Alan Carr has won the BBC show The Celebrity Traitors, the most-watched TV programme of the year so far. The comedian triumphed in the final, which saw the last five celebrities competing for an £87,500 charity prize.
In the finale, traitor Cat Burns was the first to be banished, followed by faithful Joe Marler, who was wrongly identified as a traitor. The remaining three players—Carr, Nick Mohammed, and David Olusoga—voted to end the game, after which Carr revealed himself as a traitor. The final challenge involved a steam train journey where contestants retrieved five gold bars in 20 minutes before the train exploded, adding £20,000 to the prize fund.
Carr, overcome with emotion, declared, “I am and have always been a traitor,” adding, “I’m so sorry, it’s been tearing me apart.” He was comforted by Olusoga and Mohammed, who praised his performance. Carr revealed the other traitors were Burns and Jonathan Ross, who was banished earlier in the series. Mohammed, covering his mouth in shock, said, “Alan Carr. He played an absolute blinder.”
The series was notable for the ineptitude of the faithful, with only two traitors banished compared to five in each of the three non-celebrity series. The finale was accidentally released online more than 24 hours before its UK airtime, with viewers in Canada able to view the episode before it was pulled by Crave.
Before the final, Burns said she did not believe she was a good liar, despite avoiding suspicion. Ed Gamble, host of companion show Uncloaked, highlighted Celia Imrie’s fart as a viral moment, joking it had “altered the dynamic of guffs.” The programme averaged 12.6 million viewers across its first four episodes.
