Andrew Jenkins and the Mental Health Advocacy Platform Built on Post-Traitors Fame

If the end of this season of The Celebrity Traitors has left a 'traitors-shaped' hole in your heart, then this may be the episode for you. Last week, The Traitors UK Season Two finalist Andrew Jenkins, known for his corporate background and resilient spirit, recently sat down with Aleksandra King on the Beyond the Boardroom podcast to discuss the pivot from a stable 18-year career in banking and insurance to launching a new life as a full-time mental health advocate and motivational speaker.

The Decision to Join The Traitors

Remarkably, Andrew did not initially apply for the show but was approached by a casting director who saw potential in his remarkable life story. Instead, his primary motivation was entirely strategic and professional; Andrew's goal was not fame or money but to gain a "platform and a profile" to talk about well-being and mental health. Before the show, he only had a few hundred followers and few connections; he saw The Traitors as the necessary launchpad for the work he genuinely wanted to do—helping people who are "suffering in silence". He stated, "All I wanna do is lie on my death head, close my eyes. Not any difference to this planet".

The Internal Struggle of Being a Traitor

Initially, Andrew was a Faithful, but was later recruited as a Traitor by Paul and Harry, who would murder him if he refused. With the threat of murder posed upon him, Andrew was forced to take on a role which went against his core values. As a self-confessed person who values being an "honest person" with "good values and morals," he ultimately found the manipulation and lying of the game difficult. He endured a "massive" internal struggle and had to justify the decision by telling himself, "it's just a game".

The game revealed the "herd mentality" of human nature, where many players acted like "sheep," following the majority rather than standing up and being authentic to ultimately avoid being banished or murdered. He noted that people are "too scared" to go against everyone else. Andrew found that his competitive mentality he derived from a background in rugby would not let him quit before the final whistle. In the end not only did he make it to the final 4, he was able to reach this milestone while having played both the role of traitor and faithful.

The Post-Show Career Pivot

The attention and demand following the show immediately validated his initial plan. Andrew had worked in corporate banking for 18 years, where he was a bank manager, a job he pursued to please his parents however he described dragging himself to a job that didn't fulfil him despite the good money. After the show, the offers for talks and workshops were constant. In fact, he actually confessed to lying to his boss about seeing customers when he was actually filming podcasts or on keynote tours. Feeling he was "robbing a salary" by not doing new business, he left the financial security of his job, calling it a "massive gamble" to start working for himself.

Now a full-time speaker, Andrew's platform is based on his "lived experience" (his car crash at 21, the grief, the mental recovery) which people find relatable and more credible than an academic. He gives talks to "hundreds of thousands of people," focusing on the lack of confidence, self-worth, and self-belief that people suffer from following a trauma, job loss, or divorce.

Andrew's story is a true testament of how resilience through struggle breeds success. Interested in more? You can watch the full podcast now on the Aleksandra King YouTube Channel along with many other inspirational stories or learn more about how Andrew Jenkins was able to overcome his trauma from a car crash and being pronounced dead at 21!