Hannah Waddingham has revealed that she turned down the chance to appear on The Celebrity Traitors because she was too frightened.
The Ted Lasso actress, 52, explained that she would rather watch the BBC game show from her sofa than take part in it because she was too big of a “scaredy cat”.
Waddingham, who is known for playing football club owner Rebecca Welton in the hit sitcom, said she had been asked to appear in the first series of the celebrity spin-off.
Her Ted Lasso co-star Nick Mohammed was involved in the first season, and she said she nearly joined him.
Speaking on The Jennifer Hudson Show, she said: “I was asked to be on the first Celebrity Traitors in the UK. My great buddy Nick Mohammed from Ted Lasso is on it and I nearly did because I knew he was going to be on it, but I'm a great big scaredy cat.
“This whole thing with the hoods and burying people alive – I don't care whether there's a crew there or not. Hell no. No. No. I’m going to watch at home with a nice red wine and some crisps.”
Mohammed went on to make last year’s final but failed to win the money for his chosen charity, with comedian Alan Carr, who was chosen as a ‘Traitor’, winning the series instead.
The Celebrity Traitors is hosted by Claudia Winkleman and features 21 famous contestants who must seek out the traitors among them, who “kill off” players in the middle of the night.
The celebrity spin-off's first series debuted last autumn and became a ratings winner for the broadcaster. Its nail-biting finale hit a peak of 15.4 million viewers, the biggest TV audience of 2025.
This year’s series has two episodes still to air on the BBC. The final is due to be shown on Friday night, with millions expected to tune in for what promises to be a thrilling finale.
The star-studded cast, which includes Michael Sheen, Maya Jama, Ross Kemp and Miranda Hart, are all being paid for their participation – and according to reports, the celebrities are paid a flat fee of £40,000 for appearing in the series.
On The Rest Is Entertainment podcast in July 2025, host Marina Hyde said: “Look at the calibre of the people they got. They were able to pay everybody a blanket 40k fee, right? They’re paying them a 40k fee.”
However, rugby player Joe Marler said this varies from star to star, as he was paid £30,000 to appear on last year’s series.
The BBC declined to comment on the fee when asked by The Independent.
As for the charity prize money, the celebrities are competing for up to £100,000, with the exact figure depending on how well the celebrities perform in each challenge.
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