It turns out the most unlikely of rumours was true - Tom Hiddleston was lined up to appear in the second series of Celebrity Traitors.
The Avengers actor is easily one of the biggest film stars of the 21st century as well as leading one of the most successful BBC thrillers of all-time in The Night Manager.
But no show has the star pulling power quite like Celebrity Traitors - proven by its dazzling series 2 line-up - and the 45-year-old was painfully close to making it to Ardross Castle but had to drop out of filming at the last minute due to an unavoidable scheduling clash.
According to The Sun, Tom was 'gutted' to miss out on the fun as a huge fan of the show which returns this Autumn with Claudia Winkleman back at the helm.
Earlier this year, he called Traitors 'maybe the best television I've seen' and said he 'loved' the celebrity version which was viewed by more than 15 million people last year and won by Alan Carr.
'I think the format is just the most ingenious thing, isn't it? It's completely compulsive,' he said during a Radio 2 appearance.
Asked if he would want to be a faithful or a traitor, he said: 'I don't know, I think it would be really interesting to be a Faithful, because then you have to, you could play detectives, right?
'And you know your conscience is clean and heart is pure, and you're just watching and trying to figure people out. If you're a Traitor, it's more an acting exercise.'
The BBC confirmed the official line-up last Saturday while filming is currently well underway right now.
In Tom's absence, there are still huge Hollywood titans sitting around that roundtable with Richard E. Grant and Michael Sheen both in the cast.
They're joined by a huge selection of comedians, Joanne McNally, Joe Lycett, James Acaster and double act Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett.
Elsewhere, Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, James Blunt, Jerry Hall and EastEnders hardman Ross Kemp are also in the incredible line-up.
Celebrity Traitors returns to BBC One this autumn.
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