Riz Ahmed reveals UK Spies tried to Recruit Him

Riz Ahmed has claimed that Britain’s intelligence services tried to recruit him on three separate occasions, including one approach involving a senior BBC executive.

The Oscar-winning actor made the remarks in a conversation with journalist Mehdi Hasan on his media platform Zeteo, describing what he said were repeated and “inherently comedic” attempts to enlist him as an informant.

Ahmed revealed: “Well, it’s happened three different times and they’re all slightly ridiculous, and this is what I mean by it, it’s just like inherently comedic.

“One was when I came back from my first film, The Road to Guantánamo, we landed at Luton airport celebrating.

“They took me into a side room, put me in an arm lock, threatened to break my arm, took my phone, were pretending to bash the buttons, accidentally changed the language to Danish, and then kind of like, were like: ‘Did you become an actor to further the Muslim struggle?’

“I was like: ‘This is hilarious’.

“And then when I finished that, they were like: ‘OK. Would you like to keep an eye out for us, cause it was really great the way you were answering those questions?’

“No thank you.”

Ahmed went on to say the approaches did not stop there, describing further attempts through personal and professional networks, adding:

“Second time was through a family friend, that was a bit like: ‘Oh, sugar. That’s what’s going on there.’

“And the third time was someone senior, high up at the BBC.”

He added that the individual in question was someone “who’s just left the BBC”, though he did not name them.

Ahmed also joked about the implications of the claims when pressed by Hasan on whether he had ever agreed to work with security services.

Hasan asked how people could be sure that Ahmed had not accepted any offers to work for the security services, to which the actor joked that it would make a “sick biopic if I was actually a fed”.

Riz Ahmed recently starred in Bait, a comedy-drama that explores the pressures that come with fame.

The series sees him play a struggling actor who becomes the subject of rumours that he could be the next James Bond after being spotted leaving an audition.

In March 2026, the actor revealed aspirations to move into stand-up comedy, despite warnings from those close to him.

He said:

“Of course, the dream is to be a stand-up comedian, but everyone who knows me says: ‘Please don’t do that’.”

“I see people like Hasan Minhaj or Ramy [Youssef], or Bill Hicks growing up, or Chris Rock, and the gloves are off, man.

“You live or die. There’s no fourth wall. There’s no politeness from the audience, it’s that moment to moment.”