The Traitors has become a massive hit, with contestants competing by betraying each other for the win. However, host Claudia Winkleman has revealed that she initially turned down the opportunity to present the show because she didn’t want to spend more than three weeks filming in Scotland. The 52-year-old, who won her first BAFTA in 2023 for hosting the iconic gameshow, admitted that she almost rejected the role entirely before ultimately deciding to take it on.
Claudia Winkleman revealed that she initially turned down the opportunity to host The Traitors because she didn’t want to be away from her family. She was hesitant when offered the job, particularly because it meant spending time in Scotland for three and a half weeks. However, after watching the original Dutch version of the show, Winkleman became “obsessed” and quickly changed her mind.
She explained on The Midpoint podcast: “The Traitors is something I initially turned down because I didn’t like leaving my bed or the kids, and they were like, ‘Would you go to Scotland for three and a half weeks?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t think so.’ Then I watched the Dutch version and became so obsessed. I sent an email to Kate Phillips, who offered me the job, saying, ‘I’ve booked a train, I want to do this more than anything,’ because it is a privilege to watch the psychology and gameplay up close.”
Claudia Winkleman lives in London with her husband, film producer Kris Thykier, whom she married in 2000. The couple has three children: Jake, 20, Matilda, 17, and Arthur, 12. Winkleman has previously shared how she balances her career with family life, humorously stating, “My husband is a better parent than me.”
She also revealed that her children often beg for space during the 10 months of the year when she isn’t busy hosting Strictly Come Dancing. In a conversation with MailOnline, she jokingly blamed her “awful” habit of constantly being around her children on her mother, former newspaper editor Eve Pollard, 76. Winkleman added, “I get on the tube all the time but I’ve never been recognised in my life, never in my life. I’m on there four times a day with my kids… I’m on telly sometimes but only for two months in the year and the rest of the time, I zip around. For the rest of the year, I lick the children. I follow them around and I’m a very annoying human being to them.”
