Miranda Hart Calls 'Celebrity Traitors' a 'Challenging' Step After Battling ME
The comedian, who has publicly shared her struggles with ME and Lyme disease, is returning to television on a physically and mentally demanding reality show.
Miranda Hart has acknowledged that participating in "Celebrity Traitors" will be a significant physical and mental challenge as she continues to manage the effects of Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome. The comedian, who was also diagnosed with Lyme disease, detailed her decades-long health battle in her 2024 autobiography, describing periods where she was bedbound and experienced a lack of joy.
Hart, 53, best known for her BBC sitcom "Miranda," recently felt ready to resume work, and "Celebrity Traitors" emerged as an appealing opportunity. "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," she said in an interview. Despite this enthusiasm, she noted that she still experiences fatigue and pain associated with her chronic illness.
"I'm still living with elements of ME, and that brings fatigue and pain to manage, but I have come to a point where I feel well enough to step out, and that's also partly why I'm doing this," Hart explained. She added that the joy of returning to television work might outweigh the difficulties and that the show will be physically demanding, requiring courage. Hart emphasized the often invisible nature of chronic illness, stating, "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 that everybody's got their thing."
Her journey to diagnosis was lengthy; it took 33 years for medical professionals to identify her battle with Lyme disease, after initially being misdiagnosed with agoraphobia. She was later diagnosed with ME. Consequently, Hart has largely stayed out of the public eye for the past five years, with limited television appearances on chat shows and Comic Relief.
Fans have playfully challenged Hart to incorporate her signature "gallop" move from her sitcom into the show, a dare she has seemingly accepted. "When someone said on Instagram, 'Oh, I hope you gallop in the castle,' I foolishly replied, 'Right, I now take that as a dare.' So that was idiotic of me," she admitted. She hopes to encourage others, perhaps even fellow contestant Kenny Dalglish, to join her in a gallop.
Hart was joined in Scotland by her husband, Richard Fairs, 60, while filming the BBC show. The couple married in October 2024. The "Celebrity Traitors" cast also includes Amol Rajan, Bella Ramsey, James Acaster, James Blunt, Jerry Hall, Joanne McNally, Joe Lycett, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Kenny Dalglish, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock, among others. The show features contestants playing a game of detection, trust, and betrayal with the aim of winning up to £100,000 for charity. "The Celebrity Traitors" is scheduled to premiere on Thursday, October 1, at 8 p.m. on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.