This series of The Celebrity Traitors has been eventful, to say the least. Between James Blunt’s wild theorising, Miranda Hart’s top-tier Miss Marple reenactment and Hannah Fry’s terrible lying, there’s a dark horse creeping among them and keeping an impressively low profile. Enter: Sharon Rooney.
The loudest players are often the first to go. Julie Hesmondhalgh’s Traitor terminator act saw her banished, while Myha’la’s theatrical Round Table wink sealed her doom. But the down-to-earth Sharon, who’s known for her roles in Barbie and My Mad Fat Diary, is expertly flying under the radar. We think her quiet tactic will get her all the way to the finish line – let’s unpack why.
She who shan’t be swayed
The Glaswegian actor hasn’t got lost in heated Round Table discussions, nor has she been swayed by fellow contestants – and she’s confident in her convictions. In the series’ first Round Table in episode 3, she remained cool, calm and collected as she correctly was part of the majority who voted Richard E Grant out.
Some Faithfuls got persuaded by theories such as ‘lipgloss-gate’, which incriminated Leigh-Anne because she touched up her makeup late at night, leading to claims she was getting glammed up to kill.
‘I voted for Richard. All I had to go on was you literally saying, “I am a Traitor.’ It was the only tangible thing that I had, but I adore you,’ she shared, to a chorus of giggles.
Of course, she was correct. Richard E Grant has earned the accolade of worst game-player ever after proudly confessing to his fellow teammates that he was a Traitor. This simple, evidence-based reasoning and ability to remain level-headed will serve her well.
The selfless shield sacrifice
While she’s an independent thinker, she’s also a team player – an essential attribute to being a good Faithful. In episode 3, the team’s very own battle commanders, Ross Kemp and James Blunt, led the troop in a challenge where they had to use a battering ram to break down four crypts and collect money for the jackpot. Two players had to enter each crypt and there were also shields hidden among the treasure.
Sharon entered the vault with Traitor Maya and they both grabbed a shield – agreeing to keep it a secret from the others. ‘Shh, don’t tell anyone,’ Sharon said to Maya and they returned to the game. Sneaky.
However, later, Bella and Sebastian revealed two shields must be sacrificed to release the gold from their chest. Sharon handed over her shield, while Maya remained silent. Sharon ultimately forfeited her protection for the greater good of the team but was also prepared to tell a white lie for self-gain. The selfless shield sacrifice can only see her rise in the ranks of most trustworthy players, keeping her out of the danger zone.
The Love Island presenter pleaded with Sharon to keep the fact she had a shield a secret. So far, Sharon has kept her word, but it could prove to be incriminating evidence in pinning Maya down as a Traitor later down the line. Will Sharon remain loyal to the secret murderer or will she share her findings at a Round Table discussion? We’ll have to wait and see. Either way, the secret-keeping is testament to her ability to keep things to herself rather than preach loudly to the others. Smart.
She’s quiet, but deadly
Sharon hasn’t come under fire from any of the other contestants. During Claudia’s recruitment spree, she shared that she’s a good judge of character – which is, arguably, the most important trait to succeed in the game. While she’s sharing a castle with big dogs such as Jerry Hall and Michael Sheen, Sharon is less famous and happy to observe from behind the curtain, rather than being the star of the show. This will only work in her favour.
The Round Table discussion at the end of episode 4, which saw the vocal Traitor terminator Julie Hesmondhalgh banished, showed a teary Sharon vote for her friend. While she picked wrongly (Hannah escaped the boot by the skin of her teeth), Sharon emotionally confided in Joe, Romesh and Jerry.
‘We need to be very, very careful of a certain person in this castle, who is…’ she warned. Rather than sharing the name, she enacted a vigorous stir of an imaginary pot. She must have learned to mime so well in drama school.
‘What?’ Joanne entered the scene and asked. ‘There is somebody stirring this pot massively,’ she said. Intelligently, Sharon didn’t share the name with the group.
‘I am actually a bit annoyed with James Blunt. Not a sentence I ever thought I’d say,’ she said in private. Later she shared her suspicions with ‘Bash’ (Sebastian Croft) and Joanne.
‘James Blunt is running about this castle with a shield theory, this theory, that theory,’ she said. ‘It was him that was Julie, Julie, Julie, Julie, Julie…’ she added. James, sporting a full lemon suit, awkwardly peeped around the door before quietly retreating from the room.
While the crusade against James is misguided, she’s made intelligent observations from his very vocal game-plan. She’s clearly able to quietly influence those around her. Julie voiced her suspicions far too loudly and Bella was detected as a skilled threat, so both of them were ousted from the game. Meanwhile, Sharon is doing a stellar job at tiptoeing around the castle undetected.