Mark has appeared in multiple hit TV shows over the years (Image: Getty Images)
Scottish actor Mark Bonnar has become a recognisable figure on British television, celebrated for his performances in Shetland, Line of Duty, Casualty and Dept Q. He’s embarking on an entirely different venture on BBC’s Celebrity Traitors, participating in the celebrity edition of the acclaimed reality programme.
Speaking before the show aired, he said: “I was thrilled to be asked to be honest with you. I’m a fan of the show. It’s one of the few things that we watch as a family. It’s put together very well, and it’s proved itself, in its popularity. I thought it’d be really exciting to be a part of the first celebrity version – an interesting challenge! If anything comes my way that scares me, I try to make sure I do it, and this is way out my comfort zone!”
Before the new series’ first epsiodes were broadcast, Mark used social media to share a message with his followers where he hinted that matters were going to “get very, very nuts….”, reports the Daily Record.
The performer is battling alongside other renowned personalities including Jonathan Ross, Alan Carr and Kate Garraway. In the first three episodes of the celebrity iteration of the beloved mystery reality programme filmed at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands Mark has been seen attempting to sniff out the Traitors in the group
READ MORE: Kate Garraway makes ‘angry’ Celebrity Traitors confession after huge twist
READ MORE: Celebrity Traitors Celia Imrie’s awkward fart gave us TV moment of the year
Mark played Stephen Burns in the hit Netflix show Dept Q which debuted this year (Image: Netflix)
Acting career
While many people may identify Mark from various television productions throughout the years, it can occasionally be challenging to pinpoint precisely where. The 56-year-old’s career has spanned decades, beginning with his role in the original version of Rebus in 2000.
Since then, he has featured in some of Britain’s most beloved dramas such as Casualty, The Bill, Psychoville and the award-winning Edinburgh-based BBC thriller, Guilt.
Some of Mark’s latest roles include Duncan Hunter in the BBC detective series Shetland, where he appeared in 23 episodes from 2013 to 2022, and most recently he starred in Netflix’s hit drama Dept. Q as Stephen Burns.
He also featured in Lockerbie: A Search for Truth, playing the character Roderick McGill, which premiered in January this year.
Growing up in Scotland
Mark has been married to Lucy Gaskell since 2007 (Image: 2025 Getty Images)
Before embarking on his acting career, Mark lived in various parts of Scotland, moving around with his artist father. The family spent time in Dundee while his dad studied at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee.
However, during his early teenage years, the family relocated back to the Lochend area of Edinburgh. While attending secondary school, he worked delivering newspapers.
He later described his hometown as one of the toughest neighbourhoods in Edinburgh in the 1980s, and confessed he was surprised he survived his paper route, given that he sometimes did deliveries in some unusual attire.
Revealing his inspiration came from Adam Ant, the frontman of new wave band Adam and the Ants, he previously said: “He was on the ceiling above my bed .There were two posters. There was Adam Ant and there was Debbie Harry.
“I think I really fell for Adam in a big way, to the extent I used to have a paper round where we stayed in Lochend – in Restalrig Circus – and sometimes I would don a white stripe across my nose and tie some ribbons in my hair and go and do my paper-round,” he went on.
“I’m surprised I’m still here to be honest, after doing a paper round dressed up like that in Lochend.”
Mark left Edinburgh during the 1990s, when he began his studies at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, finishing his acting qualification and graduating in 1996.
Family life
Mark Bonnar is staring in BBC’s Celebrity Traitors (Image: BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry)
Beyond the public eye, Mark discovered romance with fellow performer Lucy Gaskell, who has remained a recognisable presence on British screens since the 2000s. She’s recognised for her appearances in hit programmes including Misfits, Casualty, where she portrays Kirsty Clements, and BBC series Cutting It.
The couple exchanged vows in 2007 and allegedly first crossed paths four years prior, in 2003, while appearing in a staging of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard. It marked Lucy’s first professional theatre performance, where she portrayed Dunyasha, while Mark took on the role of Trofimov.
According to The Guardian, Mark and Lucy live with their family in Hertfordshire. During a candid 2023 chat on Kate Thornton’s White Wine Question Time, Mark expressed his love for Lucy.
“It was our 15-year wedding anniversary [in] December. I couldn’t believe it was 15 years we were celebrating because I’m still filled with love when I look at her, you know, which is a wonderful thing to feel,” he said.
The star continued: “She’s really kind of taught me a lot about life and about love and care and commitment.”
The pair are parents to two children – daughter Martha, who arrived in July 2011, and son Samuel, born in July 2015.
Mark and Lucy prefer to keep their two young children out of the spotlight (Image: Instagram)
Mark has previously opened his heart about the significance of becoming a father, confessing it had always been his dream.
“Having kids was late in the day for me,” he admitted. “I met Lucy when I was in my mid-30s and we had eight years before we had children.”
Discussing his parenting philosophy, he said: “My parents always said to me, ‘If you’re happy, we’re happy’ and I’m going to try to do the same with my kids. As a parent, your children’s happiness is the most important thing.
“I mean, it’s a whirlwind from the moment you get up to the moment they go to bed. But then you cry and have a bottle of wine and watch some Bake Off,” he quipped.
BBC’s Celebrity Traitors continues tonight on BBC One at 9pm.
