Claudia Winkleman says she initially turned down Traitors hosting role

Presenter Claudia Winkleman has revealed she initially turned down her role hosting The Traitors when she was first offered it.

The 54-year-old former Strictly Come Dancing presenter has hosted four series of the BBC reality gameshow as well as two celebrity editions, but said she rejected the role before being persuaded to watch the original Dutch series, which changed her mind.

She told Harper’s Bazaar: “I’m always in bed at 9pm with my book, but I started watching, and at midnight, I sent her (an unnamed TV executive) a text saying, ‘I’ll buy my own ticket’.”

Winkleman left Strictly, which she presented alongside Tess Daly, in 2025, and launched a BBC One celebrity chat show, The Claudia Winkleman Show, in December that year, but the London-born star said she did not want to do another series of the latter.

She added: “The BBC wanted me to give it a go. Maybe, I thought, let’s try something different? But never again. That’s it. It wasn’t for me.

“I didn’t enjoy it, I didn’t like having my name on it, it’s not what I’m good at. I need a format – it can’t just be me.

“They said, ‘OK, if that’s your decision, but we’d like you to try again’, and I was like, ‘no’. Once was enough.”

The most recent series of The Celebrity Traitors, which ended last Friday, saw a number of surprises, including actor Richard E Grant revealing he had been made a traitor shortly after he had been told his role.

Speaking about the humorous moment, Winkleman said she dropped a baked potato when it happened, and added: “I don’t know how to explain how much I love a baked potato.

“I dropped (it) right by the rail of clothes, which were all borrowed, so we had to send everything back slightly smelling of cheese.”

The full interview can be read in the December/January issue of Harper’s Bazaar UK, which is on sale from November 6.