Celia Imrie has reflected on life after the first series of The Celebrity Traitors, revealing that she has barely crossed paths with her fellow contestants since leaving the BBC competition. In a new interview published by The Guardian on 5 November 2026, the actress also explained why the programme’s round-table discussions look rather different to her now that she can watch them from home.
What Celia Imrie said about keeping in touch
Asked which contestants she had remained close to, Imrie recalled appearing on the companion programme Uncloaked alongside Kate Garraway. Garraway had suggested the cast were now one big happy family. Imrie responded with an exaggerated joke that she never wanted to see any of them again, prompting laughter.
The actress made clear that the joke should not be mistaken for a feud. In reality, she said, the former players simply had not encountered one another very often since filming. She also spoke warmly about the people she met, describing the company as marvellous and saying she liked them all. Her remarks are therefore a clarification of how little contact there has been, not an allegation of a falling-out.
That distinction matters in a format built around distrust. Players are encouraged to question each other’s motives on screen, but the suspicion of the game does not automatically translate into off-screen animosity. Imrie’s recollection is considerably more measured than a dramatic headline about cast members refusing to speak.
Why watching the round table feels different now
Imrie also offered an insight into the psychological side of the competition. Watching episodes at a distance has made her notice how readily contestants can follow the prevailing opinion at the round table. She characterised that behaviour as herd mentality and remembered often taking a different line from the majority.
Her most consequential suspicion involved Alan Carr, who was secretly playing as a Traitor in the inaugural celebrity series. Imrie recalled directly questioning whether Carr was one of the hidden Traitors. Her character in the game was subsequently murdered, ending her opportunity to pursue the theory further.
The actress did not present her departure as evidence of a personal grudge. Instead, she described the experience as something she had enjoyed despite not fully appreciating what she was signing up for beforehand. That combination of affection for the cast and curiosity about the game’s social dynamics gives her new comments their significance.
A reminder of how the game changes relationships
The Celebrity Traitors places familiar faces in a situation where ordinary social signals become clues, distractions or deliberate misdirection. At each round table, the Faithful must try to identify the hidden Traitors, while those secretly assigned the role attempt to avoid detection. The result is a contest in which a confident accusation can influence others even when the underlying evidence is uncertain.
Imrie’s reflections are interesting because she has now experienced both sides of that divide: the pressure of making decisions while inside the castle and the clearer, less emotional perspective of watching the edited programme afterwards. She suggests that being outside the game makes patterns of group behaviour easier to spot.
Her account also underlines the difference between the television narrative and what happens after filming. An intense shared experience does not necessarily mean the cast will remain in constant contact. Equally, not seeing one another regularly does not mean friendships have ended in bitterness.
What is new in the interview?
The new development is Imrie’s own account of the period after the first celebrity series, rather than a fresh elimination, casting announcement or dispute. The Guardian’s reader-question interview gives her an opportunity to explain the joke she made with Garraway and to revisit her suspicion of Carr with hindsight. A report published by Female First on 6 November also highlighted those remarks.
Imrie has enjoyed a lengthy career across film, theatre and television, but the BBC reality format introduced her to viewers who may not have known her earlier work. Her willingness to discuss the game with humour, while refusing to manufacture hostility towards her co-stars, is part of the appeal of the new conversation.
For viewers following the latest celebrity edition, her comments offer a useful reminder: an apparent alliance or disagreement in the castle is part of a game, and the relationships outside it may be much less sensational. There is no claim in the interview that producers have announced a reunion, that the cast are involved in a feud or that Imrie is returning as a contestant.
Sources: The Guardian, 5 November 2026; Female First, 6 November 2026.