Sharon Rooney says she would rather not be a Traitor on The Celebrity Traitors because she is bad at lying and does not have a good poker face. Ahead of the series returning on October 1, she said the role would force her to treat the game like an acting job.
Sharon Rooney and the poker face
“I don’t think I’m cut out to be a Traitor really. The main reason being I don't have a good poker face. And I think that is kind of quite high up in the job description.” Rooney said that before filming, and the line gets to the core of the competition: the players who can hide what they are thinking get the advantage.
She also said, “I can't tell a lie. I'm really bad at lying. If I’m picked as a Traitor, I'd have to treat it as an acting role but be a version of me.” That is a workable strategy in a game built on deception, but it also explains why she sounds more comfortable with the faithful side than with the people expected to mislead the room.
Scottish Highlands for 21 celebrities
The 2026 cast includes 21 celebrities in the Scottish Highlands competing for up to £100,000 for their chosen charity. Michael Sheen, James Blunt, Bella Ramsey, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Joe Lycett are among the names joining Rooney in the castle, with Claudia Winkleman set to decide which contestants become Traitors.
Rooney, who is known for My Mad Fat Diary and Two Doors Down, said the whole thing feels like a “wild dream”. That is a useful read on where she stands: the appeal is obvious, but the mechanics of the game are the opposite of her instincts.
Claudia Winkleman decides
Rooney said even as a child she would confess quickly if she had broken something, and she added that she would not be able to relax or fully be herself if she were picked as a Traitor. Her own description of her game plan is even more direct: “keep yourself right.”
That leaves the real pressure where it belongs, with Winkleman’s selection. Rooney has already told the audience she is unlikely to fit the Traitor brief; when the series returns on October 1, the only unanswered piece is whether she is put in the role she thinks she cannot play.
