The contestants on the BBC’s The Traitors found themselves thrust into the limelight when the show became an unlikely hit back in 2022.
And now a new batch of normal people-turned TV stars have embarked on the psychological reality show – including one young woman who has already had a taste of fame.
Mollie Pearce, 21, has appeared in glossy campaigns for adidas, Tommy Hilfiger and Kurt Geiger in her role as a disability model.
The Bristol-based model was born with missing digits on her right hand and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when she was 11 resulting in an ileostomy to remove her colon.
She now wears a stoma bag that collects her waste and has posed proudly with it in shoots in a bid to dispel the stigma and normalise her disabilities.
Mollie Pearce has made her debut on The Traitors’ series two, and she appeared in glossy campaigns for adidas, Tommy Hilfiger and Kurt Geiger in her role as a disability model
Mollie is signed to talent agency Zebedee, which represents ‘disabled, visibly different, non-binary, and trans UK models’
The model, 21, appeared on screen for the first time in Wednesday night’s opening episode as 22 contestants entered the Scottish castle for the show
Mollie, who appeared on screen for the first time in Wednesday night’s opening episode, is signed to talent agency Zebedee, which represents ‘disabled, visibly different, non-binary, and trans UK models.’
And it seems her disability gave her an immediate advantage in the first episode as her missing fingers meant she was able to slip out of the rope that was tying all the contestants up before their first mission.
‘It’s a blessing to have one hand,’ she said. ‘I managed to untie myself first – my hand just slipped out the rope.’
In Thursday’s episode, she told the group: ‘So, when I was younger I walked into a shop and saw a model who had one arm and from that moment I just remember saying to my mum that the way she made me feel, I was like, ‘I want that to be me for other people.’
She tearfully said of her stoma bag: ‘Obviously as an 18-year-old, getting told that you have to have a bag stuck to you for the rest of your life, you’re thinking, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going to be able to wear anything again, never going to be able to go swimming again, never get a boyfriend again.’
She regularly posts photos of herself showing her stoma bag on Instagram and gave her followers an unflinching insight into the seven-hour operation that changed her life back in 2020.
‘I have been fighting ulcerative colitis for eight years and last week it finally won when I had to say goodbye to my colon forever,’ she wrote.
The Bristol-based model was born with missing digits on her right hand and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when she was 11 resulting in an ileostomy to remove her colon
She now wears a stoma bag that collects her waste and has posed proudly with it in shoots in a bid to dispel the stigma and normalise her disabilities
Mollie is seen in a modelling shoot for Tommy Hilfiger in her career as a model prior to her appearance on The Traitors
She posts photos of herself showing her stoma bag on Instagram and gave her followers an unflinching insight into the seven-hour operation that changed her life back in 2020 (pictured)
She said at the time: ‘It is going to take a lot of time and strength to adjust to my new life with a stoma bag’
Mollie is pictured in a post marking three years of her stoma bag, writing: ‘happy 3 year stoma-versary Sid, Thanks for giving me my life back’
‘It is going to take a lot of time and strength to adjust to my new life with a stoma bag.
‘It’s important to remember beauty isn’t external and it’s about who you are and how you view the things around you. All our bodies are beautiful!’
Hosted by Claudia Winkleman and set in a castle in the Scottish Highlands, the show sees a portion of the 22-strong line-up named Traitors while the others are the Faithfuls.
Wednesday night’s episode was the fourth most watched programme of the day, attracting 3.1 million viewers.
