Kate Garraway's very sad reason for joining Celebrity Traitors after five hard years

Kate Garraway has revealed that she signed up to the Celebrity Traitors in order to have “a little mischief” after the sad loss of her husband Derek Draper last year, after a long, Covid-related illness.

The Good Morning Britain star said: "I’ve been through so many challenges over the last five years, I’ve faced a lot of actual life and death moments, and I’ve done a lot of crying over all that’s happened to our family.

"It’s all been so serious. So, this feels like a chance to have fun and make a little mischief playing in what I genuinely believe is the best game on TV. “

Kate, 58, said she is nervous about the missions but confident in her skills of detection. “I don’t know if I’ll have the bravery required but I’m ready to throw myself into everything and do my best for the team,” she says of the physical challenges, in which the celebrities will build up the prize pot for their chosen charities.

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Pitching herself as a Faithful, Kate said she is great as spotting liars. "I can definitely tell when someone is hiding something when I’m interviewing them in my job,” she said. “I'm quite good at cards and I always win at Cluedo so read into that what you will!”

And the Good Morning Britain star is hoping her pal Claudia Winkleman will save her if things become too tricky. “I love Claudia and have worked with her on other projects, so just know she will have me in fits of giggles and be so supportive - so that should get us through.”

Her ITV colleague Jonathan Ross has interviewed thousands of big-name stars but says if there’s one thing he’s learned over the years, it’s that you can’t put any faith in them. “I don't trust any celebrities,” he declared. “I think I'm going to immediately assume they're all Traitors.”

The 64-year-old thinks that viewers will now see he’s mellowed with age. “I'm happy not to be the centre of attention, and I'm quite happy not to be the most vocal one.

"I've learned as you get older, you get more relaxed about stuff. I’m quite happy listening to people and just being there. So hopefully people will see a slightly gentler side to me," he added.

That said - when it comes to The Traitors he’s in it to win it. “It would be lovely to be the best of all the celebrities. I've long suspected that might be true of me, but weirdly, the rest of the world doesn't agree,” he quipped.

One problem for Jonathan is that his job as a chat show host might make the others worry he’s a master in extracting information - but he says they have nothing to fear.

“If they've seen my interviews, they'll know that isn't the case,” he said. “I do think it's going to be interesting. I think it will be almost impossible," he explained.

His strategy in the castle is to try and occupy the middle ground. “From having watched the game, it's a very difficult thing to play, because you can't be too quiet, you can't be too loud, you can't be too forceful but you can't be too shy with your opinions.”

Charlotte Church says she isn’t going in with specific tactics either. The former child star, who now runs a retreat centre in mid Wales where she hosts groups of people going through transformational experiences, says she’s going to rely on her own intuition to make decisions.

"I'm going to read the field, moment by moment. If you're able to be really open to your sensory portals - your ears, your eyes, even your spidey senses - then I think that you're able to be much more present,” she explained.

“I’m looking forward to testing my intuitive skills which are such an important aspect of what it is to be a human being. Part of what I've been working on in myself for the last couple of years is focusing on nurturing myself, and being back in my body, rather than constantly in the mind.”

Mum of three Charlotte, 39, said viewers may well see a different side of her. “I don't really do much telly. I keep myself to myself. I've got my beautiful life in Wales centred around healing and nature, connection and helping people. So I don't know if people will see a different side, but they are going to see the real me.”

While funnyman Joe Wilkinson said he decided to take on “weirder stuff” in terms of work jobs after recently turning 50.

The comedian, who’s prepared for being on the show by buying “lots of new jumpers”, says he might even put himself forward to be a Traitor - mostly because he’d “like to see the turret”.

Tom Daly says he’ll be knitting to unwind at the end of every stressful day. The Olympian, 31, said: “Yes, absolutely every day I'll be knitting. I've got a whole suitcase full of wool.”

He says that he wants to win but knows he might not have the right personality. “I’m very competitive. Oh, I want to win. That's the whole point of the game. But I'm also incredibly trusting of people.

"I hate conflict and I'm not very good at standing up for myself in that way. I'm a chronic people pleaser," he added. Meanwhile, Alan Carr plans to give his personality a complete overhaul for The Celebrity Traitors - and draw on his previous skills as a call centre worker.

And the comedian, 49, says his tactic on entering the castle was to not to believe a single word any of the others said to him. “There will be a different side to me. I’ll have to adapt; no comedy**,** it's one of those shows where you have to shape shift,” he explained. “I’d like to think I'm quite good at spotting a liar, but it depends on how good they are. And then these are celebrities. They're sociopaths! I would not trust a celebrity as far as I could throw them.

“It's how you draw on your social skills. I’ve worked in a call centre where I had to deal with one thing after another, so I think my call centre skills are going to come in handy." Alan, who is taking part in the BBC show alongside 18 other famous faces, said he would love to come away with a share of the charity prize pot to prove to his nearest and dearest that he’s not useless.
“I'd say I'd like to win, because I'd like to just wipe the smirk off some of my friends’ faces,” he declared. “They said, ‘Alan, you are going to go home first’. I think my agent’s actually booked things in for the second week and he’s said to keep the engine running… It would be incredible to come out that castle as a winner, not only to prove to my friends but to prove I can do it to myself.”

As for whether he would make a better Traitor or Faithful, the former Chatty Man host said he wasn’t too sure. Speaking ahead of filming, he explained: “I’m indecisive, and that's the problem. If I'm a Traitor, I’ll try to murder as many people as possible. I'm fascinated to know how I would cope with it if I was. I'm not known for my poker face, but you've just got to adapt. If I'm a Faithful, I'll try and catch those Traitors. Whichever side, I think you can’t help but get sucked in. It becomes your world and that's the part that I'm quite looking forward to.”

Alan, whose BBC renovation show alongside Amanda Holden will this year be filmed in the Greek island of Corfu, said he didn’t hesitate to sign up for the celebrity version of the hit gameshow, hosted by Claudia Winkleman. “As soon as I was asked, I didn't even mull it over. I just said, I want to do it,” he said. “It really is iconic now, isn't it? Claudia's iconic, the castle's iconic - so it's just nice to be part of something iconic.”

The Celebrity Traitors, BBC1, Wednesday, 9pm

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