When Alan Carr was crowned the winner of Celebrity Traitors on Thursday night, he worried he’d be dubbed the ‘most hated man in Britain’.
In a twist that nobody could have seen coming, the comic somehow managed to hoodwink Nick Mohammed and David Olusoga into believing he was a Faithful, ensuring that as a Traitor he won the entire £87,500 prize pot.
Yet Alan, who has been dubbed the ‘best and worst Traitor ever’ by viewers, has emerged adored by the nation after creating TV gold when he would openly laugh at banishments and was unable to call himself Faithful with a straight face.
While Alan hasn’t been as prominent on TV in recent years, after winning over the hearts of the nation, he has been tipped for a career resurgence.
Indeed 2026 looks to be the year of the Alan Carr-naissance, with the comic set to star in another season of his BBC travel show with Amanda Holden, front a Channel 4 competition series with Susie Dent, and compete in Amazon Prime’s LOL: Last One Laughing UK.
Such is Alan’s newfound pulling power that he’s been tipped for the biggest job on TV, with his name now in the ring to host Strictly Come Dancing after Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly quit last month.
There have also been whispers that he’ll be offered a new chat show, eight years after his programme Chatty Man was cancelled due to low ratings.
When Alan Carr was crowned the winner of Celebrity Traitors on Thursday night, he worried he’d be dubbed the ‘most hated man in Britain’. Yet the opposite was true
With Alan in high demand from various networks, he looks set to become as prominent as he was on TV during the Noughties and 2010s.
Yet by his own admission he’s not the same man he was back at the peak of his career, admitting he used to make ‘awful’ jokes at the expense of others.
Reflecting on how his humour has evolved, Alan said in a 2023 interview: ‘I used to say awful things on Chatty Man when I did my monologue. Punching down, that’s a phrase that’s come around. No one wants to punch down now.
‘The world is so out of control, there are so many a***holes out there. Whereas I used to maybe slag off someone from X Factor, I think we’ve realised now who the enemy is.
‘You should use your platform against someone worse than a poor reality star who can’t really sing. So now I punch across.’
Alan truly learnt the power of words when his former comedy partner Justin Lee Collins was found guilty of causing a campaign of physical and mental abuse against his ex-girlfriend.
The pair had worked together for years on The Friday Night Project, later renamed The Sunday Night Project.
Yet when Justin was found guilty in 2012 the shamed comic lost several TV contracts and promptly retreated from the spotlight.
Alan looks set to become as prominent as he was on TV during the Noughties and 2010s (pictured with The Friday Night Project co-star Justin Lee Collins)
Back in 2012, Justin was found guilty of causing a campaign of physical and mental abuse against his ex-girlfriend, with Alan referring to him as ‘lovely guy’ (pictured in his mugshot)
His ex-girlfriend Anna Larke had shocked during the trial, when she detailed how Justin had had spat in her face, yanked her hair back, hit her between her legs and slapped her in the face causing ‘hundreds’ of bruises.
Justin’s crime was described as a ‘very serious matter’ by the judge, who sentenced him to 140 hours community service and ordered him to pay £3,500.
Alan later came under fire for describing Justin as a ‘lovely guy’ when discussing his experience with the comic.
In a Loose Women interview, he added: ‘That wasn’t the Justin I knew. He was a big part of my life and I had such a laugh with him.
‘He was obviously in a toxic relationship and he’s now sorted himself out. I didn’t want to throw him under the bus because he’s a good friend and he’s sorted himself out. I believe in second chances.’
Alan has since revealed the pair are no longer friends.
In a chat with The Guardian he mused: ‘People say, “Oh you’re not friends any more.” I don’t think it’s a reflection of whether I drop people like a hot brick; I also worked in a factory and at Tesco, and I don’t speak to any of them. Life goes on.’
By his own admission he’s not the same man he was back at the peak of his career, admitting he used to make ‘awful’ jokes at the expense of others (pictured with Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Chatty Man)
Alan also navigated a tricky relationship with his ex-husband Paul Drayton, who is currently writing a tell-all memoir about their failed marriage.
The couple split in 2022 after 13 years together and three years of marriage.
A year prior, Paul – who had a well-documented battle with alcoholism – had narrowly escaped jail after reversing into a police car with an alcohol test reading ‘off the scale’.
