Learn about the stage history of 'The Celebrity Traitors' cast

The incredible Traitors line-up, including Stephen Fry, Celia Imrie, and Nick Mohammed, have plenty of great theatre experience.

Summary

• The Celebrity Traitors is a big hit on BBC One thanks to its fabulously dramatic cast
• Many of them have theatre experience in plays and musicals
• Stephen Fry is currently starring in The Importance of Being Earnest
• Celia Imrie recently appeared in a play at the Donmar Warehouse

The most gripping drama on TV right now isn’t a scripted series but a reality show: The Celebrity Traitors. This all-star edition of the BBC’s hit murder mystery contest is proving to be even better than the regular version, with an inspired trio of Traitors – Jonathan Ross, Cat Burns, and Alan Carr – and jaw-dropping eliminations galore.

The Traitors works like the classic parlour games Wink Murder or Werewolf. Presenter Claudia Winkleman secretly chooses three of the contestants to be the Traitors: they must murder the Faithfuls, one by one, while hiding their identities. It’s up to the Faithfuls to banish who they think is a Traitor, after a spirited discussion at the Round Table.

The show had already gripped the nation in its previous series, thanks to the gasp-worthy twists, unbearably tense elimination votes, and the wonderfully over-the-top gothic styling – as exemplified by Winkleman. But this celebrity version is proving even more popular, thanks partly to its dynamite line-up.

It’s no surprise that many of this fabulously theatrical cast have stage pedigree, appearing in plays and musicals in the West End and beyond. As you prepare for the next nail-biting Round Table, or try to predict just what Celia Imrie will do or say next, learn more about the Traitors cast and their history of treading the boards.

Spoilers ahead!

Stephen Fry

The former QI host is becoming the hallowed leader of the Faithfuls, even making the clever, and radical, suggestion that they just write down names at the Round Table to avoid herd mentality taking hold. Alas, that didn’t happen, but Fry is still centre stage in this show – as he is currently in the West End, in the gloriously queer revival of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest.

Fry stars as the formidable Lady Bracknell in the production, which means he gets to utter the immortal line “A handbag?”. It’s a welcome return to theatre for the esteemed actor, writer and presenter, who last acted opposite Mark Rylance in Twelfth Night at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2012, and previously appeared in The Common Pursuit and Cell Mates.

Book The Importance of Being Earnest tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk

Paloma Faith

The singer was the first shock kill of the season – and murdered by her best friend Alan Carr, no less, when he touched her face with deadly poison. Never has her song “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” rung so true, nor have we enjoyed quite such a fabulously theatrical moment on TV as Faith lying in a coffin while the lid slams shut.

Although she’s primarily known for her music, Faith clearly has a taste for drama (she’s definitely made the most of her early Traitors exit with brilliant social media videos!), and in 2024 she appeared on stage in one-person play White Rabbit, Red Rabbit at @sohoplace, the brilliant high-wire show in which the performer doesn’t get to see the script beforehand.

Celia Imrie

She’s guaranteed national treasure status after her Traitors performance, thanks to her shrewd insights coupled with the instantly iconic wailing down a well and nervously letting one rip. But Imrie also has a long and distinguished career on stage, beginning with the Royal Shakespeare Company back in 1975.

Over the years, she has successfully mixed serious drama with comedy, everything from performing opposite Judi Dench in The Sea at the National Theatre and doing plays like The Hothouse, Hay Fever and Noises Off to winning an Olivier Award for Acorn Antiques: The Musical!. Most recently she co-starred with Tamsin Greig in Backstroke at the Donmar Warehouse.

Mark Bonnar

The zealous Scottish actor is determined to ferret out the Traitors, although his outlandish reactions to the group’s recent failures (such as mistakenly booting out Tameka Empson and Clare Balding) are now making him look suspicious – always a danger on this show. Bonnar might have to draw on his thespian experience to change the narrative.

