Celebrity Traitors star Joe Marler is the latest famous face to sign up for the new series of Celebrity Gogglebox, making his first appearance alongside pal Maisie Adam this week.
From Rugby to Reality TV
Former rugby ace Joe, 35, has made several TV appearances since retiring from his sport, the biggest of which was on last year's first series of The Celebrity Traitors. He was a faithful on the show, which paid him £30,000 to take part he has revealed, and came up with the “big dogs theory” for fellow players Sir Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross.
He was convinced one of them must be a Traitor, but the group wrongly believed that Stephen was the more likely candidate, and got rid of him first. They did then manage to eliminate their first traitor from the castle by voting Jonathan out at the round-table.
New Partnership on the Sofa
Joe and comedian Maisie, 32, met through work and have become firm friends. One insider said: “At the start of production Studio Lambert asked Joe who he'd like to appear alongside, and Maisie was on his wish-list.”
She said that sitting on the sofa alongside him for the Friday-night show had been great fun. “Watching with Joe felt like being paired with the world's tallest class clown, especially when he started reacting like every show was a cup final. Honestly, I've never seen a man get so excited about Countdown.” She added: “Celebrity Gogglebox is basically the only job where sitting on a sofa and shouting at the telly counts as work – absolute dream.”
Joe's TV Journey
Former Harlequins prop Joe has become a regular on TV, appearing on shows including Blankety Blank and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire but has ruled out Strictly because he can't dance and also I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here because he's claustrophobic and can't face going without food for long periods.
Celebrity Gogglebox Series Highlights
Now in its eighth series and set to hit its milestone 50th episode later in the run, Celebrity Gogglebox features a rolling cast of famous faces who watch the week's big shows, sharing their thoughts as they go.
New and Returning Faces
New celebrities taking part for the first time include former Love Islander Olivia Attwood and her mum Jennifer, Gladiators heroes Nitro and Legend, YouTubers George Clark and Max Balegde and comedian Julian Clary with his actor pal Nigel Havers.
They join some of the returning pairings who include newly single Vernon Kay with Paddy McGuinness, Happy Mondays veterans Bez and Shaun, father and son Roman and Martin Kemp, dance experts Ashley Banjo and Perri Kiely, radio's Nick Grimshaw with his niece Liv, Rylan Clark with his mum Linda, comedy presenters Mo Gilligan and Babatunde Aleshe, former Big Breakfast stars Denise Van Outen and Johnny Vaughan and pals Vicky Pattison and Pete Wicks.
The series, produced by Studio Lambert and airing at 9pm on Fridays on Channel 4, started its current run earlier the month.
