Who is David Olusoga? Celebrity Traitors contestant and historian

There now is only one day until first ever series of The Celebrity Traitors UK hits our screens and it has an almighty line up.

Kicking off on Wednesday 8th October, Claudia Winkleman is inviting a group of celebrities to play the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust, all in the hope of winning up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.

As ever, a number of celebrities will hand-picked by Winkleman to be her Traitors, whose job it’ll be to secretly murder their fellow players, without getting caught.

One celebrity hoping and praying to remain Faithful is David Olusoga, read on for everything you need to know about the historian.

Who is David Olusoga?

David Olusoga. :BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry

Age: 55

Job: Historian and author

Instagram: @olusoga

David Olusoga is a historian, author and filmmaker who first began his career as a researcher on 1999 BBC series Western Front.

He was born in Lagos, Nigeria, before migrating to the UK at five years old with his mother. When he was 14, his family had to leave the council estate where they lived and were placed under police protection after being the subject of racially motivated attacks, an experience that shaped who Olusoga is today. He then went on to study the history of slavery at University of Liverpool and graduated in 1994 with a History degree. Olusoga completed his studies with a postgraduate course in broadcast journalism at Leeds Trinity University.

Over his career, Olusoga has presented the likes of Black and British: A Forgotten History, A House Through Time and Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners, which awarded him a BAFTA in the Specialist Factual category in 2016.

He was appointed an OBE in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to history and to community integration and received his medal from King Charles III in February 2023.

Why did David sign up for The Celebrity Traitors?

Olusoga said that The Celebrity Traitors is the only reality game show he would ever consider taking part in, describing it as having something “special about it”.

“This show is not like anything else I’ve been asked to do. So many people I know love this show. People who wouldn’t normally watch anything else like this love The Traitors. Once I started considering the idea, it felt like it could be a really interesting experience,” he told the BBC.

David Olusoga. BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry

Does David want to be a Faithful or Traitor?

Olusoga revealed he definitely wants to a Faithful on The Celebrity Traitors as he thinks he would forget to lie.

“I think there’s a terrible risk that I’d forget that I was in deep cover. That’s the reason why I’m not a spy. It would be an impossible task remembering that you’re not who you’re saying you are.

“I have no strategy at all. So much of this is guesswork, I don’t think it’s ever been the case that in the first few rounds people have ever had a strong strategy from the start they’ve been able to stick to, ” said Olusoga.

Celebrity Traitors begins on Wednesday 8th October at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer. The Traitors seasons 1-3 are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

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