I’m the Traitors star Diane Carson from Lancashire and I want to uncover the nation’s secrets!
and on Freeview 262 or Freely 565
63-year-old Diane, who moved from Ireland to Lytham St Anne’s 25 years ago, became some what of an iconic character on this year’s popular BBC show The Traitors.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdThe former teacher appeared on the show alongside her ‘secret’ son Ross, which she kept hidden from her fellow castle mates until her murder on episode 7.
Since coming out of the show, Ansdell resident Diane has made headlines for her fundraising efforts and now she is about to head up a campaign focusing on another passion of hers -uncovering secrets and being an environmentally conscious parent.
This is because mum of three Diane has teamed up with the laundry brand Ecover, who are combining the launch of their new capsule range with a campaign called ‘Lets Come Clean’ which hopes to tackle the dirty side of cleaning for the good of the planet.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWe sat down for a chat with Diane to talk about dirty secrets, life as a mum and life after Traitors. See what she had to say below:
How has life changed since Traitors?
Diane said: “Well there's been a few different brands, there's been a few appearances, giving out awards. So I'm in Northern Ireland at the end of the week, which I'm so proud of… [for] Pride of Ireland and I'm proud of even being asked. I'm not a nervous person so I'm quite happy to go on stage and chat, give out awards, but it's obviously close to home, to my heart I should say, so that's fabulous. There’s been a couple of TV things which I cannot talk about, but you know, I've just absolutely loved it - people coming up to me, not necessarily so much where I live here but there's sort of an older generation around here. My kids say ‘oh, you're being noticed’ but everybody's very respectful and when people do come up it's just lovely because I can chat - as you can imagine - for a long time. The only thing is I wish people weren’t ‘so nervous… people get nervous being around celebrities and I'm considered a celebrity which is not quite true, it’s just me. If you want to go and chat to somebody just go and chat somebody, if you want a photograph, just go and ask them. Don't ever be worried or nervous about that. I find that a wee bit sad to think that people got so nervous.”
Reflecting on her experience during and after the show, Dianne added: “It’s totally unexpected because one- I didn't expect to get on the show- and two - I certainly didn't expect to last. And it's been a privilege to have done it with a member of my family, such happy memories we’ve made together, it’s great. Then all these things - you know we're given platforms now to work on things that are close to our hearts as well. So we also have done Tough Mudder and we raised just under £2000 pounds for Alzheimer's -my dad passed away sadly with Alzheimer's. Then in September, I'm doing the Great North Run and again I'll be raising money for Alzheimer's because I was supposed to do it last year but i was being buried!
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“I just think it's a privilege to be working with companies and campaigns and charities, using the platform from Traitors to make a difference.”
You’re now heading up Ecover’s Dirty Secrets Campaign, what is that?
Diane said: “So Ecover have done a survey to find out some of Britain's secrets as to how they wash and look after their houses, themselves and they have find out - I think quite shockingly - that 20% of people will only wash their sheets once a month and 33% will wash their towels less than every 2 weeks and for somebody like me who's a fitness freak, that’s shocking. 21% will also allow pets in bed when they're sleeping at night and that is not something I'd be thinking about, I mean, that would disturb my sleep for one thing. Then 35% of people will lie about what they're recycling and how they're washing to save face with friends or in workplaces. So the idea is that the people in Britain come together on the 25th of June to come to the confessional captial at Great Titchfield Street Gallery to confess all about their washing habits and the idea is that it's good for the soul, confessing. We will also look at what we can do to improve, continuing the journey of having less impact on the environment. Also while you're there you will get some complimentary samples of the Ecover laundry capsules, which is amazing.”
Do you use the products?
Diane, who has three grandchildren aged 5, 3 and 2 said: “Obviously being on this campaign, I have been looking at some of the products and I’m very impressed. I have some with me now and first of all, you can see all the information written on the top so if you're worried about sustainability, this gives you all the information that you need. For example, these products use upcycled rose petals from the original process of making rose oil and the apricot kernels that are used, again would have been thrown out but instead they’re used in Ecover’s capsules so the fragrance is lovely.
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide Ad“Also you can actually wash at 20 degrees Celsius using these capsules which is amazing so you're saving money and energy. I do a lot of washing for my workout gear and I've always washed on 30 degrees never realising that you could actually wash using these capsules at 20 degrees as well. Also because they're in capsules, you just throw them in, you don't need to measure so that's another good reason to be using these. The whole thing really is about just continuing on the process of having less impact on the environment and not wasting things.”
Are those values important to you?
The former teacher at the Isis Cente in Blackpool replied: “Absolutely… I personally came to the journey through my own kids because they're very into recycling so when the babies came along, my grandsons, you know, they were washing nappies with washable wipes, they’re totally into recycling. My daughter in law also doesn't want plastic toys. Obviously being a little boy, my grandson wants plastic cars but she's asked for recycled plastic toys for him. Its about introducing their children as well to recycling which is fabulous.
“My daughter, her husband and my grandson are living with us at the minute in between buying houses and my wee grandson knows which bins you put the plastics in, the cardboard. I think Ecover is just part of that journey of looking after the environment and they appreciate that it's small steps- we can't all do it just like ‘that’ but we're making progress.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdWere you conscious of the environment when you were raising your kids in Lytham St Anne’s?
Dianne, who lives in Ansdell, said: “I’ve always been aware of the environment but I think my kids probably educated me more. It was about the time when they were growing up that recycling hit households really. I mean, where we used to live, they would check your bins occasionally and let me tell you, if you had the wrong product in the wrong bin, they didn't lift it and they left a note for you I don't think there's the manpower to do that now or maybe it’s just always right!”
Does the Ecover campaign have a connection to the Traitors?
The former faithful contestant answered: “Because I've just come out of a castle where lies are being told - and plenty - the idea is that, you know, I’m discovering lies that people might be making to save face about their habits regarding washing and so on.”
Advertisement
Hide AdAdvertisement
Hide AdAnd how did you feel lying on the Traitors?
Diane replied: “Even though I didn't lie about Ross, obviously I didn't tell anybody about Ross. But I remember feeling ‘oh my god, I should tell Evie and Tracy’ because they were like my buddies there. ‘I should tell them, but I can't because we're not going to!’ Evie obviously knew eventually through Ross, but when we were out, I instantly told Tracey and sent photographs of Ross and me just because it made me feel better. It was a more genuine sort of a relationship. I wasn't keeping this back from her so confessing is definitely good for the soul.”
So if you want to confess your diry secrets for the sake of your own soul head down to Great Titchfield Street Gallery next Tuesday (June 25.)
Finally is there anything else in the pipeline for you?
Diane said: “I'm doing a pantomime in Blackpool- Funny Girls -which I was asked about quite soon after I got out and I thought that’d be fun. I did say I can’t act but they're very happy with just me being myself and I hope that's true at the end! So that's coming up and then a couple of other projects, which will be one fairly soon and the other one, possibly not until next year. And then as I said the Great North Run, appearances and award evenings but I'm always up for doing a comedy show, if anybody's interested - I'd love to do that. To have a job where you’re just laughing all day long, that would be great wouldn’t it?”
Comment Guidelines
National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.