The Traitors star Mollie Pearce opens up about falling at the final hurdle, Claudia Winkleman’s fringe and living with her stoma bag, Sid
WORDS: ZOE CRIPPS PHOTOS: CATHERINE HARBOUR ASSISTANT: GEORGIA WILLIAMS STYLIST: LYNNE MCKENNA HAIR & MAKE-UP: CAROLINE PIASECKI
KEEPING THE FAITH
In real life, Mollie Pearce looks even better than the partial view we got of her when we last saw the 22-year-old through our fingers during the nail-biting final of The Traitors.
Although she was unceremoniously duped by her “bestie” Harry Clark in front of eight million viewers, Mollie takes it in her stride, graciously telling us “it’s just a game” and she’s “not going to be mad at the person that wins”.
We have to wonder if Mollie actually is the real winner of the show. With magazine interviews and event appearance requests rolling in, the former Faithful is on a trajectory to stardom usually reserved for those coming out of the Love Island villa. A level of fame that is now dwindling with each new series of the dating show, leading us to wonder if the days of the ‘traditional’ reality star are over.
“I feel like that’s the beauty of it, though, isn’t it?” Mollie muses. “Because everyone on it is just so relatable.”
Looking at Mollie on set today, there’s no way we’re seeing her as totally relatable; she looks perfectly at home as she poses with ease for the cameras. However, this ease is still relatively new to the Bristol-based beauty, who was born with a limb difference on her right hand and now wears a stoma bag following a life-changing surgery at 18 to treat her ulcerative colitis – a painful, inflammatory bowel disease.
Now, Mollie feels better than ever and is using her growing platform to raise awareness for those living with stomas.
Here, the star talks to us more about her life post-show, romance rumours and her plans for the future.
Hi, Mollie! We have to dive right in with the question we all want to know. Are you still friends with Harry after that dramatic final?
[Laughs] Yes, we’re all good. We spoke straight after on our own and we just laughed. I might have called him some names but I’m over it now.
Watching the show back now, do you have any regrets about how you played?
In hindsight, yes I have some regrets, but I can’t beat myself up about it, can I? People are like, “Why didn’t you spot this?” I just didn’t and that’s the end of it. I’m still proud of m
