Joe Marler betrayal has England squad reeling after Celebrity Traitors final

England were left reeling from the betrayal of Joe Marler in the final of Celebrity Traitors after players and management were gripped by the reality TV smash hit.

The BBC show pitted ‘faithfuls’ against ‘traitors’ in a game of deceit and treachery played out in a castle, with Marler, the colourful prop who retired from rugby last year, emerging as the breakout star.

But in Thursday’s final the 35-year-old was duped by Ted Lasso star Nick Mohammed, even though the pair had formed an alliance in order to beat traitors Cat Burns, the singer-songwriter, and comedian Alan Carr.

Mohammed broke his pact at the last moment and banished Marler – to cries of anguish from England’s training base where players were willing on their former team-mate.

“We were all watching in the team room. Joe seemed to have read it perfectly and he had Nick onside and it was all going swimmingly,” second row Alex Coles said ahead of Saturday’s clash with Fiji.

“I guess they edited it to make you think it was all going to go exactly to plan and then the rug was pulled right out underneath him.

“We all expected that he was actually going to do really well if he was given a bit of time for people to get to know him.

“Joe’s a very charismatic person, he’s got a great sense of humour and it’s nice to see a different side of a rugby player being shown to the general public.

“We’re all really pleased for him. Shame he got backstabbed at the end, but that’s the way the game goes I guess.

“He’s shown his character, his personality and I’m sure off the back of it he will do really well if he wants to stay in that media space.”