WITH a beaming smile on her face, Julie Hesmondhalgh couldn’t hide her excitement at being part of The Celebrity Traitors, but now she can’t even bear to be a member of the cast WhatsApp group.
Just a few days into the competition and the 56-year-old national treasure – known by the nation as iconic Coronation Street character Hayley Cropper – was sent packing and her Traitors dream came crashing down. Here, insiders tell me what they think really led to her time being cruelly cut short – and why it was such a blow.
Within seconds of The Celebrity Traitors starting, Julie became a stand out character as she gushed over her fellow stars – ushering them into the church.
After being the voted most trustworthy by the group, she went on to land her dream role as a Faithful, a part she also loyally plays off-screen as wife of Corrie writer Ian Kershaw and doting mum to their two children, Martha, 24, and Lyss, 22.
But behind her huge smile and giddy persona, insiders have told me how a crippling fear was in fact in play and could ultimately have led to her downfall.
A source said: “Julie channelled her inner Traitors super-fan as she confidently approached acting royalty Richard E. Grant and singing sensation James Blunt in the opening Celebrity Traitors scenes, but behind her enthusiastic approach she was a bundle of nerves.
“She doesn’t like putting herself out there much, preferring to be concealed behind characters. But there is nowhere to hide on Celebrity Traitors.
“Despite being a national treasure herself, she is incredibly self-effacing. Viewers might think the opposite after seeing Julie introduce herself to everyone at the beginning of the game, but that’s just her nature.
“She is such a huge fan of The Traitors format, and was desperate to make a success of her stint on the show, which makes her early exit even more upsetting.
“But her nerves and being an over-sharer may well have played a part in Julie’s downfall.”
On Friday evening, Julie looked visibly distraught as she was banished after receiving the majority of votes.
While revealing her true identity, she told her fellow contestants: “You know how much I have loved every second of this experience. It has been immense. Alas, it may mean that I am not a phenomenal actor, I am indeed a faithful.”
Her fellow contestants decided she had to go partly because the actress refused to share the theories of Bella Ramsey, who was murdered earlier in the show.
After blowing a kiss as she left, she admitted: “I have to say it’s harder than I thought.
“You bond with people and connect with people very quickly. So, when you get thrown under the bus … I was ready for it, but it was a bit hard.”
She even suddenly quit the cast WhatsApp group after the on-air drama.
On BBC Breakfast on Monday, talking about their “crazy whatsApp group” she explained: “People were sharing who’d won at one point and me and a couple of other people removed ourselves because we just don’t want to know.”
Before entering the castle, Julie told how her family’s “completely nuts” reaction to her being cast in Celebrity Traitors had become a “little bit of a burden”, and she was desperate not to leave the show early.
The source added: “Her family are all gutted for her and know how hard she would have taken it. It’s a huge blow and it’s taken a while for her to feel OK about it.”
While Julie wasn’t in control of her initial Celebrity Traitors fate, in terms of being chosen as a Faithful or a Traitor, she was delighted to be picked as a Faithful.
She has watched many franchise spin-offs of The Traitors across the globe and is such a fan of the good guys she “hates it” when Traitors are victorious on one of the show’s series.
However, one of Julie’s greatest fears about the game show is upsetting someone during the dreaded roundtable banishments.
She said: “The thing I find hardest is people being upset with me.
“I don’t like being the cause of upset. So, if I was to banish someone who was a Faithful, and they were upset with me about it, or they didn’t get banished, and approached me after to ask, ‘Why did you put my name down?’
“I’d find that quite hard but that’s something I’ve got to work on because it’s all part of the game.”
As well as playing Corrie’s Hayley – the first permanent transgender character in a British soap – the star is known for taking on characters who are deeply grounded, ordinary people, who often spark intense conversation about uncomfortable social realities.
Julie has also made a name for herself playing sexual assault survivor Trish Winterman in ITV drama Broadchurch; Suzanne Sercombe – the supportive wife of Horizon scandal hero Alan Bates in ITV drama Mr Bates vs the Post Office – and she is due to appear in a play based on the trial of the husband of feminist icon Gisele Pelicot, a survivor of mass sexual abuse.
The source added: “Julie picks her roles incredibly carefully. She doesn’t just accept a part if there is a big pay cheque attached.
“She had a huge amount of attention on her playing Hayley Cropper, but she dealt with it incredibly professionally and actively engaged with critics and activists.
“Julie doesn’t rush into new projects, she would prefer to be patient and wait for a meaningful script to come around.”
Juliehas been married to Ian Kershaw – who she affectionately knows as “Kersh” – for 23 years.
The star recently admitted she “didn’t hesitate” to accept a Celebrity Traitors role, and she also knew exactly what she wanted when she first met her man.
At the end of her first night of flirting with her now-husband, she told him: “I’m going to marry you.”
She previously told the Mirror: “He was going for an audition the next day and I texted him saying, ‘I hope you get this job today, because I will expect to be kept in the manner I’ve become accustomed to when we get married and have our two kids.’
“He texted back saying, ‘What do you want from me!?’
“I said, ‘Not much, just a top wedding and kid by next Christmas!’ He answered saying, ‘Martha or Arthur?’
“Our Martha was born by the next Christmas.”
Julie moved in with Ian after less than a week, and she fell pregnant with her and Ian’s first child, Martha, just six weeks after they started dating.
Julie has admitted she gets starstruck and “hungry for friendship with people that I know off the telly”.
Julie previously said she felt “overwhelmed” on her first day on the Broadchurch set, and joked it was like “being in Madame Tussauds”.
While she was hoping to rein in her eagerness to be pals with her TV heroes, that went out of the window during the first moments of Celebrity Traitors.
However, she isn’t quite as sweet and innocent as people might think.
She said: “I am a fair player but I’m incredibly competitive.
“I commit so strongly, I’m a maniac, so everyone’s a bit worried about me in the Missions!
“I absolutely play to win. I don’t mind losing. I’m not a sore loser but I give it my all. So much so I think people are genuinely quite frightened of me sometimes!”
And we saw just that during the last round table – while Julie might be the one struggling with nerves, she clearly has what it takes to put others on edge.