Stephen Fry and Celia Imrie Reunite with Hayley Atwell for Covent Garden Christmas Lights Switch-On

Two of the biggest stars of this year’s Celebrity Traitors, Stephen Fry and Celia Imrie, enjoyed a surprise reunion on Wednesday, as they switched on Covent Garden’s famous Christmas lights.

Joining Hollywood star Hayley Atwell and fellow acting heavyweight Derek Jacobi, the duo seemed thrilled to have crossed paths, around six months after filming the hugely successful BBC show.

Both Stephen and Celia were faithfuls after heading to the famous castle in the Scottish Highlands for the show, but suffered different fates thanks to the scheming of traitors Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr and Cat Burns.

Stephen’s valuable insight and his position as a leader of the faithfuls led some to question his status, and he was banished after a fiery roundtable.

Meanwhile Celia, who was a surprise breakout star on the show, was murdered by Alan in plain sight, after growing suspicious of whether he was a traitor.

Huge crowds gathered in London’s famous Covent Garden as the legendary Christmas lights were turned on.

Hayley cut a stylish figure in a pale grey Erdem skirt suit which boasted an eye-catching addition of a watercolour painting.

The event featured performances from West End shows The Lion King, Hercules, and Cabaret, as well as the London International Gospel Choir, and illuminated London’s largest handpicked Christmas tree, the Market Building, and surrounding festive installations across Seven Dials.

The theme, The Theatre of Christmas played homage to Covent Garden long being the home of theatre in London, with ambassadors for Acting For Others, Covent Garden’s charity partner, joining the festivities to support and fundraise for the theatre industry.

Hayley said: ‘As someone whose life has been shaped by the magic of theatre, it’s a joy to help switch on Covent Garden’s Christmas Lights. 

‘I have so many special memories of time spent in the neighbourhood over the years and there’s truly nowhere like Covent Garden at Christmas.’

Celia said: ‘As the lights come on tonight, it feels a bit like the curtain rising on the best show in town. 

‘And what a joy that we’re doing it in support of Acting for Others, helping those who make the magic of theatre possible all year round.’

Stephen commented: ‘What an unforgettable evening it was, with live entertainment, surprise performances, and festive magic as the beating heart of London’s theatreland, Covent Garden, switched on its iconic Christmas lights. 

‘The air was simply brimming and frothing with anticipation as the glittering, twinkling theatre of Christmas came alive.’

Despite being known as one of the most knowledgable stars in showbusiness Stephen Fry admitted being ‘unbelievably stupid’ during his run on The Celebrity Traitors.

The Cambridge-educated star who boasts an IQ of 170 and is a member of Mensa, could not convince the players that he was a Faithful and lost his spot during the round table.

Following his brutal exit, Stephen admitted: ‘We fool ourselves, which is unbelievably stupid. 

‘You have to accept the fact that human beings cannot read lies and that human beings are brilliant dissemblers and pretenders, and there’s no way of telling.

‘It’s frustrating that the Traitors have done so well and there is no technique.

‘If some people are accused at the round table, they sometimes go off into these complicated, ridiculous excuses as to why they are irrefutably a Faithful. When I was accused, I just laughed.’ 

Last week, Celebrity Traitors then came to its nail-biting conclusion, with Alan Carr avoiding being caught by The Faithfuls, winning the entire prize pot. 

In the episode, the final five – Cat Burns, Joe Marler, Nick Mohammed, David Olusoga, and Alan – faced an epic final mission aboard the show’s famous steam train. 

Their mission sounded simple enough: board the train, find the keys, unlock the crates, and collect the gold — all within 20 minutes.

But, in true Traitors fashion, host Claudia Winkleman added a dramatic twist, revealing that the crates were rigged with explosives. 

Thankfully, the team were able to get the gold and disembark the train before they were detonated, rounding up the prize fund to an impressive £87,500. 

The group then faced one last roundtable where suspicions ran high.

Joe, believing Alan and Cat were the Traitors, made a pact to vote against David while secretly plotting to expose them later.

Viewers watched with baited breath as David desperately defended himself, before Cat was voted out after Joe made a last minute U-turn.

Remaining Traitor Alan told viewers Cat’s departure had ‘thrown a spanner in the works’ as he had to battle it out for the win solo.

Suspicions a Traitor was still lurking in their midst were still high as the songstress did not reveal her true identity in her departing speech.

In a shock change of heart, Nick said he doubted Joe after spotting him say ‘I’m sorry’ when he banished Cat.

Joe said after being banished by his fellow Faithful: ‘I read it so wrong. It hurts to be stabbed in the back last minute like that.’

With just David, Alan and Nick, it was up to them to decide if there was a Traitor in their midst.

David said: ‘I’ve never believed Alan is a Traitor.’

Nick also voted to end the game. The actor said: ‘I genuinely believe both of you are Faithful. I think we did it’ – only for Alan to pull the rug from under their feet when he made his bombshell revelation.