BILL Bailey has revealed he was the “first choice” to host Celebrity Traitors before Claudia Winkleman bagged the presenting role.
The comedian, 61, claimed that bosses approached him for the job but he had to turn it down due to other work commitments.
Claudia, 54, was established as the main show’s host when it first debuted in 2022 on BBC One.
Since then, she’s presented the last four series and has made the role her own.
The celebrity edition’s first series aired last year, with the former Strictly Come Dancing presenter stepping in to host it.
It featured huge stars including Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, Kate Garraway and Paloma Faith.
It was won by Alan Carr, who deceived all of the faithfuls after admitting he was a traitor all along.
The full line-up for the second series was unveiled last month, with filming taking place in Scotland imminently.
A whopping 21 celebrities will be appearing this time around, including Michael Sheen, Ross Kemp, Hannah Fry, Joanna McNally, Amol Rajan, James Acaster and Richard E. Grant.
They will be joined by Bella Ramsey, James Blunt, Jerry Hall, Joe Lycett, Julie Hesmondhalgh and King Kenny.
is also on the line-up alongside Maya Jama, Miranda Hart, Myha’la, Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Sebastian Croft and Sharon Rooney.
A show insider said: “Although most of the stars are British, so many of them are used to working in America that their teams are used to the Hollywood treatment.
“They don’t want to find themselves thrust into the spotlight, or put in any kind of danger, so demand substantial security the minute they arrive.
“But it’s also more than a little bizarre because Inverness is pretty quiet and remote — it’s not like arriving at JFK or LAX Airport.”
It is much different to last year’s first staging of the celebrity version — when many stars arrived for filming by train.
Then, rather than be pampered in chauffeur-driven cars, they were ferried around in a minibus.
Many arrived alone as well. But this year most of the competitors are with their PR teams and their partners.
