Julie Hesmondhalgh has hinted there was a secret fallout in the Celebrity Traitors castle that viewers never got to see. The Coronation Street star, 56, was banished from the show earlier this month after being voted most trustworthy by her fellow players, only to reveal she had always been a Faithful.
Speaking about her time in the castle, Hesmondhalgh said she struggled with anxiety and had to undergo strict psychological assessments to be considered for the show. She described Ross Kemp and Romesh Ranganathan as "brilliant allies in a situation that is properly scary."
Anxiety and psychological assessments
"There are lots of psychological assessments before you start and you plunge into these accelerated relationships," she said. "But I didn’t expect it to be quite so challenging. You don’t go to bed till very late and you get up very early. And the challenges are quite physical."
Hesmondhalgh also spoke about her "huge status anxiety," worrying about who is an A-lister or Z-lister and feeling less educated than others. "Everyone suffers anxiety, even if some of the other contestants showed it in a jarring way," she added.
Secret feud and favourite moments
When asked who annoyed her in the castle, Hesmondhalgh quipped to The Times: "I’m not answering that," but did say she loved being on set with James Blunt. "He’s cornered the market in self-deprecating humour," she said, adding that she has "made some friends for life" and there is "a very active WhatsApp group."
Reflecting on catching out actor Richard E Grant, Hesmondhalgh called it one of the highlights of her life. "It was the best feeling, I cannot begin to tell you how incredible that feeling is," she said. "Right up there with marriage and childbirth! But of course it created this atmosphere of such cockiness and such blood thirstiness, it was a bit of a poisoned chalice ultimately."
Voted most trustworthy
On being voted the "most trustworthy" before anyone knew her, she said: "I think being voted as most trustworthy before anyone knew me, so only based on vibes, was a truly lovely thing. It was quite humbling to know that it was just a public persona perception thing."
Hesmondhalgh described the experience as "the experience of a lifetime, so joyful," adding, "I’ve laughed till I’ve cried, most hours of the day. I’ll really miss being part of it."
