Miranda Hart credits The Celebrity Traitors for helping bring back her TV 'joy'
Miranda Hart was a somewhat surprising addition to the line-up of famous faces taking part in the new series, which kicks off on October 1, considering the fact she’s been out of the limelight for some time.
Miranda Hart has credited The Celebrity Traitors for helping get her life back on track following her ME diagnosis.
The comedienne was a somewhat surprising addition to the line-up of famous faces taking part in the new series, which kicks off on October 1, considering the fact she’s been out of the limelight for some time.
However, in an interview ahead of the new season airing, Miranda admitted she was thrilled when she signed up for the programme, as it meant she was managing her myalgic encephalomyelitis — often known as ME or chronic fatigue syndrome.
She told The Sun: “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.”
Miranda added that while she’s still struggling with “elements of ME”, including fatigue and pain, she has “come to a point where I feel well enough to step out”.
She added: “That’s also partly why I’m doing this. The joy of mucking about on television again will hopefully outweigh some of the challenges.”
Miranda will be competing alongside 20 other famous faces in The Celebrity Traitors, including Richard E. Grant, Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Love Island presenter Maya Jama - with Claudia Winkleman returning to host.
Miranda became a household name thanks to her self-titled sitcom on the BBC, which ran for six years and led to her taking on roles in other series, such as playing Camilla ‘Chummy’ Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne in Call the Midwife from 2012 to 2015.
However, after being diagnosed with Lyme disease, which eventually turned into ME, following the airing of the final episode of Miranda, she stepped back from showbiz, and retreated from the public eye apart from the odd Instagram video.
The first sign that her life had turned around came when she married Richard Fairs in 2024.
Now Miranda is sure to be excited to watch her star turn on The Celebrity Traitors, although she said the job would “take some courage as this is a big next step”.
She added: “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 everybody’s got their thing.'"
