Banished Celebrity Traitors star reveals contestant who became her "unexpected" love

Celebrity Traitors star Julie Hesmondhalgh has revealed which of her fellow co-stars she unexpectedly really enjoyed being around, following her unfortunate banishment from the castle (days after she was voted 'Most Trustworthy', for shame).

Reflecting on her time on the show, the former Coronation Street and Broadchurch star said she got on with a lot of her fellow Faithfuls and Traitors, but one person in particular took her by surprise.

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"God I really liked everyone, but probably Sharon [Rooney], Bash [Sebastian Croft], Leigh-Anne [Pinnock] – the young ones. I was Bella [Ramsey's] little accomplice, knocking around together in the castle, and that's what Traitors don't do.

"In my head I'm the same age as Bella and Bash, I just think I'm a young person, and it’s really quite shocking to me that I'm actually very much not!

"Ross [Kemp] was also the big, unexpected love for me in this series. He's just wonderful.

"I've never seen anyone as terrified of being pretend murdered in my life, who at the same time talks constantly about all the things he's seen and done in his life, and they are horrific. Romesh [Ranganathan] and Ross were my first friends in there."

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Reflecting on being voted the 'Most Trustworthy' player, Julie admitted it was both a blessing and a curse.

"It was possibly the most amazing moment of my life," she joked, "because I didn't expect it at all. I did in the back of my mind think, 'Oh, this is quite front and centre' when everyone had advised me to keep a low profile for the first few days!

"There I am in my bright red dress, greeting everyone like some starstruck fan, and I am being very, very central in this first moment of the show where we meet for the first time and so I did worry that it might work against me.

"I thought, 'Oh, they'll think I'm too Faithful, and I'll be so easily murdered. It immediately ruins your plan of keeping in the background, doesn't it?"

Celebrity Traitors airs Thursday and Friday at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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Joe Anderton is a freelance news writer at Digital Spy, having worked there since 2016. In his time, he's covered a host of live events and interviewed celebrities big and small. A big fan of TV and movies both mainstream and obscure, Joe also enjoys video games and in particular PlayStation. Joe currently does not use Twitter, but he only ever used it to tell people to watch the film Help! I'm a Fish.