Clare Balding says friendships ‘went out of the window’ while filming for Celebrity Traitors

Clare Balding has revealed that any prior friendships she had with fellow Celebrity Traitors contestants were forgotten as soon as filming began for the ruthless BBC game show.

The all-star version of the popular series will see a group of famous faces live together in a castle in the Scottish Highlands. Among them will be a secret number of “Traitors”, who must conspire to eliminate others in the group without being detected.

Alongside Balding, 18 other celebrities, including author, comedian and actor Stephen Fry, Olympian Tom Daley, pop star Charlotte Church, Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway, and singer Paloma Faith will compete. You can see the full line-up here.

Balding told The Sun of the process: “Obviously I knew quite a lot of them before I went in, but the friendships you had before go out the window.”

She admitted: “That, for me, is very challenging because I like to be friends with everybody. It's brutal, but I think I'm glad I did it. It will make good television and there are some really strong moments.”

The BBC Sport presenter said that competing on the show had been “intense”, but noted that she became “completely obsessed with the game” and had “great fun” taking part.

Although Balding was unable to share details about the series ahead of its release, she did praise her fellow contestant, the actor Nick Mohammed – best known for playing Nathan “Nate” Shelley in AppleTV’s Ted Lasso.

“There are some people who are so clever. I mean, Nick Mohammed from Ted Lasso, he can solve problems and puzzles in like four and a half seconds. He's amazing,” she said.

Other contestants on the forthcoming Celebrity Traitors series include comedian Alan Carr, presenter Jonathan Ross, EastEnders star Tameka Empson, Calender Girls actor Celia Imrie, and professional England rugby player Joe Marler.

Filming is now complete on the celebrity edition of the show, which will run for nine episodes this autumn. A broadcast date for the series is yet to be announced by the BBC.