Joe Marler has admitted he had one simple rule while filming The Traitors – keep the fun people around. The former England star, 36, became one of the breakout stars of the celebrity series, making it all the way to the final while trying to work out which of his fellow contestants were secretly plotting against the Faithful.
But even when suspicion fell on some of the biggest names in the castle, Joe was reluctant to send them packing if they were keeping him entertained. That was particularly true of Alan Carr, who won the show as a lone celebrity Traitor in 2025, after beating Joe and Nick Mohammed in a tense final.
Why Joe kept Alan Carr in the game
Joe said: "Why would you want to get rid of the most fun character there? I thought I'd allow him to get to the end, build up the faithful relationship with Nick, and then we could take him down last minute."
"But I just completely underestimated how much Nick despised me," he laughed. He continued: "It was a bit like when they killed off Joe Wilkinson. I was like, ‘Why? Why have you killed him off?’ It's like the most fun here. I'm not having any more fun anymore."
Friendship with Joe Wilkinson
Joe’s friendship with fellow contestant and comedian Joe Wilkinson has continued long after filming wrapped. "The Joe-mance! The Joe-alition! There’s no bickering with me and Joe. He’s great, I really enjoy Joe. I’ve really enjoyed getting close with him."
He revealed Wilkinson later sent him an article about the fascination surrounding their friendship, particularly because viewers had been surprised to see such a close male friendship play out on screen. "He said he was blown away by how out of the norm it seemed to be, to see a male friendship [on screen]. I just blew my mind that it was an article."
But if the pair were ever thrown back into the castle together, Marler reckons Wilkinson would have the upper hand if either of them was secretly a Traitor. "I think he would be better at hiding it than if I was the Traitor," Joe said. "He would one hundred percent know [if I was a Traitor] because it would only take us to be sat in the snooker room and he’d go: ‘I bet you’re a Traitor,’ and I’d have a face on. He’d take one look and be like: ‘Brilliant. You’re a Traitor!’"
Sporting background and cast bonds
The sportsman turned podcaster jokes that he would struggle to keep the secret himself. "Openly, I would probably go: ‘If I was a Traitor, I really recommend you don’t vote for me because we’re having such a good time.’ Whereas him, he might cave straight away: ‘Oi Joe, just to let you know I’m a Traitor.’ It would be against the rules. He’d be the better one at hiding it."
And there is no question in Joe’s mind about who would be the brains of the operation. "There is always one in a friendship, isn’t there? There’s always one that is more intelligent than the other and that is Joe W."
Joe also expressed that his sporting background as a former England rugby star spurred on his competitiveness. He added: "I did reasonably well on the show because of my sporting background, as I wanted to try and win." "A lot of the celebs on there were like, ‘Oh, this is fun. Let's catch up on old times,’ and they sort of forgot the point of the game." Among those who left Joe particularly amused was actress Celia Imrie, who he describes as an absolute "delight". "She was just a delight, but every time she'd go, ‘Oh, I'm voting for Lucy because I think you'd make a delicious Traitor.’ You go, ‘What? That's not the game, Celia! I love you, but can we just start trying to look at some facts here?’"
Away from the castle, Joe says the cast have remained remarkably close, with a WhatsApp group still buzzing long after the show finished. "There was a few of us that managed to get together. I think there was about nine or 10 of us that managed to get together just last Christmas for a do," he said. "We’ve got a WhatsApp group of everyone in it, and I'll sit here like, ‘What a bonkers thing to be a part of.’ I get to sit in a WhatsApp group with Stephen Fry, Celia Imrie, and, you know, all these people that are on it, and I’m like, ‘Well, hang on, this is a bit surreal,’ but equally, it’s like, well, they’re just, they’re humans as much as we are."
Joe says the group remains "popping" to this day, with cast members often supporting each other’s projects. "It’s just a really surreal thing to be about. The support, everyone’s all really positive and backing everyone. Lovely."
Future TV plans
And while The Traitors has left him hungry for more television, Joe has ruled out simply signing up for every reality show going. "I love doing the TV stuff, but it hasn't made me want to do more reality TV," he said. Instead, there is one show he would jump at the chance to appear on – Would I Lie To You? "Oh, my goodness, I’m a massive fan of Would I Lie to You? I would absolutely love to get on that," he said. "Any show where you can spin a yarn or tell a fib without it affecting your life? That’s my kind of fun. Far better than just lying to your wife every day!"
