Sharon Rooney: From Barbie to My Mad Fat Diary, here's everything to know about the Scottish star ahead of Celebrity Traitors
Here’s everything you need to know about Glasgow-born actress Sharon Rooney ahead of The Celebrity Traitors.
Scottish actress Sharon Rooney is among the famous faces entering the castle as part of the second series of Celebrity Traitors.
The Glasgow-born star is best known for her roles in shows such as Two Doors Down and My Mat Fat Diary, as well as appearances in Hollywood films such as Dumbo and Barbie. Despite her career, Rooney has admitted that she doesn’t think she’s “cut out” to be a Traitor.
“The main reason being I don't have a good poker face. And I think that is kind of quite high up in the job description,” she told the BBC ahead of the show.
One of 21 celebrities entering the iconic Traitors castle in the Scottish Highlands, other participants in series two of the show include Ross Kemp, Richard E Grant, James Blunt and more.
But who is Sharon Rooney? Here’s what you need to know ahead of her Celebrity Traitor debut.
Who is Sharon Rooney?
Sharon Rooney was born in Glasgow on October 22 1988. She grew up in the West End of Glasgow, and she continues to live on the outskirts of the city to this day.
As a teenager she attended Knightswood High School and worked at a newsagents after work. Rooney then went on to study acting at Hull University, and after graduating she did Theatre In Education tours, performing to school children for three years.
She was inspired to become an actress after going to see a pantomime with her family as a child. In an interview with The Scotsman, she said: “It was the King’s or Pavilion. Anyway, she let me stand on the chair to see and I was loving it and someone said to her about me, ‘She’s in her element’, and my aunty said, ‘Yes, she’s in her element all right.’ I just heard them calling me Ella Mint and thought, ‘One day I’m going to be Ella Mint, a star.’”
In a later interview, she joked: “I’m glad I went to that panto.”
Rooney’s breakthrough role didn’t come until 2013, just as she was considering quitting acting to go back to college for nursing.
She received the script for Channel 4’s critically acclaimed teen drama My Mad Fat Diary, which she initially dismissed as “another fat girl role,” as she told The Scotsman. However, her agent persuaded her to read the script and audition, a decision which helped change her life.
After reading half a page, she knew she would be perfect for the role. She told The Scotsman: “I thought, ‘OK, if I don’t get this, then that’s it. And if I do get it, well, I’ll worry about it later.”
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What TV shows and films has Sharon Rooney been in?
She starred in the show as 16-year-old Rae Earle, a music-obsessed 16-year-old plagued by mental health and body issues, with her co-stars including Liverpool actress Jodie Comer.
Following the first series of the show, Rooney was nominated for Best New Scottish Actress at the 2013 Scottish BAFTAs, and later went on to win Best Television Actress in 2015.
From there, her on-screen roles include as Sophie in Two Doors Down — though she won’t be returning when the new series arrives — with other early roles including shows such as Sherlock, Mountain Goats, Brief Encounters and Stag.
Her list of credits also includes shows such as sitcom Zapped, crime dramas The Tunnel, No Offence and The Capture.
Fans of Rooney may also recognise her from shows such as The Teacher, The Control Room, The Cleaner, Nightsleeper, The Revenge Club and and ongoing Aimee Lou Wood and David Morrissey-led comedy series Daddy Issues.
As for film roles, Rooney played Miss Atlantis in Tim Burton’s live action adaptation of Dumbo in 2019, which she co-starred in alongside Colin Farrell, Michael Keaton, and Danny De Vito.
She then appeared in biographical comedy-drama The Electrical Life of Louis Wain in 2021, along with stars including Benedict Cumberbatch, Claire Foy, and Andrea Riseborough.
In 2023, Rooney played Lawyer Barbie in Greta Gerwig’s 2023 Barbie film, which starred Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
Speaking with Glamour Magazine, she said: “Growing up, I didn't look like Barbie. Well, I do now.”
Her most recent film role was in 2025’s Grow, in which she played a character with the same name as herself: Sharon.
Sharon Rooney among the cast of Celebrity Traitors series 2
Speaking to the BBC about The Celebrity Traitors, Rooney came to be on the show because “it’s one of those things that you can’t say no to”.
A fan of the series, she described seeing the list of her fellow cast members as “crazy”.
Discussing the Traitors castle, which is in Ardross, she said: “It’s absolutely beautiful here. I still live in Scotland, I love home and I’ve probably had the shortest journey to the castle.”
When asked if she plays board games, Rooney admitted that she’s “not remotely competitive”.
She joked: “I've learned so far in preparation for this that I don't have a lot of good traits for this game!”
As for how she approached her time on the Celebrity Traitors: “My strategy for the game is like my strategy in life, and I think it would just be - keep yourself right. That would mean I'm not going to be swayed by any peer pressure. I'm not going to just vote for someone because everyone's doing it.
“If I don't think it's right, I'm not going to do it. I think that might be dangerous because it might make me look guilty, but I hate that thing where people vote for someone just because everyone's doing it.
“I’ll be true to myself, and I won’t just go along with the crowd.”
She acknowledges this may make her less of a team player at times, but is determined this trait will help her in the long run. “My biggest strength will be that I will not be easily swayed,” she said.
As for what else could prove to be her downfall: “My biggest weakness, I think, will be that I sometimes do get a wee bit quiet when there are a lot of people.
“One on one, no bother. Two or three, excellent. 20 or more people – that’s a lot. You don't find me chatting away in a packed green room. I think I’ll see who I’m drawn to... and hopefully they won’t murder or banish me!”
Rooney is also not, in her own opinion, a good liar. “I can't tell a lie. I'm really bad at lying. If I’m picked as a Traitor, I'd have to treat it as an acting role but be a version of me. I wouldn't be able to just relax and fully be myself because I can't lie. Even when I was little, if I'd broken something I’d immediately confess.”
She added: “My mum said it was a nightmare.”
The Celebrity Traitors will be on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm on Thursday and Friday.
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