Stephen Fry's prison past as Celebrity Traitor star named as BBC show 'big dog'

One front-runner on Celebrity Traitors has opened up on their "troubled past". Among the 19 celebrities who entered Ardross Castle in Scotland for the first episode of the star-studded series was Sir Stephen Fry, who rose to prominence as half of the comedy duo Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie.

During his stint on the BBC show, Stephen has candidly opened up on his "troubled" childhood, which included a period in prison - much to the shock of many viewers at home, who would never had guessed he had a criminal past. He told YouTuber Niko about his mum being present to witness him receive his knighthood. He then said: "You know, given what a dreadful child I was. I literally went to prison and things like that. So it was a bit like 'this troubled child has finally been less of a disgrace'." Despite limited details being known regarding his youth and incarceration, Stephen has previously revealed to the BBC that he suffered from "galloping kleptomania" during his teenage years.

Because of his sticky fingers, Stephen received a three-month prison sentence at Pucklechurch in South Gloucestershire. Throughout his imprisonment, Stephen earned the moniker "The Professor" due to his educational credentials.

Following his three-month term, Stephen explained his parents encouraged him to determine his future path. He said: "I wouldn't say they'd given up on me, but they basically said, 'We're not going to push you into any other schools. You must now decide what you want to do'."

While not many of his fans or peers seem to be aware of his troublesome past, Stephen has earned himself the title of "big dog" in the Traitor's castle thanks to a theory from rugby player Joe Marler.

This theory, about its two most popular contestants, proves that there is an added complexity to the celebrity spin-off that simply doesn't exist in the civilian version - and it's down to how popular the celebrities are in real life.

During a conversation with comedian Joe Wilkinson, Marler posited that host Claudia Winkleman had devised a secret war between the game's two most famous contestants: Stephen and Jonathan Ross.

He suggested: "Maybe Claudia picked a war to be had between the Traitor team, led by the big dog - Jonathan - against the Faithful team, led by the Faithful big dog, of Stephen... she's gone, 'I wanna see which team's gonna win now'."