Joe Marler's England teammate teases potential BBC Celebrity Traitors stint after rugby star's success: 'It's a lot of fun!'

However, he inexplicably missed out on victory despite his hunches being correct when fellow Faithful, Nick Mohammed and David Olusoga, turned against him.

In dramatic scenes, Mr Marler's elimination at the final hurdle set the stage for Alan Carr to win after he'd managed to conceal the fact that he was a Traitor from his co-stars.

The series proved another huge success for the BBC, raking in an average of 11.1 million people for its finale, and a second season was given the green light soon after.

Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of entertainment at the BBC, said the show had "truly captivated the nation, becoming a bona fide highlight of the year".

She added: "In 2026, the doors of the castle will be opened again to welcome celebrity players to the game to see who can charm, who can scheme, and ultimately who can survive in series two, which promises to be just as unmissable as the first."

Next year's cast remains a mystery for now, although former I'm A Celebrity star Mr Haskell told GB News he'd be keen to become the next rugby star to head to the famous Scottish castle.

"Yeah, he's brilliant," Mr Haskell said when asked about Mr Marler's performance. "I think he's done very well.

"I thought he might get the win in the end, but he's obviously come out of it, and it sort of propelled him right into the spotlight. I think that it’s rightly deserved.

"I’m excited to see what he does next and how he builds off the back of this! But you know, he’s definitely a household hit following the show.

"I think, to be honest, he's a much more palatable, nicer version of myself, apparently!"

When it came to his own chances of appearing on the show, he added: "Yes, I would need to understand what I'm doing first.

"I need to catch up, but I do enjoy it. I do enjoy doing TV stuff. I think it's a lot of fun, you know.

"I haven't done anything too recently, but I've done a few shows before, which I really enjoyed. If I got called up, I’d be there. I was lucky enough to be the first rugby player to do I’m A Celebrity."

However, Mr Haskell does have his reservations. "I'm worried, though, that if I did Traitors, I would have to follow in Joe's footsteps, and you know, he was very good," he admitted.

"I'm not sure I probably have got the same mindset that he has to be able to deliver on that, but we'll see," Mr Haskell teased, speaking to the People's Channel on behalf of Heart Bingo.

Since his stint on the Celebrity Traitors, Mr Marler has gone on to launch his very own podcast and appeared on a number of TV panel shows.

During an appearance on ITV's Loose Women, Mr Marler had nothing but fond memories of his experiences and kind words about the show's winner, Mr Carr.

He told the hosts: "We all absolutely loved him. He was just himself from day one until the end – and he had us all in fits of laughter.

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"So, maybe that played a part – for me, even though I suspected him, I was like, ‘I love playing the game with you, so I’d quite like to just play longer with you’.

Mr Marler admitted he was pleased to see Mr Carr emerge victorious, but seeing him break down in tears soon after his win took him by surprise.

"Because I had such an amazing time, I didn’t realise until speaking to Jonathan [Ross] after the show (that the Traitors had different experiences),” he said.

"I loved it, and it hadn’t dawned on me that we’d played different roles, and he’d spent the entire time lying. So that, obviously, was a burden, and clearly a burden for Alan as well, that came out at the end."