Peter Capaldi turned down Celebrity Traitors because he 'didn't want the exposure'

Former Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi said he turned down joining The Celebrity Traitors because he did not want that “level of exposure”.

In a discussion about the pressures of fame and his career, The Thick Of It actor told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme he was asked to take part in the all-star version of the BBC’s reality TV show, but said no.

Asked why, the 67-year-old Scottish actor said: “Because I think there’s a level of fame that… I think it propels you into the public eye, at a level of exposure that I don’t really want.”

Last year, the star performed two home gigs in Glasgow with his band, Stereo. The shows followed the release of the band’s second album, ‘Sweet Illusions’, on local record label Last Night From Glasgow - and a guest slot with Franz Ferdinand at Glastonbury.

Capaldi was born in Glasgow and grew up in Springburn and Bishopbriggs, before studying at Glasgow School of Art. He started off playing in a band called The Dreamboys, whose lineup included comedian Craig Ferguson, but ultimately chose a career in acting, starring in cult Scottish film Local Hero in 1983.

He said: “I like doing, you know, it’s like doing my music things – it’s very difficult for people in that business to understand that you want to keep it small.”

He added: “People keep saying to me, why don’t you do a bigger tour, or why don’t you do a bigger release, or why don’t you promote this more?

“And I don’t… I’m not doing it to be famous.”

Peter Capaldi | Local Library

On his previous leading role as the Doctor, the Glasgow-born actor said he had “a little regret” when asked if he left the long-running BBC sci-fi show too early.

He added: “It’s great fun being Doctor Who, but the pressure of it is quite intense.

“You’re sort of on all the time and you don’t want to disappoint anyone because even though I’m not Doctor Who, if people are meeting me they’d rather meet the version of me that is Doctor Who.

“So you try not to let them down, right?”

“Yeah, because I’m quite miserable and melancholic, really,” he joked, adding: “And that was, that was one of the big changes in my life, I guess, which happened quite late, was I’m quite miserable really, but I thought you can’t be miserable if you’re Doctor Who.

“You can’t because you would disappoint people so I have to become cheerful all the time.”

The first series of The Celebrity Traitors aired on the BBC last autumn, with its nail-biting finale hitting a peak of 15.4 million viewers, according to the broadcaster.

It featured a star-studded cast including actors Celia Imrie and Nick Mohammed, singer Paloma Faith, author and actor Stephen Fry, broadcaster Jonathan Ross and comedian Alan Carr, who went on to win as a Traitor.

The spin-off series, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, brought in an average audience of 14.9 million people during its run – the biggest TV audience of 2025.