Dame Joanna Lumley admits she ‘can’t work something out’ about Celebrity Traitors

She has shared her thoughts on the hit BBC One show (Picture: BBC/Shutterstock) Dame Joanna Lumley is one of Britain’s most beloved actresses. But even someone with such an impressive list of credits isn’t immune to being taken aback by a TV phenomenon that’s had everyone talking – Celebrity Traitors. With a career spanning more than 60 years, Dame Joanna has done a bit of everything, allowing the star to become known for her warmth, quick wit and undeniable screen presence. From playing the gloriously outrageous Patsy Stone in Absolutely Fabulous, to her more recent role as Felicity in Amandaland, she’s never been far from the spotlight. Away from acting, Dame Joanna has been at the centre of a number of travel documentaries, where she’s taken viewers around the world and shared her curiosity about different cultures and places. In recent weeks, her insatiable curiosity has seen her tune in to watch Celebrity Traitors, which ended with Faithfuls Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian ‘Bash’ Croft winning a joint £83,000 for their chosen charities. Despite following every twist and turn, Dame Joanna’s opinion about the biggest show on British telly might take you by surprise. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video During my chat with The Wolf of Wall Street actress at this year’s Aldeburgh Comedy Weekend in Suffolk, I had to ask for Metro whether she was watching this year’s celebrity version of the hit BBC One show. At the time of the interview, viewers were waiting for the results of Maya Jama, James Acaster and King Kenny’s murder in plain sight. While Dame Joanna had a lot to say on the current series, she admitted that there was a time when she wondered what all the fuss was about! ‘I didn’t see the very first Traitors we had, but everybody was telling me about it, and I thought, how good can this be? Then the first Celebrity Traitors came on, because I knew people in it, I thought, we’ll watch this. My husband and I got completely hooked on it. Joanna has been hooked on the latest series (Picture: J Ritchie/Hotsauce/Shutterstock) Romesh and Sebastian won this year’s Celebrity Traitors (Picture: BBC/Studio Lambert/Paul Chappells) ‘When I saw this next lot coming up, I said to him, I don’t care what you say, we’re going to watch it. He said, “It’ll never be as good as the last one!” After sharing the very surprising news that she’s never been asked to take part in the celebrity version of the game, Dame Joanna laughed: ‘People say, would you be a Traitor or would you be a Faithful? And the thing is, you can’t choose.’ Describing it as ‘extremely good television’, despite being a fan herself, Dame Joanna admitted that she ‘can’t really work out why’ it’s such a hit.It’s not surprising that The Traitors is so popular. The civilian version has attracted a huge audience since the launch in 2022, but the celebrity spin-off has taken things to another level. Celebrity Traitors season 2 kicked off in October, with the BBC later confirming that 15.7 million viewers tuned into the first episode, and 15.2 million for the second episode after seven days. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video But, to quote Dame Joanna, why is it so good? Well, there’s something irresistible about watching a group of people attempt to work out who’s lying to them, particularly when the viewers know exactly what’s going on. The roundtable debates, betrayals and desperate attempts to stay in the game make for brilliant television, and the fact there’s always another twist around the corner means the drama never dips. Seeing familiar faces in the celebrity version is very different to watching a group of strangers thrown into a castle together. When those carefully maintained public personas begin to crack, it’s difficult not to get invested. Just like everyone else these days, Dame Joanna loves event television like The Traitors, but also enjoys binge-watching boxsets. For the 80-year-old actress, there were two series that stood out for her when asked about what’s been on her watchlist: ‘We’ve watched Time. Bloody hell, it’s so gloomy. We watched the first one and the second with the three girls, which was brilliantly done. I think we’re just going to go through it because the acting is out of this world and the writing. Jimmy McGovern, as good as it gets.’ Joanna will reprise her role as Felicity in the Christmas special of Amandaland (Picture: BBC/Merman/Natalie Seery) When Dame Joanna isn’t in the mood for Time, a powerful, gritty and hard-hitting drama about life in prison, she clicks onto something a little more heart-warming. ‘I’ll tell you what, I completely adored Colin from Accounts. I think it’s the best television ever made’, she declared. ‘I thought Colin from Accounts was going to be a dull office programme. It’s Australian, and I think it’s just a shining beacon. It’s fabulous. It’s really touching. Terribly funny. Brilliant performances, great cameos.’ In just a few weeks, Joanna will return to our screens as Felicity in the Amandaland Christmas special. Joanna has never been far from the spotlight (Picture: David Fisher/Shutterstock) Describing this year’s episode as ‘heaven on a stick’, Joanna adores that the comedy show is now setting the bar for festive viewing. ‘This year’s one is just so funny’, she smiled. ‘It’s also a nightmare because it shows that if, like Amanda, you begin to tell half-truths, they tend to catch up with you.’ Joanna also described her character as a ‘nightmare mother’ and is someone who simply ‘loves a trouser’, suggesting that Amanda’s (Lucy Punch) poor neighbour Mal (Samuel Anderson) may be subjected to Felicity’s flirting over the festive period once more! ‘She always thinks she’s miles younger than she is’, she chuckled. ‘She’s a bit mutton dressed as lamb and sort of adores all the young. Always fluttering her eyelashes at people.’ The 2026 Amandaland Christmas special will air on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Deals of the Day QVC shoppers can save £159 on Elemis' biggest beauty gift set of the year This Hoover vacuum is a game-changer for pet owners and muddy homes The wellbeing brand behind everyone's favourite candles has launched its biggest sale yet See London's Christmas lights from an open-top double-decker bus this winter My skin always suffers when the heating goes on but this serum changed that Arrow MORE: Celebrity Traitors star James Blunt reveals heavy James Acaster interrogation was ‘cut’ Arrow MORE: James Acaster finally addresses claims two Celebrity Traitors stars ‘bullied’ him Arrow MORE: Richard Osman launches into foul-mouthed rant following Celebrity Traitors backlash TV Newsletter Sign up and tell us which TV shows you love to watch to get personalised updates every morning.