Claudia Winkleman reveals reason why she initially turned down presenting The Traitors
It’s a show that has become a huge hit, with competitors competing to win by betraying each other.
But now host Claudia Winkleman has revealed she initially turned down presenting The Traitors – because she didn’t want to film in Scotland for more than three weeks.
The 52-year-old won her first BAFTA in 2023 for hosting the iconic game show, but said she turned down the job almost entirely.
The star was offered the job but turned it down because she didn’t want to be away from her family.
But after watching the original Dutch version, Winkleman became ‘obsessed’ and quickly sent an email to BBC bosses who changed her mind.
Winkleman, who also presents Strictly Come Dancing, told The Midpoint podcast: ‘The Traitors is something I initially turned down because I didn’t like leaving my bed or the kids and they said ‘could you go for three and one Want to go to Scotland for six months? to soften?”.
‘And I thought, ‘I don’t think so,’ and then I watched the Dutch version and I became so obsessed.
‘I sent an email to Kate Phillips who offered me the job, who works at the BBC, and said ‘I’ve booked a train, I want to do this more than anything’ because it’s a privilege to look at the psychology and gameplay. near.’
Claudia Winkleman was concerned that the filming schedule in Scotland would mean she would spend too much time away from her family.
The presenter has done her job by combining family life with her many presenting roles
Winkleman, 52, rocked merchandise from The Traitors as she attended the series three launch event at the Electric Cinema in London on Monday
Winkleman lives in London with her husband, film producer Kris Thykier.
The couple, who married in 2000, have three children Jake, 20, Matilda, 17, and Arthur, 12.
She has previously explained how she manages to balance her career and family life, joking that “my husband is a better parent than me.”
The TV personality also confessed that her children beg her to give them some space during the ten months of the year when she is not busy presenting Strictly Come Dancing.
Speaking to MailOnline last year, she blamed the “terrible” habit on her former newspaper editor mother Eve Pollard, 76.
She began, “I’m on the subway all the time, but I’ve never been recognized in my life, never in my life. I’m there four times a day with my children…’
‘I’m on TV sometimes, but only two months a year and the rest of the time I’m just buzzing around. The rest of the year I lick the children.
‘I follow them everywhere and I am a very annoying person to them.
Winkleman will reprise her role in The Traitors when it returns on New Year’s Day
The BBC is yet to confirm the line-up of Traitors and Faithfuls for the 2025 series, but the newcomers will have big shoes to fill with the following iconic characters from the previous series, including secret mother Diane Carson, villain Paul Gorton and of course the eventual winner Harry Clarke
“They say, ‘Mommy, give us some space,’ and I say, ‘No.’ I’m terrible. It comes from my own mother.’
The Traitors returns for a third series on New Year’s Day, with more than 300,000 people signed up to take part.
The season 2 finale was watched by more than eight million people in the UK and Winkleman has revealed what it’s like to film the famous roundtable scenes at the end of each episode.
She said: ‘All the cameras are hidden. To stand there and watch people try to work it out is an honor, it’s the thrill of my life.
‘Sometimes they’re really short, sometimes they’re long, we’re not rushing anywhere, it’s shot live, I get one shot, and if I go in there if I screw up – which I did because I’m so tense – that’s what you see. We film the whole thing as it is.’