Swansea-born Fiona Hughes, the first-ever Secret Traitor, has shared her concerns for Maya Jama as Richard E Grant faces heat in The Celebrity Traitors roundtable.
Richard E Grant's Traitors error
Celebrity Traitors star Richard E Grant faces mounting pressure ahead of the series' first roundtable. The 69-year-old actor made an astonishing error in the opening episode when he confessed to being a Traitor in front of multiple cast members, and has since been scrambling to avoid elimination by attempting to convince fellow contestants he was employing clever psychological tactics.
Richard was selected by Claudia Winkleman to become one of her Traitors alongside Love Island host Maya Jama, with the duo subsequently recruiting comedian James Acaster as they collaborate to eliminate the Faithfuls one by one while remaining undetected.
Fiona Hughes warns Maya Jama
During a clandestine meeting in the Traitors Turret, Maya assured Richard she would attempt to divert any suspicion directed towards him, though a former contestant has cautioned that she risks implicating herself in the process.
Fiona Hughes, who became the inaugural Secret Traitor chosen by Claudia in The Traitors series four, has offered her perspective on the current celebrity series and provided some guidance for Maya. The Welsh participant said: "I adore Maya. She is bright, she's beautiful and she's got everything going for her but I think she needs to be careful not to defend Richard too much otherwise he could take her down, not that he'd want to, but that's the way of the game."
Richard's defence criticised
The second episode, which aired on Friday (October 2), concluded on a cliffhanger as the series' first roundtable was about to get under way, with viewers set to discover tonight whether Richard has succeeded in persuading the group that he is not a Traitor.
Fiona commented: "I'd love Richard to get away with it but his defence wasn't brilliant. I think if he said 'look I was just so excited to be here, it was a boob and it backfired on me' but he didn't. He has got some allies in there but I think if he gets away with it it'll be a miracle. I don't feel good about it."
She added: "He is such a big personality but sometimes being one of the really well known ones isn't going to work in your favour. Richard is buzzing with excitement and I can relate to that. I was the Queen of Mischief and I think he's taken over now as the King of Mischief."
Fiona is one of the UK's leading motivational speakers and is represented by Champions Speakers Agency for speaking engagements. Celebrity Traitors continues tonight (Thursday, October 8) at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
