The Celebrity Traitors helped Miranda Hart rediscover her 'joy' after chronic illness

It’s not long until viewers will find out whether Miranda Hart is playing the role of Traitor of Faithful in the second series of The Celebrity Traitors - but whichever way it pans out, Miranda is full of “joy” for the experience.

The BAFTA nominated comedian is making something of a comeback after a long-term battle with chronic fatigue syndrome saw her take a step back from television.

As The Celebrity Traitors is set to return, Miranda has described what filming the show has done for her, revealing that she was left wanting "to jump about like a schoolgirl with joy" as she looks forward to continuing her comeback.

Speaking to the Daily Star, Miranda explained why it felt time to make her return to television after battling the chronic illness. She said, "My decision making in life generally, and certainly work, is follow the joy.

"I haven't done much TV work for a long time, having only recently come out of long-term ill health issues and when I was offered this, my whole body sort of relaxed, I smiled, and I just wanted to jump about like a schoolgirl with joy.”

As for what to expect from the new series of the hit BBC series, she shared, “It's just fun. It's outdoors, it's games. All the stuff I love.

"It's play basically and I'm passionate about encouraging people to play more generally and this game is that in spades. It's a brilliant television show - the only flaw in taking part is that as a fan of the show it will be less fun to watch it with myself in it."

Whether this means we’ll see more of Miranda on TV again remains to be seen, but she is feeling more confident about her health.

In her 2024 memoir, I Haven't Been Entirely Honest With You, Miranda first revealed that she was diagnosed with Lyme disease, which led to her becoming bedbound with ME/CFS - myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.

She shared, "I'm still living with elements of ME, and that brings fatigue and pain to manage, but I have come to a point where I feel well enough to step out, and that's also partly why I'm doing this.

"The joy of mucking about on television again will hopefully outweigh some of the challenges and I think it will be challenging on my body, so it'll be interesting, and it'll take some courage as this is a big next step."

She added, "When you live with a chronic illness, it's invisible, so people don't know that you're sitting there in pain but then it reminds you that everybody's got their thing."