The Celebrity Traitors has ended on a cliffhanger after journalist Amol Rajan was murdered by traitors Maya Jama and Richard E Grant, while comedian James Acaster was recruited to become the third traitor.
At the roundtable on Friday, Grant attracted the most attention after he accidentally revealed to multiple people he was a traitor shortly after he found out his role in Thursday’s episode of the BBC reality gameshow, but viewers were left not knowing who had been banished from the castle.
In Thursday’s episode Acaster and Rajan met TV presenter Jama and actor Grant face-to-face to plead their case to become a traitor rather than be murdered.
Speaking after finding out his fate on Friday’s episode, Rajan said: “It’s game over. It’s gutting to be the first out but James is a fantastic player and I guess people aren’t going to suspect him, and they might suspect me.”
Acaster said: “I can’t believe I’m a traitor. I’m gutted to not be faithful any more, I don’t like lying, but if I don’t join, then they kill me.”
Following Acaster’s return to the castle as a traitor, former Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh said she suspected someone had been recruited by the traitors and said he would be a potential choice, while US model and actress Jerry Hall also said she suspected him.
On Thursday, Rajan and Acaster told Grant they could deflect attention away from him.
Acaster added in Friday’s show: “I was quite relieved to see Maya, no one suspects her, but Richard is a loose cannon.
“Now tomorrow, I’ve got to decide how to play it in order to survive, and also to try and protect him.”
Only TV scientist Hannah Fry and Hall were up for murder that night, following events in Friday’s mission.
In the challenge players were tasked with entering a series of graves in pairs, with the exception of actor Ross Kemp who had been chosen by the traitors to have the choice of either digging up a couple, or collecting treasure, with each piece worth £1,000 to the prize pot.
Those who remained in the graves would be up for that night’s murder, with those who were dug up, and Kemp and his pairing Romesh Ranganathan, avoiding murder.
Contestants also had the choice to shout “haggis” and be dug up, but would be up for that night’s murder as a result, which Hall did almost immediately, putting her and her partner Fry at risk of being killed.
Kemp and Ranganathan chose to save all those who were buried, meaning Hall and Fry were the only two with a chance of being murdered that night.
After it was revealed they were up for murder, Fry said: “I don’t, a tiny bit, blame Jerry”
Kemp said in a cutaway scene: “We had to get everyone out, and then we’ll start looking for the money, it’s not always about the money.”
In the challenge, contestants collected £5,000 to add to the prize pot, bringing the total to £20,000.
Hesmondhalgh also attracted heat from her fellow contestants at the roundtable, with comedian Joe Lycett joking that if she was a traitor she would be a “phenomenal actor”.
She told Grant she would be voting for him, and said they would be “the most idiotic group of faithfuls in the world” if they did not vote him off, but Irish comedian Joanne McNally insinuated that she was using his comments to deflect attention away from her.
McNally also said she suspected former Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, because she retouched her make up as the contestants were going to bed, while singer James Blunt said he suspected Fry had been recruited.
But attention appeared to be increasing on Grant, with The Last Of Us star Bella Ramsey, Ranganathan and Rob Beckett also suggesting he would be the obvious person to banish.
Defending himself, Grant told the group: “Well, the game had actually started, I was so relieved that it started because I had been so blatant about saying I came into this thing and it’s called Traitors, because I wanted to be a traitor.
“So when I walked into the bar, somebody said, ‘so you’re a faithful or a traitor?’, and I said, ‘I’m a traitor’, of course.”
It comes after Thursday’s show was the most watched debut episode of any series of the programme in the UK, with an average audience of 8.9 million viewers, peaking at 9.1 million at one point.
In the hit series, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, 21 celebrity contestants take part with those assigned as faithfuls attempting to seek out those who have been made traitors, who “kill off” players in the middle of the night.
The celebrities are playing the game at Ardross Castle in the Highlands, with a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice up for grabs.
The Celebrity Traitors returns on BBC One and iPlayer on Thursday at 8pm.
