“He showed character” – England gathered to watch Marler in Celebrity Traitors.

Spoiler warning: This article reveals details from the finale of The Celebrity Traitors

The England squad gathered to watch former prop Joe Marler compete in the Celebrity Traitors final with Marler saying it was “more stressful” than playing for his country.

An average of 11.1 million people tuned in to watch the episode – the largest live audience of the year for a single television programme.

The BBC said this was the highest overnight viewership since the Gavin and Stacey finale, which attracted 12.3 million people on Christmas Day last year.

The show pitted the ‘loyalists’ against the ‘traitors’ in a game of deceit and treachery played out at the castle, with 35-year-old Marler, who retired from rugby last year, emerging as one of the breakout stars.

He was twice edged out in the final by Ted Lasso star Nick Muhammad, although they formed an alliance to beat traitorous Cat Burns, singer-songwriter and comedian Alan Carr.

Mohammed changed his mind at the last minute and voted to banish Marler – amid cries of pain, external From the England training base where the players prepared for their former team-mate.

“We were all watching in the team room. Joe seemed to have read it perfectly and Nick was by his side and everything was going smoothly,” second row Alex Coles said before Saturday’s match with Fiji.

“I think they edited it to make you think everything was going to go exactly as planned and then the rug was pulled out from under it.

“We all expected that he would do really well if he was given a little time for people to get to know him.

“Joe is a very charismatic guy with a great sense of humor and it’s nice to see a different side of the rugby player shown to the general public.

“We’re all really happy for him. It’s unfortunate that he got stabbed in the back at the end, but I think that’s the way the game goes.”

“He has shown his character, and I am sure he will do well if he wants to stay in this media space.”