Traitors and Dancing On Ice star Mollie Pearce on the surgery that turned her life around

Watching Mollie Pearce abseil down a cliff face above the turbulent North Sea in The Traitors, or defy gravity with the infamous headbanger in Dancing On Ice, it is impossible to tell that she spent seven years of her life in pain.

But at just 11 years old Mollie, who is now 23, was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis – an autoimmune condition that causes inflammation of the lower end of the digestive system.

“I was very poorly, I was in out of hospital on loads of different medications and it ruled my whole life,” said Mollie.

“When I got that little bit older, I started to get bad anxiety about not having a toilet really close to me. I was really struggling to go to school and even to leave the house at points.”

Mollie Pearce and Colin Grafton in Dancing On Ice.

By the time she was 18, the decision was made to remove her colon and attach a stoma.

“I didn’t have much of a choice when it came to it, there wasn’t much left to try,” said Mollie.

“There was a time it was talked about when I was 15 and I literally remember saying: ‘I’d rather die than have this surgery.’ I was so against it.

“We held on to hope that new medications would come up or they’d find something else that would work. But around six months before I had my surgery, doctors said it was the best thing.

“I was so done with feeling that way, it was like an endless cycle, that in the end I just thought: ‘Get this thing out of me now.’”

Stoma surgery

Despite how scared she was about having the surgery, Mollie says having a stoma has changed her life for the better. She has affectionately named hers Sid.

“I’ve had my stoma now for four years and I know Sid very, very well, I have it sussed,” she said.

This new freedom allowed Mollie to do things she once thought might not be possible, like travel the world. She also got a job as a healthcare assistant, but was only there a few years before landing her big break in one of the BBC’s most talked-about TV shows of recent years. “The Traitors team contacted me to take part in season one, but I was going travelling at the time,” said Mollie.

“My stoma was fairly new and it was a really important thing for me to be able to travel, so I wanted to test it out. But my parents watched the first season and thought it was the best TV ever, so I went for it for season two and here we are.

“I never would have been able to do it before my surgery because, one, I would have been completely panicked about getting to a toilet, and two, if I had a flare-up, I would have been too poorly and had to drop out.”

Mollie was a Faithful on the show from the beginning, making it all the way to the final before ultimately being blindsided by her closest friend in what went down as one of the stand-out TV moments of 2024.

“Watching the final brought up a lot of memories, but I’ve definitely come to peace with it,” said Mollie.

“I feel like I stayed true to myself.”

Being a role model

Mollie didn’t leave the show with any money, but she did leave with a platform and was determined to do good with it. She wants to be a role model for anyone living with Crohn’s and colitis.

“It took a while for me to be open about it, but I’ve felt so alone before with my condition because it’s not talked about enough,” said Mollie.

“If we can change that narrative and make sure it’s being spoken about, it means more people will be tested and they won’t feel embarrassed or ashamed to go to the doctors, meaning that they’ll be diagnosed and get the right treatment.

“Because it’s to do with your bowels and the toilet, I think it is especially difficult to open up about.”

She added: “The feedback and the reaction has been incredible. So many people have said that they now feel that they can finally talk about it and that is all I want.

“I hate the thought of anyone feeling ashamed or embarrassed, because it’s not our fault. It is a condition that can be really debilitating. Crohn’s and colitis is an invisible illness so it’s easy to just pretend it doesn’t exist, but it really does and it affects a lot of people.”

Mollie uses modelling, social media and numerous TV appearances to help increase awareness and reassure those who may be facing surgery.

Though she had to adjust to life with Sid, something Mollie has known all her life is her limb difference.

She was born without fingers on her right hand, but this isn’t something she thinks of as a disability.

Mollie said: “To be honest, people forget I have it – even my mum and dad do sometimes. It has never really impacted me too much and I’ve always been able to find my own way around things and adapt because I was born with it.

“I had such a good group of friends growing up and a really supportive older brother who I would always copy. I’d just figure out how to do things because he was doing them and I didn’t want to be left out.

“I’ve never really thought of my hand as a disability at all, because I’m able to do everything. I’m very lucky with what I do have, I’ve got quite a good grip on that hand.

“Because it has always been part of me, it would be strange not to have that, I’ve never known any different.”

Dancing On Ice

The latest challenge Mollie proved she could take on was Dancing On Ice. She made it to week seven with professional skating partner Colin Grafton, despite having no skating or performing experience before the show.

“I’m proud because we worked really hard,” she said. “The experience was incredible and it’s something I’ll never forget. It helped me grow so much and made me realise I can do a lot more than I thought.

“It’s amazing what our bodies can do, and to think of the state my body was in four years ago when I had the surgery, it’s hard to believe. I hope it gives people the realisation that things do get better and they can find safety in that.”

Mollie’s life looks very different to how it was before she first stepped into The Traitors castle, and different again to how it did when she was awaiting surgery. If she were to go back and speak to her 18-year-old self, what would she say?

“I just want to give her a hug and tell her everything is going to be OK,” said Mollie.

“When you find out something like that is happening, your mind goes to the worst places. But it has been so much more positive than I ever expected. It has completely changed my life for the better.

“My hand and my stoma are all part of who I am, but they’re not who I am. As much as I love spreading awareness, there’s also part of me that is proud to just be me.”

‘I’d love to go back to Scotland’

The Traitors is filmed in the Highlands at Ardross Castle, and shooting it brought Mollie to Scotland for the first time.

“I absolutely loved it, it was so beautiful,” she said.

“We didn’t get to see as much as I’d hoped but we did missions in the lochs and we had a heatwave – we were so lucky. The weather was beautiful – nice, clear skies – and the water was gorgeous. I definitely want to go back.”

She said she will be “forever grateful” for her experience on the show and the friendships it brought her, even if they were playing against one another in the game.

Mollie said: “I think the final mission was a highlight for me. I just felt so proud to be there, and we all really worked together. We got to go in the helicopter; I remember watching season one, seeing them do that and thinking: ‘That would never be me.’ Suddenly I was there and it was wild.”

On why she thinks The Traitors has been so popular, Mollie said it’s all down to the players.

“It’s just normal, ordinary, everyday people,” she said.

“I think that’s why it does so well, because they’re all very real.

“When you pick people from the public, everyone is going to be able to find someone to relate to. It’s just a big social experiment that we’ve all fallen in love with.”