{"id":640079,"date":"2026-09-30T01:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T01:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/640079\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T01:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T01:10:10","slug":"joanne-mcnally-on-celebrity-traitors-were-more-than-willing-to-throw-each-other-under-the-bus-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/640079\/","title":{"rendered":"Joanne McNally on Celebrity Traitors: \u2018We\u2019re more than willing to throw each other under the bus\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Joanne McNally<\/a> has declared comedians will be \u201cmore than willing to throw each other under the bus\u201d on The Celebrity Traitors<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 43-year-old Irish comedian is among the 21 stars taking part in the second season of the BBC<\/a> show, which returns this week.<\/p>\n

Born in Co Roscommon<\/a> and raised in Dublin, McNally\u2019s breakthrough came with the one-woman show Bite Me. <\/p>\n

While she is busy touring Ireland and the UK until December with her new show Pinotphile<\/a>, McNally has found the time to appear on the celebrity spin-off of The Traitors, which is hosted by Claudia Winkleman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This season there are six comedians in the line-up \u2013 many of whom have worked together before.<\/p>\n

However, McNally said they had not planned strategies together before filming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t been in cahoots at all. There\u2019s been no chatting because we know that we\u2019re more than willing to throw each other under the bus,\u201d McNally said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it\u2019s not like we\u2019re making fake allegiances. They are professional entertainers, and they will absolutely kill each other off for the craic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The other comedians featuring in this season of The Celebrity Traitors are James Acaster, Joe Lycett, Miranda Hart, Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.<\/p>\n

Asked about signing up for the series, McNally said her main drive was for the \u201csocial circle\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Traitors winner to use \u20ac22,925 prize to fund IVF treatmentOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all about the celebrity WhatsApp group. And what an eclectic cast we have. Like, you couldn\u2019t predict it. It\u2019s like lining up all my ex-boyfriends. There\u2019s no consistency to it at all. I love it. It\u2019s so frantic. It kind of has a bit of everything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Aiming to be chosen as a Traitor, McNally said she was \u201cquietly competitive\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m great at spotting lies. I can read body language, and I\u2019ve dealt with a lot of snakes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The comedian added that her friend and My Therapist Ghosted Me<\/a> podcast co-host Vogue Williams<\/a> encouraged her to do whatever it takes to go far in the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s delighted. She\u2019s like, get it, girl. She said it would be really funny if I went in fully two-faced. It\u2019s not a bad game plan,\u201d McNally said.<\/p>\n

Beckett said he would probably find being on the show \u201chilarious\u201d.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The Traitors Ireland: What makes this intoxicating show so utterly gripping?Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just so surreal to be around that group of people, and to be with a few people I know,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRomesh, obviously everyone knows we\u2019re such good friends, but Joe Lycett and James Acaster, I did gigs with them nearly 20 years ago, in pubs in Soho in front of eight people, and now all of a sudden we\u2019re in this situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s quite a reflective moment to consider this journey we\u2019ve all gone on to now be on the biggest show on TV.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone wants to be on it, and we\u2019re very lucky to be here and to be here with friends and people that I\u2019ve come through the ranks with and been able to confide in over the years. It\u2019s quite nice to see all of us here as grown-ups.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Beckett added he would be able to betray any of them if the game required it.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Joanne McNally: \u2018In my early 30s I quit my job, moved into my mam\u2019s attic and cocooned at the top of the house\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cOh yes, if it\u2019s part of the game. And I\u2019d expect vice versa. If I get done, I get done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be competitive, but if I get murdered or banished or whatever the situation is, of course I\u2019ll be disappointed for a minute, and then I\u2019ll think, do you know what? I\u2019m going home and I\u2019ve got a couple of weeks off!\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI\u2019ve got no qualms about killing people off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other stars set to join them in the castle include The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey, singer James Blunt, Little Mix\u2019s Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Love Island host Maya Jama and actors Richard E Grant and Michael Sheen.<\/p>\n

The first season of The Celebrity Traitors aired on the BBC last autumn, with the finale hitting a peak of 15.4 million viewers, according to the broadcaster.<\/p>\n

The spin-off series brought in an average audience of 14.9 million people during its run, the biggest TV audience of 2025.<\/p>\n

The Celebrity Traitors starts on October 1st at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. <\/p>\n

\u2013 PA<\/p>\n

The Celebrity Traitors contestantsAmol RajanBella RamseyJames AcasterJames BluntJerry HallJoanne McNallyJoe LycettJulie Hesmondhalgh King KennyLeigh-Anne PinnockMaya JamaMichael SheenMiranda HartMyha\u2019laHannah FryRichard E GrantRob BeckettRomesh RanganathanRoss KempSebastian CroftSharon Rooney <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joanne McNally has declared comedians will be \u201cmore than willing to throw each other under the bus\u201d on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":640080,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[73552,321,36379,93,61,60,45750,18749,238335,135807,12460],"class_list":["post-640079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-bella-ramsey","tag-celebrities","tag-claudia-winkleman","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-joanne-mcnally","tag-richard-e-grant","tag-rob-beckett","tag-romesh-ranganathan","tag-vogue-williams"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/640080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}