Alan had cited Paul’s drinking as the ‘final straw’ in their rocky relationship.
Yet sources close to the couple claimed the marriage never recovered after Paul shared a picture of himself with a black eye and claimed it was after the couple had ‘had a row’.
A source told Daily Mail: ‘Alan knew Paul’s claim was potentially career threatening and could have had disastrous consequences.
‘They managed to correct the situation, leaving Alan’s reputation intact, but it could have been so much worse and the final straw in a line of issues.
‘Alan has been leaning on Adele during hard times, like he was there for her during her marriage break up. It’s sad for everyone involved but the time was right to split.’
Paul removed the picture of himself with the black eye after an hour and the following day released a statement confirming ‘Alan would not and has never hit me.’
The Chatty Man star responded by explaining Paul’s injury was a result of him ‘being back on the wagon’ and he had not been involved in the incident, as he was filming in Wales at the time.
He also revealed Paul ‘would be getting all the help he needs to get better.’
Alan also navigated a tricky relationship with his ex-husband Paul Drayton, who is currently writing a tell-all memoir about their failed marriage (pictured in 2012)
Sources close to the couple claimed the marriage never recovered after Paul shared a picture of himself with a black eye and claimed it was after the couple had ‘had a row’
Paul recently spoke out about Alan as he commented on the star’s Celebrity Traitors stint, claiming Alan can be ‘a very different person’ once the cameras stop rolling and that his much-talked-about friendship with Paloma Faith was exaggerated for drama.
He told The Sun: ‘The person I would see at home was very different to the Alan you see on TV – and he does have a ruthless streak.
‘He will only take so much and then he will say, “You’re taking the p**s, I don’t want anything more to do with you”.
‘He was tolerant most of the time when we were together, but if he felt someone was taking advantage of him, he would cut them out of his life.’
Paul made it clear he wasn’t taking a swipe at his former husband, of whom he has managed to stay on good terms with.
Viewers certainly saw a different side to Alan on the show, who against the odds managed to win after many viewers predicted he’d be the first Traitor banished.
During his time as a Traitor he was involved in two controversial murders.
Firstly, he killed singer Paloma in plain sight – having to touch her face in order to deliver the fatal blow.
Viewers certainly saw a different side to Alan on Celebrity Traitors when he killed Paloma Faith in plain sight – having to touch her face in order to deliver the fatal blow
He was also chosen to do the second murder in plain sight, this time going after national treasure Celia Imrie, with whom he was also close
Paloma was vocal about her disappointment at being first out, even hitting out at comedian Alan saying ‘if the shoe was on the other foot, she wouldn’t have done’ what he’d done to her.
She hit out on the Uncloaked podcast: ‘Categorically, he had a choice – maybe it was the easiest option, but it was the choice he made and I don’t think it was very nice.’
Alan then poked fun at ‘murdering’ Paloma in a tongue-in-cheek moment after the dramatic Celebrity Traitors twist stunned viewers.
He was chosen to do the second murder in plain sight, this time going after national treasure Celia Imrie, with whom he was also close.
Alan expressed his remorse during the show’s finale, breaking down in tears after outing himself as a Traitor, after struggling with ‘the deceit and the lying’.
With a peak of 12 million viewers, it was the BBC’s biggest overnight audience since Gavin & Stacey’s Christmas special last year.
Speaking of the emotional moment, the TV personality said: ‘I think all the deceit, the lying, the murdering of Paloma and Celia had all taken its toll.’
He continued: ‘I think it dawned on me that I had won such a huge amount for my charity, Neuroblastoma UK.’
With a peak of 12 million viewers, the Celebrity Traitors final was the biggest audience since Gavin & Stacey’s Christmas special last year (pictured with Claudia Winkleman)
He added: ‘The charity is so close to my heart that it all became a bit too much. Hopefully when people see how upset I was they won’t feel so bad that I killed all those national treasures.’
Alan needn’t have worried, however, as his murderous ways did nothing but make the British public fall in love with him.
He has since confessed he would love to take part in the show all over again.
Alan said: ‘I want to do it next year as well – maybe I can just sneak in with my cloak and lantern and murder someone just for the thrill, just for old time’s sake.’
