Joe Marler talks us through life since Celebrity Traitors and with filming for the 2026 series not far away, he offers crucial advice to those who are signing up
Joe Marler has been told to enjoy fame while it lasts before he becomes a total irrelevance to the world – by his own wife!
The rugby legend has been non-stop since the stand-out Faithful so nearly claimed glory in the Celebrity Traitors. Joe may have lost out to Alan Carr in the gripping finale, but he is transfixed with who is going in next as he named the stars he is desperate to see enter the castle with filming set to start possibly as early as April.
The 35-year-old has been busier than ever since retiring from rugby but his wife Daisy keeps teasing the former Harlequins and England prop, saying it’s a matter of time before people get bored of seeing his face.
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Joe, speaking to the Mirror before jetting off to South Africa days after landing back home from New York, said: “Life’s certainly got busier, especially compared to my first six months of retirement.
“That was sort of the honeymoon period, just at home all the time with the kids, loving life. I was able to chip in with the around the house and with the family. But part of me was ‘hang on, I haven’t got any work…. what am I actually doing?’.
“Then the Traitors came up and it’s ‘f**k, I haven’t got time to fart let alone spend lots of time with the kids!’ I’ve been very, very busy and I’m very grateful for it and it is all off the back of the Traitors.
“I haven’t even had much time at the weekend to take the boys to watch some rugby. So hopefully I will when time frees up a bit – or as my wife has warned me a number of times, when I become irrelevant to everyone, or I’m cancelled!”
He revealed things could have been very different and said he was weighing up whether to accept the place in the famous castle.
“There was no doubt that I wanted to do it, I am such a big fan of the show,” he said. “The only doubt was that we had a family member who was on her last legs so to speak, she didn’t have long.
“We had to weigh things up, knowing we could potentially lose her while I was away. But my wife is as strong as an ox, she said just go and do your thing out there, so eventually I jumped at the opportunity.”
It’s just short of a year since filming started for the first ever celebrity spin off and Joe, who represented his country at two World Cups, has been feasting out on the gossip like the rest of us.
He named the talked-up star he is desperate to see go on – and nominated a left-field candidate who would make the 2026 series totally unmissable. “I hope that Danny Dyer is definitely going on, I really hope to see him do his thing. He would be great. Maybe he’ll say no to it just because of the pressure at West Ham! I’d love to see it, mind you.
“Danny or Alison Hammond. They’d both be great. Keeping it football themed I would also love to see Roy Keane in there. He would be totally box office. You wouldn’t know which way he would go.”
Offering advice to those still weighing up going on, he said: “Anyone that’s considering doing it, say yes. Because it is so much fun. It is a wild experience. I mean, like nothing else.
“To anyone that’s already said yes to it, if you want to get as far as possible you’ve got to play quite dumb. It was a natural role for me! To get to the final, or as far as possible, you’ve got to play the sort of dumb character, play it down a little bit, just be friendly, not really interested in hunting down any of the Traitors, and they keep you by the side.
“Then you hope that at the last minute you can team up with someone and put all your trust in them. But then go in and that person doesn’t betray you!”
The sports great and his former castle-mate Joe Wilkinson have rekindled their bromance with Sky in a tongue in cheek advert that playfully mirrors the ultra modern beginnings of a new romance.
From constant texts to video calls, the pair’s determination to keep their blossoming friendship alive sparks a series of unfortunate events following their appearance together on the BBC programme.
Marler says connection is key – and spoke about his own experiences after saying goodbye to the dressing room when he left rugby back in November 2024.
“When I called it a day I asked what environments can I get involved in now,” he said. “Actually, working with Sky mobile is a good example. It was like a reminder for me to keep in contact with those boys that I had got close with over the years and you’d sort of take for granted a little bit because you know you’re going to see them every day.
“Then when that’s taken away, you’re like, oh, hang on a minute. I need to make more of a conscious effort to actually stay connected with them. I’ve reached out to other boys that have also retired and asked how long they took to sort of get back to a bit of normality, or to find a new purpose.
“And they were like ‘yeah, it took us a little while as well, mate… you’re not on your own’. I was always quite reluctant to open up in lots of ways, particularly with friendships, male friendships.
“Then when you actually sit back and think about it, you go, why not? Why wouldn’t you tell someone you love them? Why wouldn’t you tell someone how good they are, or how much you appreciate them?”
He added: “It’s actually quite romantic when you think about it. Calls, video calls, sharing data, knowing your loved one’s voice is only a tap away – you couldn’t wish for anything better really.”
The campaign follows research from the mobile network provider revealing modern signs of love now include receiving a “just checking in” text, being sent a thoughtful meme, and sharing selfies. The poll of 2,000 adults in relationships found 38% of Boomers see an unexpected phone call as a sign of affection, compared with just 16 and 17% of Gen Z and Millennials, who are typically more phone-shy.
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