Ricky Gervais turned down Celebrity Traitors, according to Jonathan Ross.
The chat show host, 64, was part of a star-studded line up in the spin-off series which saw millions tune into the final last week.
And now Jonathan has revealed the BBC approached comedian Ricky, 64, to be a part of the show.
Speaking on his Reel Talk podcast this week, Jonathan said: ‘I had a chat this week with Ricky Gervais. He called me after the Traitors. And he was asked to go in.
‘He called me because I think my name had got out there, nothing had been confirmed before we filmed it.
‘He said “Are you doing this Traitors thing?” I said “Yeah, I’m doing it. Stephen Fry is definitely doing it, and Alan [Carr] is going in…”.
Ricky Gervais turned down Celebrity Traitors, according to Jonathan Ross
Jonathan, 64, was part of a star-studded line up in the spin-off series which saw millions tune into the final last week (pictured host Claudia Winkleman)
‘And he said: “I’m not doing it. The reason I’m not doing it is, I’m pretty sure that if you go in there they’re going to say it’s going to have to be one of these bigger names.
‘You’re going to wind up getting voted out just because they think you’re a bigger name in the outside world.’
‘So he nailed the Big Dogs theory. And I said “Well, you were right”.’
During the series, Joe Marler, 35, and Joe Wilkinson, 50, came up with the theory Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross would be on rival teams due to their showbiz status.
Calling it the ‘Big Dog’ theory, the Faithfuls voted out their own leader Stephen, 68, before finally catching Traitor Jonathan.
The show has now been renewed for a second season days after the record-breaking first series saw more than 14 million viewers tune in to see Alan Carr win.
The BBC One series, which is a spin-off of the regular format of The Traitors, launched in October with a star-studded line-up of famous faces.
While rumours had been circulating that celebrity names were already being thrown into the hat for a second series, the broadcaster has now confirmed it’ll be back on screens in 2026.
Ricky thought of the ‘Big Dog’ theory, where Faithfuls voted out the most famous. During the series, Joe Marler, 35, and Joe Wilkinson, 50, came up with the same idea
The comedian said Jonathan would be voted out because of his status (pictured with Traitors Alan Carr and Cat Burns)
The show has now been renewed for a second season days after the record-breaking first series saw more than 14 million viewers tune in to see Alan win
Host Claudia Winkleman will once again be back as host as a new group of contestants take on the game of trust and treachery.
Brand new episodes of spin-off series Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked will also return to BBC Two and BBC Sounds.
The debut episode brought in a mammoth 14.8 million viewers, making The Celebrity Traitors the biggest unscripted title for the BBC since 2021.
Alan was unveiled as the winner of the BBC One series last Thursday night in a tense finale episode.
Fans watched on as the comedian, who was picked as an unlikely Traitor by host Claudia, 53, at the start of the series, took home the £87,500 prize money after he remained undetected throughout the competition.
Alan carried out two murders in plain sight throughout his time on the series, as well as voting off countless other Faithfuls, and even his fellow Traitors.
