Joe Marler thought he would have to pay to take part in Celebrity Traitors

Former England rugby international Joe Marler has revealed he was so keen to appear on The Celebrity Traitors that he initially offered to pay for the privilege.

The 35-year-old reached the final of the BBC reality gameshow earlier this year, where he was ultimately ousted by comedian Nick Mohammed, 45.

Mohammed had wrongly suspected Marler of being a Traitor, despite having formed an initial friendship and pact with the former Harlequins player to defeat the show's saboteurs.

Speaking on Waitrose’s Dish podcast with Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett, Marler recounted his surprising approach to joining the star-studded cast.

He explained: "It was bonkers. I was a big fan beforehand and then I … went for a booking meeting, or coffee, whatever, and I was like, ‘how much is it going to cost me then?’, and they were like, ‘what do you mean?’”

“I was like, ‘well, I’ll obviously pay to come on the show’, that’s how desperate I am, and they were like, ‘no, no, it’s not a lot of money’, and ‘as long as you don’t mind’, I was like, too late, I’ve already said that I’ll do it for free,” Marler added.

“I should have gone the opposite way, but that’s not how that works, it was wild, just the names in the cast was just … brilliant. To be able to sit around the same table as, like, Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, Celia Imrie, and have the ability to like, tell them to shut up, or grow up, or just outwit them."

Despite playing as a faithful during his time on the show, the star went on to say that he would not want to return to the game as a traitor if given the chance. Marler added: "A traitor’s got more control, I think, they (know) what they’re doing, but if I had my time again, I wouldn’t be a traitor."

The series ultimately concluded with comedian Alan Carr taking home the entire £87,500 prize money. After defeating Faithful’s TV historian David Olusoga and Mohammed in the final, Carr generously donated the sum to Neuroblastoma UK, a children’s cancer charity.

The full interview with Marler can be heard on the Dish podcast, available from all podcast providers.