For Miranda Hart, taking part in The Celebrity Traitors meant being well enough to work, spend time outdoors and laugh with other people after Lyme disease had left her bed-bound.
The actress and comedian, 53, reflected on that return after Traitors Maya Jama, James Acaster and King Kenny chose her for “murder” in the BBC show’s October 23 episode.
“I have missed doing television so much and it has been a very hard road to get to a place after restricting long term illness to be fit enough to do something again,” she said.
Her time in the Scottish Highlands included a challenge moving enormous stone heads with her teammates. During the show, she explained that about 3 years earlier, she’d feared she might never manage even a gentle walk around a park again.
Looking back on the experience after her exit, Hart said: “Ultimately, in my little personal story, this has been quite extraordinary that I’ve been able to get back and do the thing that I love professionally and do the things that I love personally, like wandering around a Scottish highland and being in nature and laughing and connecting. There were times that I didn’t think that would be possible again.“
She was glad she’d avoided a banishment speech, explaining: “I would have told them how precious the connection and the joy and playfulness had meant after years of not being able to experience that, knowing that they are the most important things in life. And then no doubt the floodgates would have opened.”