Miranda Hart broke down in tears on the latest episode of Celebrity Traitors following the exit of Joe Lycett. The comedienne, 53, had a hugely successful career in the 2010s with her eponymous sitcom but had to take time out of the spotlight after struggling with chronic fatigue. She had struck up such a close bond with fellow Faithful Joe that when he was banished from the castle, she was visibly moved.
Emotional reaction
She said: "I can't believe how emotional I'm getting. Wow. Connection and laughter and joy are bigger than this game and to meet someone and just play and laugh - it's all us humans need."
"I've had times in my life when I haven't had that through illness and it's brought up that in a silly sensitive soul."
Comfort from James Acaster
Speaking to Traitor James Acaster, who comforted her with a hug, she said: "I haven't played like that in so long. The floodgates just opened i guess, it suddenly wasn't about a silly Faithful or Traitor."
The TV star previously told how she had suffered a "tick-borne illness" while living in the USA as a teenager. At one point, she was diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, before eventually being diagnosed with Lyme Disease in 2020.
Return to television
The Celebrity Traitors will mark Miranda's first mainstream television appearance in six years, and she has now explained that she jumped at the chance to take part. She said: "My decision making in life generally, and certainly work, is follow the joy. I haven't done much TV work for a long time, having only recently come out of long-term ill health issues and when I was offered this, my whole body sort of relaxed, I smiled, and I just wanted to jump about like a schoolgirl with joy."
"It's just fun. It's outdoors, it’s games. All the stuff I love. It's play basically. And I'm passionate about encouraging people to play more generally, and this game is that in spades."
"It’s a brilliant television show – the only flaw in taking part is that as a fan of the show it will be less fun to watch it with myself in it!"
Living with ME
Despite her new lease of life, the former Call the Midwife star, who secretly got married in late 2024, is still living with elements of her illness and is struggling to a point but has been able to manage her symptoms and insisted she felt well enough to join Claudia Winkleman's hit BBC game show.
She added: "I'm still living with elements of ME, and that brings fatigue and pain to manage, but I have come to a point where I feel well enough to step out, and that's also partly why I'm doing this."
"The joy of mucking about on television again will hopefully outweigh some of the challenges. And I think it will be challenging on my body, so it'll be interesting, and it'll take some courage as this is a big next step."
"When you live with a chronic illness, it's invisible, so people don't know that you're sitting there in pain. But then it reminds you that everybody's got their thing. So, I'm also really looking forward to making friends and looking after each other and hopefully they can carry me up a hill or whatever we're going to have to do!"
