Stephen Fry for The Celebrity Traitors / BBC
Sir Stephen Fry has revealed that he wants to be a Faithful when he takes part in The Celebrity Traitors in order to avoid “having to plot”.
The national treasure, 68, is one of 19 famous faces entering the show’s iconic castle in the Scottish Highlands for a celeb version of the top-rated reality show.
The series was filmed earlier this year, but before taking part Fry was asked whether he would prefer to be a Faithful or Traitor in the game.
“Oh, a Faithful!” he replied. “I just don’t like the idea of having to plot against people. It’s mean and it’s annoying to have to find that side of oneself, because in order to play well, you have to be a bit mean. You have to decide to kill people. Really annoying.
“You’re conspiring with others to do it, and you can’t trust them either. So, you’re just under much more pressure. You can see from the previous series that being a Traitor is really quite stressful.”
Asked if he would be good at reading people, he responded: “No, absolutely not. Nobody else will either. The idea that you can be good at reading people is absolute nonsense, and it’s just like astrology or anything else. Woo woo. You just can’t do it.
“You know, empiricism proves it. People time and time again ask those whose job it is to interrogate and to find out the truth and it’s simply not possible. We can all be convinced nonetheless, even though the facts tell us otherwise.
“These notions of ‘I just knew, it’s the way he lifted his glass, his eye doing that thing’ – all nonsense.”
The Celebrity Traitors begins Wednesday, October 8 at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
See also: Celebrity Traitors star Paloma Faith claims to be “exceptional at reading people”
