BBC Traitors favourite Harriet Tyce's £15million fortune and Abbey Clancy link revealed | Wales Online

The Traitors favourite Harriet Tyce is a successful crime novelist with an estimated £15 million fortune and counts Strictly Come Dancing winner Abbey Clancy among her celebrity fans

Harriet Tyce is tipped to be the winner of the new series of The Traitors, which began on New Year's Day, but does she really need the prize money?

What viewers may not realise is that the 53-year-old Faithful contestant is a successful crime novelist, with four books under her belt, including her debut novel Blood Orange, released in 2019, which boasts a celebrity fanbase.

Her husband Nathaniel is reportedly a high earner, bringing in £3.5 million annually as head of global markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Japanese bank Nomura. Together, they are believed to have amassed a fortune of around £15 million - nearly enough to purchase Ardross Castle, the Scottish Highland setting for The Traitors.

Since the latest series of The Traitors aired, Harriet, an avid Agatha Christie fan and author of crime novels The Lies You Told, It Ends at Midnight and A Lesson in Cruelty, has reportedly seen a staggering 96 per cent increase in her book sales.

Her appearance on the BBC show conveniently aligns with the release of her latest novel, Witch Trial, set to hit shelves on 26 February, reports the Mirror.

Set in Harriet's hometown of Edinburgh, the plot revolves around two teenage girls and a murdered classmate, leading to a 'modern day witch trial that will divide the nation', according to the book's synopsis.

Away from the spotlight of the BBC show, Harriet and Nathaniel, parents to Freddie, 21, and Eloise, 17, reportedly reside in a spacious townhouse situated on a leafy street in Highbury, North London.

A former criminal barrister, Harriet - who holds an English Literature degree from Oxford University - switched to writing after finding it impossible to balance motherhood with her demanding legal career.

Her novels have proved hugely successful, attracting admirers including model and broadcaster Abbey Clancy. Following the selection of her debut novel Blood Orange for Richard and Judy's book club, Abbey - married to former England footballer Peter Crouch - revealed to Grazia she "couldn't put it down".

According to the Daily Mail, a source described Harriet and her husband Nathaniel as "absolutely minted", suggesting they probably don't require the prize money from The Traitors, which currently stands at £52,000. The maximum amount a contestant could walk away with is £120,000.

The source remarked: "Her husband is coining it in but so is Harriet. Traitors pays – look at her sales. She is not a stupid woman."

Should she triumph on this year's programme, Harriet is understood to have earmarked the winnings for a specific cause after losing a dear friend to cancer. This tragedy reportedly prompted her to reassess her own wellbeing, leading her to give up alcohol in 2022.

Speaking to The Guardian in 2024, Harriet admitted that during her 20s whilst working as a barrister, she would regularly visit Fleet Street pubs where "dinner consisted of five pints of Stella and a packet of crisps". Upon turning 40, she remembered feeling "mortified" when all her birthday gifts were alcohol-related.

Yet, even this wasn't enough to deter her from drinking. It was only the loss of a close friend that prompted her to end her relationship with alcohol.

Harriet stated: ""There are only so many blackouts a middle–aged mum should have... One of my best friends died in April 2021. It was cancer, it was terrible, and it was emphatically not alcohol related in any way.

"But we were born within two weeks of each other and seeing her life cut so short was a moment of reckoning for me. I could keep on as I was going, or I could face up to the fact that I was more than a pickled brain in a pickling jar. It was time to take care of myself. My last drink was on 7 June 2022."

She has previously expressed her gratitude for her second chance at life, stating that if she wins Traitors, she will donate her prize money to a breast cancer charity. "That's the perfect way for Harriet to remember her friend," a friend suggested.

The Traitors is available to watch on BBC iPlayer