The Traitors star Amanda Collier has claimed that taking part in the hit BBC murder mystery series ‘saved her life’ after she discovered a life-changing diagnosis.
The former Detective Chief Inspector with the Metropolitan Police was the fourth contestant to be banished from the Scottish castle.
Despite her close relationship with Traitor Rachel, she was wrongfully suspected of traitorous behaviour by her fellow players.
Now, however, the 57-year-old has revealed that being selected to take part in the show might have potentially saved her life.
Amanda, from Brighton, explained how ahead of filming she was given a routine medical check that showed she has a serious heart condition.
The retired detective said that the condition, which was shown on a CT scan, runs in her family and she was ‘very, very grateful’ to the show’s creators as she would never have known the extent of her health problem.
‘If I hadn’t had the scan I would still be running around doing what I’ve always done – such as half marathons which put a massive strain on your heart,’ she told the BBC.
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‘The good news is that I’m now on a course of drugs and I’ve changed my lifestyle, and I’m regularly checked by the NHS so I’m in a good place… I’m very, very grateful for the show.’
Since leaving fourth series of The Traitors, Amanda added that she has changed the way she stays fit, replacing long-distance running with short bursts of exercise like a HIIT class.
She has also become an advocate for the British Heart Foundation, hoping to use her platform to raise awareness about heart disease.
‘I want to tell people heart disease doesn’t have an age… young people get it,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t have to stop you doing what you love.’
This comes after she revealed earlier this week that she was involved in a bike crash that caused the ‘most pain of [her] life’.
The terrifying incident occurred in 2022 when the former Metropolitan Police detective was on holiday with her wife, Caroline, in France.
Amanda said the couple were ‘having a lovely time on a camper van holiday in the Loire Valley countryside’ when they decided on a bike ride for their final day.
‘Out of the blue, Caroline accidentally clipped my wheel,’ the 57-year-old recalled to The Sun on Sunday.
‘The freak accident sent me headfirst into this flint wall. Even though I was wearing a helmet, I realised I had to turn my body, or I would break my neck.
‘It all happened in a split second, but my shoulder smashed into the hard rock, and I couldn’t breathe, and I had badly winded myself.’
She described the whole thing as ‘just awful’.
Prior to this being revealed, she also cleared up a secret connection theory between her and Reece that fans were previously running wild with.
Addressing the theory, she told Metro exclusively: ‘Reece is going to be a friend of life. I absolutely adore Reece. He reminds me of my brother [who] passed away at the age of 32 in 2011. Reece is the spitting image.
‘We got on so well, and it was very difficult for me to handle what happened with the chests of chance. [It] could have been anyone else, but it had to be Reece. Of course, it had to be Reece.
‘We are extremely close, and we will always be, but no, he’s not my son. I wish he was!’
The Traitors continues at 8pm on Wednesday night on BBC One.
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