Ed Gamble: 'I would be terrible on Celebrity Traitors'

We asked him about what he’s seen of season 3, the upcoming Celebrity version, if he’s managed to get any secrets out of Claudia – as well as how he thinks he’d do if he entered the castle himself…

You’re the man behind The Traitors’ companion show — have you seen the new series yet?

I’ve seen some of it, but obviously I can’t reveal anything! And they are very sparing with what they show me. I only see what I have to so that I can interview the contestants. Which I’m grateful for — if I was given all of it in advance, I think I’d get far too giddy!

Also we have to speak to people have been banished and murdered, and I like to be able to speculate on what might be happening next. So if I know in the back of my mind what’s happening anyway, it’s kind of useless to me.

I’d much rather be a viewer, as much as I can be, and be excited about what’s happening, and what the cliffhangers mean, and all of that. So, yes, I’m seeing little bits, but not enough to spoil it for me.

Have you ever got to go up to the Traitors’ castle yourself?

I’ve not. I’ve been invited. There was talk of me going up to the castle, but I’ve been on tour most of this year. So unfortunately I’ve not had a chance, because it’s quite a distance away, and I think they realise that I’ll just end up stealing loads of stuff from there.

So I don’t think I would be allowed, to be honest. I’d come back with a bag full of props.

When the episodes are actually going out on TV, do you look on smugly at everyone else trying to guess what’s coming next? Or do you miss being part of that discussion?

I definitely miss being part of the discussion because obviously I’ve seen it a little bit in advance, but I still get that feeling that I’m part of the discussion, because I am watching it at a similar pace, and then I get to be part of that discussion in the studio. That’s what the show is all about. That’s what Uncloaked is about. It’s having those discussions that everyone is having at home, but getting to do it with the people from the actual show.

Describe what you’ve seen in three words…

Intriguing, murderous and twisty.

Anything more…

It’s exciting just seeing the new gang going into the castle. You watch people and think, "I wonder if you’re the one who’s going to capture everyone’s hearts — or be the villain?"

I think it’s shaping up to be a very, very good series. It’s got all of those elements that you love, but new twists and new, exciting things along the way.

New twists? That sounds exciting.

Yeah. I haven’t even seen many of the new twists yet, but there’s definitely some things shaping up to happen. So, yeah, very, very exciting.

Obviously Uncloaked is also back. Are there any changes to that this year? Or is it pretty much what we got last time?

I think it’s pretty much as you saw it last time, to be honest. I think that everyone was very happy with how it went last time, and the success of it. I think there’s no point fixing anything that’s not broken. I think we’re back in the same studio, in the same sort of format, and just really focused on the discussion and the guests.

There’s a couple of little format-y bits that we had in the last series that I think we realised we didn’t really need. So now it’s just all about the purity of the chatting about The Traitors.

The main show is such a huge, wonderful, overblown, brilliant piece of television-making, and we’re like the weird, little cousin who gets to talk about it behind its back. Which is fun.

Does Claudia Winkleman give you any hints about what happens?

Claudia is impossible to get any hints from! I’ve been on her radio show, and she wouldn’t even talk about it off-air. She guards those secrets with her life. There is no point trying to get spoilers out of Claudia.

Why do you think The Traitors has captured the nation’s attention?

Although it’s not a British format, it feels very British — at its heart, it’s a parlour game. It feels like something you could play at a party with friends. It’s a high-stakes feeling and a low-stakes game. No one’s actually getting killed, but once someone is "murdered" in the castle, it feels like they have gone. And it’s so tense! The way they put the show together — from Claudia, to the editors, to the music — it’s a masterful piece of work.

Hopefully, I’ll get to do the live Uncloaked finale again. It’s rare to feel like the whole nation is watching these days. It’s proper event television.

Have you watched any of the international versions? Any thoughts?

Yeah, I have. I’ve watched a lot of the American one, which is really fun. Obviously they have celebrities folded in as well, and I think the last one might have just been celebrities. I was worried when I first heard about that, but then you see that the celebrities are people who have been on other reality shows, and other reality shows where deception is important as well. So it actually works quite well, and they seem to go in there and take it seriously as a game, which is important.

The second series of the Australian one, I’m absolutely obsessed with because it’s a total disaster. They don’t take it seriously, and then they realise they’re being absolutely played for fools, and then start taking it seriously, but it’s sort of too late. I love that. It all just fell apart at the seams.

I’ve seen the New Zealand version – the first series of the New Zealand version – which I love. I think they’ve taken the format, and made it distinctly New Zealand. And there’s also some comedians on there that I know. So, yeah, it’s a lot of fun.

I’ll just hoover up anything Traitors-based, really. But there is something special about the British one. I say that in as non-patriotic a way as possible. I think they’ve cast it very well, every time, and you get to know these people. You get to love these people. I think people are going to find that from what I’ve seen of the third series as well. I’ve only seen a bit of it, so I can’t predict who’s going to be the top star. But there’s definitely a lot of characters in there.

There’s a celebrity Traitors coming up — are there any fellow comedians you’d like to see on it?

First off, I don’t know anything about the celebrity version. But there are lots of comedians I would absolutely love to see do it — Nish Kumar, Josh Widdicombe, Rosie Jones — although I don’t think they’d be any good at it! Judi Love, too — she’s such an open book, but I think she could also be good at deceiving people.

I would be terrible. I would be arrogant going in, and then absolutely crumble whether I was a Traitor or a Faithful. I’d probably come out the back end of it with no career because I’d be so bad at the game!

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The Traitors season 3 will start airing at 8pm on 1st January 2025 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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