Ricky Gervais has dismissed speculation that he’ll be making an appearance on the celebrity version of The Traitors.
Last week, the BBC confirmed long-held rumours that the Bafta-winning reality show would be getting a celebrity edition in 2025.
Following this, The Sun reported that Ricky was near the top of producers’ wish lists, with the tabloid quoting an undisclosed “TV insider” who claimed the BBC wanted “the crème de la crème of stars for the celeb spin-off”.
However, Ricky himself seems less convinced.
Responding to Deadline’s reporting on the subject, he wrote on X on Monday afternoon: “I love the show and I’m very flattered, but it won’t happen. I’m too busy and there’s no way they could afford me.”
The Sun first reported a celebrity version of The Traitors was in the works back in January, at the time naming Gary Lineker, Scarlett Moffatt, Coleen Rooney and former-health-secretary-turned-reality-TV-staple Matt Hancock as names the BBC was “likely to target”.
Since then, they later reported that Jonathan Ross could be a potential candidate, after he made cryptic comments about “a reality type thing” he might have in the works.
Filming on the celebrity version of The Traitors is due to take place next year, with work on a fourth series – which will air in 2026 – also due to get underway around this time.
Meanwhile, the third series started shooting earlier this year, with producer Stephen Lambert teasing back in May that there’d already been some “amazing twists”.
“It’s quite hard making season three, because the expectations get bigger and bigger,” he shared. But fortunately, I think it’s going well. Touch wood.”