Joe Marler said he was paid \u00a330,000 for his stint on The Celebrity Traitors but almost left filming due to the death of his wife\u2019s grandmother.<\/p>\n
The former England rugby international reached the final of the BBC show, only to be banished in dramatic style when his fellow contestants did not believe that he was a faithful.<\/p>\n
However, Marler<\/a>, 35, was well-received by audiences thanks to several highlights, including his \u201cBig Dog Theory\u201d, with which he deduced that Jonathan Ross would be one of the game\u2019s traitors.<\/p>\n In a wide-ranging interview with The Times<\/a>, Marler denied that the celebrities all received a flat fee of \u00a340,000 for filming.<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, Daisy read that too,\u201d Marler said, explaining that his wife had also heard that he would be receiving \u00a340,000.<\/p>\n \u201cShe said to me, \u2018Hold on, I thought you only got 30?\u2019 I said, \u2018Yeah, I did\u2019. So no, I don\u2019t think everyone got paid the same. But I\u2019m not bothered. It was 30 grand whether you lasted two days or three weeks \u2013 a no-brainer.\u201d<\/p>\n Marler lasted the entire three weeks, putting on 1st 6lb thanks to a routine that included plenty of box-sets in the evenings. He \u201ccouldn\u2019t be a—d\u201d to use the gym at the contestants\u2019 hotel, partly because the \u201cweights weren\u2019t heavy enough\u201d.<\/p>\n However, the death of Daisy\u2019s grandmother almost caused Marler to leave. \u201cThe producers already knew she was terminally ill, so I went to them and said, \u2018That\u2019s me done\u2019,\u201d Marler explained.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were great \u2013 I was leaving. Then Daisy rang back and said: \u2018Look, there\u2019s not a lot you can do right now, so just stay up there until you get kicked out.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThat was the moment that I was like, \u2018right, I\u2019ve had enough of this impostor syndrome. I\u2019m gonna ramp it up, go hell for leather and if I get banished or murdered, it\u2019s a win \u2013 I can go home\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n Marler, pictured with actress Celia Imrie, was the breakout star of The Celebrity Traitors – BBC\/Euan Cherry<\/p>\n Mixing among a wide cast of recognisable figures was described as \u201cbonkers\u201d by Marler. He said that \u201cmost of [the other contestants] thought I was a production guy lugging stuff around. That played in my favour.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever status you have outside the game, you\u2019ve still got that status inside. It\u2019s so hard to ignore,\u201d Marler added.<\/p>\n His original strategy had been to mirror Stephen Fry, but that went out of the window as faithfuls continued to be voted off and the three traitors \u2013 Ross, Cat Burns and eventual winner Alan Carr \u2013 stayed in the game.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, my game plan originally was obviously \u2018I\u2019ll just do what Stephen does, because he will be good at this\u2019,\u201d Marler said. \u201cThen after a couple of times, I realised, he\u2019s not good at this. This is not a good plan.\u201d<\/p>\n The Big Dog theory was forged because Marler suspected the producers would not sell the show without one of its more prominent personalities as a traitor.<\/p>\n Despite branching out with various media appearances, Marler is still coming to terms with retiring from rugby union<\/a> a year ago.<\/p>\n \u201cIt used to be, \u2018Hi, I\u2019m Joe. I play rugby\u2019,\u201d he said. \u201cNow it\u2019s, \u2018Hi, I\u2019m Joe\u2026 What?\u2019 I need to earn a living without selling my soul.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/span><\/div>\n