Why have you decided to take part in The Celebrity Traitors?

I decided to take part because I absolutely adore the show, and always have done. This is the first thing I've ever done as myself. I did Taskmaster, which was sort of as me, but even that, I decided to dress as Dracula because I wanted to hide behind something. Because I like to act, often in character, I tend not to do as much as myself to sort of preserve an element of mystery, I guess. But there was no way I was going to give up an opportunity like this! I've always loved games like this and to hang out with such a wonderful, fascinating bunch too - what a privilege.

So, your character Mr. Swallow won't be making an appearance?

Sadly, I think Nick Mohammed was booked rather than Mr. Swallow. But also, can you imagine how irritating that would be, not just for the people taking part, but for the nation?! I mean, I'm not saying I won't slip into Mr. Swallow at some point, but no, that would have been too much.

That said, your acting skills may come into play in playing the game...

The idea of keeping up a pretense for that long is interesting but I don't know if it's even really possible. It would be too exhausting, surely.

Well, there’s always potential learnings from your work be that from a spell at GCHQ for your show Intelligence or giving a rousing team talk in Ted Lasso...

Maybe that would be good at the Round Table. A sort of Gladiator-style motivational speech. I don't know though, you don't want to draw too much attention to yourself or make yourself a target. There's an element of wanting to blend into the background a little bit, whilst not being too much of a wallflower. Otherwise, people will think you're deliberately hiding. I don't know if I'd want to do anything too overconfident, because it’s like when Kas did a toast to the first person who went and then was immediately suspected as being a Traitor. He was clearly a lovely, lovely guy, I just don’t want to fall into the same trap.

It's a fine line to tread. In the first instance, it's just statistics. It's just random so never worth taking too personally or seriously in the first instance. But then little cliques and certain personalities will start to emerge and various connections made, I'm sure.

Have you got a strategy?

Not really. I think I’ll just try and be quite easy breezy in the first instance. Because, you know, people are going to go right from the off. A little further down the line you can maybe start considering strategy – and it also depends on whether I’m made a Traitor or a Faithful. There’s a certain thrill of being made a Traitor, of course. If I'm a Faithful, I'll have that constant worry each night whether I’ll be murdered. You can of course be discovered and banished as a Traitor, but I feel that in the first instance, you're in a little bit more control. So, I would enjoy that element to a degree and I'd love to make the final. That said, I've got lovely family at home, so it's sort of a win, win. When my time is up, I get to go back home and see them!

Have you done anything to prepare?

Not really. I've shaved this morning. I’ve thought about it a lot. It was strange watching series three, knowing I was going to be doing it in a few months’ time. That was really interesting watching that and seeing how they played but it's always different with a different group of people so you can’t compare or copy what previous players have done. I had a couple of dreams about it. One was that I had to do the whole thing in an American accent! That was possibly me remembering Charlotte and her faked Welsh accent.

Would you say that you're good at reading people?

Well, I think I can smell bullshit, but I think there is a difference. I think someone lying specifically about whether they're a Traitor or not is a very different thing because it's quite abstract. It's an intangible quality at the start. In reality, it doesn't matter. You've not earned it. You've been selected. And some people might be amazing at it. That's the thrill of it, I guess, and that's why we're all here.

Do you think you've got a good poker face?

Well, no, I don't. My problem is I do find things very funny, and a lot of people who I've worked with will testify that I do often get the giggles. My biggest worry is the moment when the blindfolds are taken off at the start. Because irrespective of whether I’ve been made a Traitor or a Faithful, I’ll struggle not to smile. So that is a real, genuine worry.

Are you looking forward to the Missions?

Loads! I love all of that. And how camp the whole show is, the kind of gothic, Wicker Man vibe that they have. Yeah, can't wait for that.

The Celebrity Traitors launches on Wednesday 8th October 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer. There will be two episodes per week on Wednesdays and Thursdays.

(Image: BBC/Studio Lambert/Cody Burridge/Artwork - BBC Creative)

Interview supplied by publicists