His theatrical history includes performances in The Duchess of Malfi at the Old Vic, Philistines and Cyrano de Bergerac at the National Theatre, and Parade at the Donmar Warehouse. Last year he starred opposite Anne-Marie Duff in American family drama The Little Foxes at the Young Vic.

Tameka Empson

She ran afoul of Bonnar and was banished for supposedly changing her behaviour after Claudia Winkleman picked the Traitors – but Empson was always a Faithful. The actress is a panto favourite, so expect a reference to her unfair elimination come Christmas. She’s a Traitor! Oh no she isn’t!

As well as being a regular at Hackney Empire’s joyful pantomimes, Empson has also performed a variety show with DJ Kat B called The Kat and Tameka Show, and she was an original cast member in Madness and Tim Firth musical Our House, which won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical in 2003.

Nick Mohammed

The puzzle maestro and keen strategic thinker, Mohammed is definitely one to watch as the series goes on – that is, if he can stay out of the Traitors’ crosshairs. Though now best known for Ted Lasso, the comedian and actor has plenty of stage experience, often appearing as his alter ego Mr Swallow.

In 2024 he performed a new spin on a festive favourite, A Christmas Carol (ish) at @sohoplace, with Mr Swallow hilariously entering Charles Dickens’s world. He also made a guest appearance in West End thriller Inside No. 9 – Stage Fright earlier this year, and is currently touring his latest comedy show.

Lucy Beaumont

The safest place to be in The Traitors is generally in the middle of the pack, keeping fairly quiet so you don’t draw attention to yourself. That could well have been Beaumont’s strategy going into the show, and so far it seems to be paying off – she’s one of the few not to have drawn someone’s ire during a Round Table.

Beaumont made her professional debut at Hull Truck Theatre, doing shows such as Amanda Whittington’s Ladies’ Day, and also performed in productions at York Theatre Royal and West Yorkshire Playhouse. She has largely concentrated on her successful comedy career since, but perhaps The Traitors has reignited her passion for a juicy drama.

Charlotte Church

The Welsh songbird has already used her musical superpowers in a Traitors mission – though she probably never imagined she’d be listening to banshee wails by sticking her head down a well. Her determination to speak her voice has made her vulnerable however, as the Traitors now have her in their sights, as do a few Faithfuls.

Church impressed on stage in 2016 in The Last Mermaid at Wales Millennium Centre. She co-wrote this experimental adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fable with Siôn Trefor and Jonathan Powell, and also starred in it, playing the titular mermaid who tries to understand life on dry land.

Alan Carr

The most astonishing and unexpected performance in The Celebrity Traitors comes from presenter Carr, who initially seemed like a mad choice as one of the murderous trio. In fact, he’s proven to be a brilliant Traitor, using his lovable, giggly persona as a mask and coolly assessing the behaviour of the clueless Faithfuls.

Carr also surprised and delighted audiences at the Hammersmith Apollo in 2022 when he made a heavenly cameo appearance in musical Sister Act, dressed as the Pope. The following year he popped up again in panto Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in Northampton, playing the magic mirror.

Claudia Winkleman

Presiding over the contestants in a series of insanely amazing outfits is The Traitors’ presenter extraordinaire. The show simply wouldn’t be the same without Winkleman’s gothic flair – she’s theatrical to the tips of her leather-gloved fingers. Although even she had to smile when Imrie owned up to farting in the shed during a mission.

Winkleman has a stage history too, even if she hasn’t acted in shows herself. In 2013 she joined West End leading man Michael Xavier to host an event in Covent Garden during the Olivier Awards, in celebration of audience award winner Billy Elliot: The Musical. After this incredible series, perhaps a Traitors musical will be next?

Main photo credit: The Celebrity Traitors cast (photo courtesy of the show). Inset: Stephen Fry in The Importance of Being Earnest, Tamsin Greig and Celia Imrie in Backstroke, Nick Mohammed in A Christmas Carol (ish), Claudia Winkleman at the Olivier Awards (photos by Marc Brenner, Johan Persson, Matt Crockett, Pamela Raith)