Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh has opened up about her time on The Celebrity Traitors, revealing she has removed herself from the show's WhatsApp group. She appeared on BBC Breakfast on Monday, October 12 to discuss her experience.
Banished from the castle
Julie became the third contestant to be banished from the current series, following actors Richard E Grant and Myha'la. She admitted she was not surprised by her exit, saying she "would have banished myself to be honest". She expressed satisfaction at leaving via the Round Table rather than being murdered, as it gave her the chance to speak to her fellow contestants before her departure.
Praise for Leigh-Anne Pinnock
During the conversation, presenter Jon Kay brought Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne into the discussion, with Julie naming Michael Sheen and Romesh Ranganathan as the most reserved players so far. Julie responded: "Leigh-Anne's quiet, Leigh-Anne's gorgeous, she's such a beautiful person. I think Leigh-Anne will come into her own actually."
She added: "I'm sure she was pregnant while we were doing it as well. I just couldn't believe that when I heard afterwards. None of us knew. I mean how she did it I have no idea." Julie went on to say: "I think Leigh-Anne might go quite a long way actually." When co-presenter Sally Nugent interjected "Oh, ok," the actress clarified: "That's not inside info. That's pure vibes."
Leaving the WhatsApp group
Julie, who admitted she had "no game plan whatsoever", confessed she felt starstruck spending time with the likes of Sheen and Jerry Hall. She remarked: "I couldn't believe I was in there with those people. Every time someone said Julie I was like 'oohhh'."
She described their "crazy WhatsApp group", explaining: "People were sharing who'd won at one point and me and a couple of other people removed ourselves because we just don't want to know."
Historic banishment
After her departure last Friday, Julie discussed the moment the Faithfuls made history by removing Richard E Grant during the initial banishment - marking the first occasion a Traitor had been eliminated from a Round Table at the first opportunity. She said it was "the best feeling", remarking: "I cannot begin to tell you how incredible that feeling is. Right up there with marriage and childbirth, haha!"
She added: "And then for Claudia to come in and say that that has never happened in any series of the Traitors ever! But of course, it created this atmosphere of such cockiness and such blood thirstiness; it was a bit of a poisoned chalice ultimately." The Celebrity Traitors is on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
