England rugby players howled with shock as they watched their former teammate Joe Marler at the heart of a dramatic twist during the Celebrity Traitors final.
Marler, who won 95 international caps, was a hugely popular figure on the BBC’s hit show after proving to be the most savvy of the faithful.
The former prop led the charge against traitor Jonathan Ross and the show was edited to make it seem as though he would romp to glory in the final, after working out that Alan Carr and Cat Burns were Ross’s accomplices.
But Marler was shocked when his closest ally, the comedian Nick Mohammed, turned against him at the last moment, which secured Carr’s surprise victory.
The England Rugby account showed stunned players watching on as Mohammed revealed Marler’s name.
Not all of the team watched Marler’s big moment, however. “Joe’s made for that sort of stuff,” said Ellis Genge this week. “He’s a proper laugh. He enjoyed the telly and all the roles he has had on the box, but it is not my cuppa tea. Reality TV cringes me out.”
Carr burst into tears after he revealed to the remaining faithfuls, Mohammed and historian David Olusoga, that he was a traitor and told host Claudia Winkleman that the prize money, which amounted to £87,500, will go to a children’s cancer charity for neuroblastoma.
Speaking about the victory on the visual podcast, Uncloaked, Carr said: “It still hasn’t sunk in, it’s insane.”
Asked if he expected to get so far, he said: “No, no, no, no, I did not even think I would get this far. My agent had actually booked in things for the second week saying, ‘With your poker face you’ll be out’.
“I go through customs I start sweating, when I go to a newsagents and it says ‘no shoplifting’. I’ve got the worst poker face going, it’s a tug of war with my face.”
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Carr has also said that humour was his “secret weapon” in the castle and that he would “often deflect scrutiny and make a gag about something which would then throw everyone off the scent”.
“My sense of humour was probably more useful to me than a shield. So I’m really, really proud, I can be a chameleon, I can chat, I can lie when I need to. Idiots can do well.”
Additional reporting by PA
