Mark Bonnar is used to playing characters in stressful situations, but one of his most famous roles came back to haunt him in Wednesday night’s episode of The Celebrity Traitors, when he was accused of being a “suspect number one” traitor.
In a conversation with rugby star Joe Marler, the sportsman made the – very valid! – point that actors may have an unfair advantage in playing the game, saying: “I’m suspicious of all the actors because of how easily you can slip into it”, before turning to Mark Bonnar to accuse him face-to-face of being one of the three traitors.
An impassioned Mark then went a little overboard on trying to convince Joe that he was indeed a faithful, but an innocent slip up only served to put more heat on the Scottish actor and may even have sealed his fate.
Replying to Joe’s claim that he was “suspect number one”, Mark said: “For me, it’s not to do with how good an actor you are, it’s to do with the person you are and I never ever wanted to come into this as a traitor, ever from the very first moment it was offered or mooted...”
Mooted! A word that Joe then jumped on – also outing himself as a Line of Duty fanatic in the interim – which Mark himself then referenced: “Mooted! I say that in Line of Duty, don’t I! Stop watching Line of Duty, I’m not a traitor, man! I’m a faithful.”
He added: “Don’t confuse me with my character. Because I play a lot of dodgy men I think people expect something of my work to be in me but there’s really not any of that in me. I’m quite daft and I care a lot about people.”
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Fans of the long-running BBC police procedural – like Joe – will remember that Mark played DCC Mike Dryden in series two; a bent copper who was eventually outed for having sex with a minor, then arranging for the 15-year-old girl to have an abortion.
Previously, in episode four, while he’s under interrogation from AC-12 about a driving offence, Steve Arnott (Martin Compston) tells Mike: “Sir, we’re under no obligation to inform your wife that she’s not a compellable witness; and whether she can or can’t give evidence against you is a moot point as per R v L 2008.” Mike responds: “I’ll inform her. She’ll back me up. Nothing moot there.”
But no matter what Mark said or did – even ending up hanging in a giant net from a tree during the mission – from this point onwards helped convince Joe, and the other contestants he later persuaded to vote for Mark.
Mark’s cards were well and truly… marked from the word that he accidentally used, which just so happened to be in a key scene of one of his biggest shows, where he played the villain.
And around the voting table, more pressure and suspicion was piled on to Mark. Accused of “slapping the table very hard, twice” when Claire was banished, and watching the other contestants too closely at the funeral mission only added to his woes.
Alan Carr added: “For someone who loves the experience so much it would be wonderful to be a traitor for someone who throws himself in.”
A double deadlock – after a double vote – saw Mark up against David Olusoga, and Mark pleaded with the rest of the contestants: “I love this game – I don’t think there was anything wrong with me being frustrated that we got a fourth faithful in the role. I play this game with all my heart, I’m not putting on an act. Yes I came to win but as a faithful and that’s what I am.”
But the fist-gnawingly tense cliffhanger at the end of Wednesday night’s show means that Mark is still in the firing line.
The Traitors series 1-3 are streaming on BBC iPlayer. The Celebrity Traitors airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
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