Harry Clark: "As a kid from Slough, I could never have ever dreamt of where I'd be"

“Just because I won The Traitors doesn't mean it's changed me – I’ll go from the BAFTAs red carpet and get a taxi home to my council house in Slough, because it's just who I am.”

After multiple TV appearances on Celebrity SAS, Pilgrimage and being the winner of series two of The Traitors, Harry Clark says fame won’t fundamentally change him as a person.

“The only reason I am where I am or I get to do these cool things is because I'm Harry from Slough and the whole fame and red carpet thing – that’s not real life,” he told the Express.

The 24-year-old visited Waterstones in Windsor on Saturday (October 25) to launch his autobiography, Staying Faithful – about his journey from school, to being a British Army engineer and onto the small screen.

"When I did the audio version of the book, reading chapters about my loved ones, my struggles with mental health and religion being consistent in my life – it was like therapy," said Harry.

"The book as a whole was a whirlwind of emotions. I hadn't realised how much I had done in my life until I wrote it down on paper."

Staying Faithful delves into Harry growing up as one of five in his ‘massive family’ and his relationship with competitive sport and the ‘discipline’ it instilled in him.

While studying at St. Joseph's Catholic High School on Shaggy Calf Lane, he played for the school football team as well as Burnham and Flackwell Heath.

His grandad, Dave, served in the army and ran the Jubilee Amateur Boxing Club at The Faraday Club, where Harry and his siblings would visit daily.

With ambitions to be a professional sportsman, joining the army, like his grandad, 'sounded like heaven’ for 16-year-old Harry, and he went on to play for the army’s U23 and U21 football teams.

“Discipline is one of the biggest things in my life, taught by my grandad at an early age and the army," said Harry.

"With Traitors, it was easy to have motivation because there was prize money up for grabs, but discipline was the recurring thing – to keep my cool, to understand why I was there and keep showing up for myself."

Harry ‘never really understood’ the importance of religion until joining the army, having grown up in a Roman Catholic family and attending Church of Our Lady of Peace in Burnham.

His faith was constant because praying was the one thing that kept him close to home after leaving Slough for the first time at 16.

Harry's faith ‘took a back seat’ after winning The Traitors, and its mighty prize of £95,000.

But after feeling stressed about his appearance on Celebrity SAS, he ‘prayed for a sign’ and was immediately contacted about taking part in the BBC show Pilgrimage.

"It was like I had a blurry lens, and that pilgrimage [through the Alps] was a cloth that wiped it clear," said Harry.

"My faith saved me and made me grateful for everyone around me. Before the whole fame thing happened, I was lucky because I was happy with my life.

"I've lived a real life where I've done a nine-to-five, so when I do all these cool shows, it's the most insane, coolest job in the world, but that's because I treat it like a job.

"I'm aware of the fact that the bubble might burst. This is why I make the most of everything."

Being a 'private person' and having a regimented routine for six years are things Harry had to sacrifice after leaving the army in 2024, to have the freedom to try different things.

But having a ‘normal life’ in Slough, living with his parents and playing padel in Maidenhead and Slough is what makes Harry happy.

"It is weird, and it's also exciting to see people have my book," he said.

"Everyone's super happy and proud that someone from Slough has gone on to do that. As a kid from Slough, I could never have ever dreamt of where I'd be right now.

"I think the best way to explain it is, my life as of yet, has been a lottery win in a lottery I never knew I was playing. What a dream come true."