Myha'la is among the 21 celebrities who entered the BBC castle for The Celebrity Traitors season two, which returned on October 1 with Claudia Winkleman choosing her Faithfuls and Traitors. Actor Richard E. Grant and Love Island host Maya Jama were selected as this year's Traitors, though Richard, 69, revealed his status to other contestants minutes after being chosen.
Myha'la did not make the cut for Claudia's Traitor team, but BBC viewers have been left intrigued to learn more about the American star. A good starting point is her name, as she wasn't always known as Myha'la.
Why did Myha'la change her name?
The actress opted to alter her professional name from Myha'la Herrold to simply Myha'la in 2023, feeling that her surname didn't accurately reflect her identity, reports Wales Online. At the age of 30, she had already established herself in the industry, featuring in big-name shows like Black Mirror. However, most fans will recognise her as Harper Stern from the HBO drama Industry, a role she took on using her full name.
Myha'la revealed that she chose to adopt a single name because her surname, Herrold, didn't feel authentic to her. She told Elle that her distinctive first name never quite meshed with "the most white, f*****-are-you-60-plus-years-old name I've ever heard in my life. No shade to my family".
The actress was rather taken aback when fans reacted strongly to her name change. "There was somebody online who was like, 'She can't just give herself a single name," she shared. "'She can't just be a mononym because she chooses to! Do you think Cher just woke up one day and decided to be Cher?' And I was like, 'D***! I'm not trying to put myself in the same category as Cher. How do I earn it?'"
Is Myha'la in a relationship?
Myha'la is wed to fellow actor Armando Rivera, whom she encountered in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Her now-husband sent an Instagram DM after the first series of Industry, writing: "Congrats on the show, I'm a huge fan, I wish you all the success in the world."
She naturally expressed gratitude to Armando for his lovely words, but he maintained the dialogue. "The next day I woke up to a string of video messages and I was like 'It's gonna be something weird'. So I looked at the profile and I was like 'Oh, he's kind of cute I guess I'll watch it,'" Myha'la shared on Late Night With Seth Meyers.
Armando had expressed his gratitude for her response to the DM and enquired if she was free to be interviewed for his class project. Myha'la went on to say: "The next day we hopped on a Zoom and we were meant to be on for five, ten minutes. 40 minutes goes by and he stops the recording and I was like 'So where are you from?'"
The pair met up a month later and embarked on a lengthy relationship before quietly tying the knot in 2025. The BBC star only revealed her marriage to her followers in January of this year, posting a series of romantic snaps from their special day. The Celebrity Traitors continues on BBC One and iPlayer tonight at 8pm.
