, and ‘as long as you don’t mind’, I was like, too late, I’ve already said that I’ll do it for free…

“I should have gone the opposite way, but that’s not how that works, it was wild, just the names in the cast was just … brilliant.

“To be able to sit round the same table as, like, Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, Celia Imrie, and have the ability to like, tell them to shut up, or grow up, or just outwit them.”

The star went on to say that despite playing as a faithful the first time around, he would not want to return to the game as a traitor.

Marler added: “A traitor’s got more control, I think, they (know) what they’re doing, but if I had my time again, I wouldn’t be a traitor.”

The show ended with comedian Alan Carr taking home all of the £87,500 prize money and, after defeating faithfuls TV historian David Olusoga and Mohammed, he donated the money to the children’s cancer charity Neuroblastoma UK.

The full interview with Marler can be heard on the Dish podcast, available from all podcast providers.