The first episode of the new series of Celebrity Traitors was completely stolen by Richard E Grant. Airing on Thursday evening, the first look at the 21 new star contestants in Ardross Castle was as dramatic and hilarious as ever, largely due to the biggest blunder in the show's history, courtesy of the Oscar-nominated icon.
After Richard was chosen as one of two Traitors by host Claudia Winkleman, along with Maya Jama, he blurted out to a room of his co-stars that he is indeed a Traitor – not just once, but twice. This created a ripple through the room, and he became the main focus of the episode as he and Maya worked out how to save him from the next round table vote.
There was also attention on Ross Kemp, who showed himself up to be unexpectedly paranoid, cementing his place early doors as the castle's most nervy Faithful. But there were plenty of vintage Traitors moments and quippy one-liners throughout the episode worth talking about.
Claudia's coffin entrance and Hannah Fry's self-awareness
Only Claudia Winkleman could pull off the campest arrival of 2026 – being carried into a church in a coffin. As the 21 assembled newbies waited for the human-sized box to be carted down the aisle, everyone wondered who it could be. It was our fantastic host Claudia, making her best entrance in the show's history. The whoops and cheers from the cast – largely from a very hyped-up Myha'la – were warranted.
Professor Hannah Fry is a serious one to watch this season. Unassuming and insanely intelligent, the maths whizz is perhaps someone viewers may think would be a good Traitor given her huge intellect. But when questioned by Claudia over whether she'd be a good Faithful or Traitor, she gave the most self-aware – and correct – answer possibly ever given. Sat there in her red checked blazer, she replied: 'I think I'd make a better Faithful than a Traitor… I'm like, dripping with prefect energy.'
Rob vs Romesh and Joanne's savaging
There's a lot of chatter about having best pals and frequent collaborators Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan in the castle together, with many speculating how they're going to betray each other. In the meantime, a short scene in episode one saw them sizing up to each other in a pointless exercise. 'Are you a Traitor? No, are you a Traitor?' they asked each other, secretly, before Rob conceded: 'That's not really resolved much, has it?'
The moment poor Romesh got savaged by Joanne McNally was one of the funniest interactions of the episode, not least because it took barely any effort from her to bruise his ego. Having a moment of downtime playing pool, Joanne told Romesh bluntly: 'I just don't think you're a Traitor.' Clearly offended, Romesh replied: 'Well, look, I'm not, but I could be if I wanted to be.' Pulling a face, Joanne said: 'If I was Claudia, I just wouldn't pick you… I just don't think she'd trust you with that job.' Asking 'why, why why?', Romesh looked increasingly baffled. 'It's just a vibe I get,' she concluded. 'I trust you complicitly.' Seizing his moment to take back the power, Romesh quickly corrected her, quipping: 'What I'm getting from that is that you don't know what complicitly means…'
James Blunt's military mode and Romesh's Jerry Hall impression
Yes, we all know You're Beautiful crooner James Blunt used to be in the army, but it's not really been a big part of his public identity since rocketing to fame 20-something years ago. So seeing him suddenly snap into military mode was a whiplash moment, but quite funny given the sharp contrast between the two personas. Yelling at everyone instantly to get into teams for the burning pirate ship challenge ('Listen! Four teams of five people each, two teams over that side, I suggest a near team and a far team!') is perhaps giving us a big hint as to how much of a dominant leader he may become in the castle.
As well as accusing Jerry Hall of being a Traitor because of the lack of carbs on her plate at lunchtime, Romesh couldn't help but take a light-hearted pop at her by mocking her after the mission. Jerry was quite 'bossy' during the challenge and, speaking in the castle afterwards, Romesh wasted no time in taking the mick. Putting on a drawling American accent, he mimicked: 'Hurry up! Get over here! Stop lollygagging!' 'I dunno if she said that, but it's the sort of thing she'd say…'
Celebrity Traitors continues on BBC One and iPlayer on Friday at 8pm.
