Charity ‘grateful’ after Alan Carr donates Celebrity Traitors prize

A children’s cancer charity has thanked comedian Alan Carr for his “commitment, compassion and drive” after he donated the £87,500 prize pot from his Celebrity Traitors victory.

Neuroblastoma UK told the Chatty Man star “we can’t tell you how grateful we are” after he was crowned the winner of the hit BBC spin-off series during Thursday night’s tense final.

Carr, who has been patron of the charity since 2016, said it was a cause close to his heart.

In a message posted on Neuroblastoma UK’s social media pages, the charity said: “Alan, what a moment. We can’t tell you how grateful we are.

“We’ve adored watching you over the last three weeks; all the more so with the glimmer of hope that if you did well, it might just mean something big for our small charity. And you did it.

“As our faithful Patron for nine years, your commitment, compassion and drive to bring hope to children and families facing this aggressive cancer have been nothing short of transformational. As a small charity with a big mission, you know how much this means to us.”

The charity also described the Celebrity Traitors star as “generous, warm, empathetic and unfalteringly kind”.

It added: “We promise to do you proud.”

During the final episode, Carr burst into tears as he revealed to the remaining faithfuls, comedian Nick Mohammed and historian David Olusoga, that he was a traitor.

He later told visual podcast Uncloaked: “The charity is so close to my heart that it all became a bit too much. Hopefully when people see how upset I was they won’t feel so bad that I killed all those national treasures.

“I told one person at the charity and they started crying, so that gives you some idea of how important this money will be to them.

“Neuroblastoma is such a cruel disease, and this money will literally save lives. It’s a charity and disease that no-one has really heard of so with the viewing figures being what they are it’s going to be so good for the charity.”

Carr became a patron for Neuroblastoma UK, which was founded as The Neuroblastoma Society in 1982, after meeting parents of children affected by the disease.

Neuroblastoma is a rare cancer that develops in early nerve cells and is most common in children under five years old.

The comedian was the first patron for the charity, and has been described by as “a passionate, dedicated ambassador”.