Celebrity Traitors' Mark Bonnar: From his 'fascinating' childhood to his TV star wife - all you need to know
Mark says his wife and children are his 'biggest achievement'Mark Bonnar has found himself back home in Scotland for The Celebrity Traitors – but who is he?
The Scottish star is one of 19 famous faces who have signed up to the brand new BBC series, which is hosted by Claudia Winkleman.
Mark, along with the other celebrities, was thrown in at the deep end with the challenge of digging his own grave. He has since warned viewers to prepare for the show to get “very, very nuts”.
Here, we do a deep dive into all things Mark Bonnar, including how old he is, the shows he’s been in and if he is related to fellow Scotsman, David Tennant.
Who is Mark Bonnar? How old is he?
Mark Bonnar was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 19, 1968. This makes him 56 years old. Mark’s parents, Stan and Rosi, also had another son. Mark’s brother is called Vincent.
Stan is a professional, environmental artist. When Mark and Vincent were growing up, it was Stan’s job to make art for the new Scottish towns that were built in the 1970s. This meant the family moved around a lot. Mark previously told the BBC: “It was a fascinating way to grow up. My memories are of wide open space and unusual objects.”
By 1981, the family were back living in Edinburgh and Mark enrolled at the Leith Academy. The state school is one of the oldest in Scotland. Mark left at 16 and began an apprenticeship as a library assistant. He went on to work in several libraries and town planning departments, before a brief stint in sales. Mark sold burglar alarms for four weeks – and hated it.
Mark had several friends who worked in theatre at the time and he was roped into being the back end of a cow in a play. But as amusing as it was, it opened his eyes to a new career. Mark went on to train in acting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.
What has Mark Bonnar been in?
Mark’s first big job was in the radio soap, Westway. He played Denny Hampton in the BBC World Service series from 1997 to 2005. During this time, he landed a guest part in the TV detective series, Rebus, on the BBC.
In 2005, Mark was cast in a regular role in BBC medical drama, Casualty. He played nurse Bruno Jenkins in the show from 2005 to 2006. He later appeared in eight episodes of ITV’s The Bill.
Plenty more guest parts followed. Mark appeared in shows including Doctor Who, Taggart and Silent Witness. But fans are likely to know him best for his next role. In 2013, Mark was cast as Duncan Hunter in the BBC’s Shetland. He played the reoccurring part for nine years, bowing out seven series later in 2022.
Mark went on to appear in programmes including ITV’s Grantchester, Channel 4’s Humans and Amazon Prime’s The Rig. In 2017, he played Barrister Colin Osborne in the second series of ITV’s Unforgotten. Mark won a BAFTA Scotland for Best Actor for his part in the show.
Fans will also recognise him from the thriller, Guilt. The show centred around Mark’s character Max McCall, a high-flying lawyer, and his unscrupulous brother Jake McCall, played by Jamie Sives. He played the part from 2019 to 2023.
This year, Mark reunited with Jamie in the Netflix thriller, Dept. Q. He played Lord Advocate Stephen Burns and was able to return to Edinburgh, where the plot unfolded.
Is Mark married?
Mark is married to actress Lucy Gaskell. The couple tied the knot in December 2007, having met four years earlier in a stage production. They have been married for 17 years.
Lucy is best known for playing the lead part of Ruby Ferris in the BBC show Cutting It. She also played staff nurse Kristy Clements in BBC’s Casualty, but not when Mark was also in the medical drama. Lucy joined the cast four years after Mark had left.
The couple have two children together, a daughter called Martha and a son called Samuel. In 2023, Mark told Kate Thornton on her White Wine Question Time: “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.”
Where does Mark Bonnar live?
Although he was born and bred in Scotland, Mark now lives in Hertfordshire with Lucy and their children. He admits he does find it hard when his work takes him away – even if it is just for short periods of time.
He also told Kate Thornton: “I don’t like being away from home. I need to be with my family…because I miss it. Even if you’re away for like four or five days, you still get back and think there’s little changes you can see. You go, ‘I missed that’.”
Mark describes his wife and children as his “biggest achievement” in life.
Are Mark Bonnar and David Tennant related?
For some strange reason, fans often wonder whether Mark Bonnar is related to David Tennant. The Scottish actors are NOT related, but their careers have crossed paths over the years.
David played the character Twigs in the CBeebies show Tree Fu Tom. Mark later took over the role of Twigs from the former Doctor Who star.
In 2022, Mark and David both appeared in the four-part drama, Litvinenko. The ITV mini-series was based on the real life poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. Mark portrayed Detective Superintendent Clive Timmons, while David took on the lead role of Alexander.
Mark Bonnar on The Celebrity Traitors
Arriving in the Scottish highlands, Mark and made his position clear to Claudia. He told the Celebrity Traitors host how he wanted to be a Faithful. Claudia honoured his request.
Mark has admitted he is “hugely competitive”. He said ahead of his appearance in the show: “I love playing games and I am hugely competitive. Also, if I’m falsely accused of something, that really rankles me. I don’t like injustice.
“I like to think I’m quite calm with good morals. Maybe not always law abiding but good morals!”
