A Celebrity Traitors contestant reportedly accused producers of being 'like human traffickers' after being denied a phone call home, according to The Sun.
The unnamed star allegedly let rip in a 'blistering row' after being told that phone calls with family and friends are strictly limited during the shoot, with no allowance for casual phone use between scenes. The reaction reportedly left castmates bewildered, given that the tight rules around phoning home were made clear before anyone signed up.
Source claims
A source told The Sun: 'The celeb couldn’t understand why they couldn’t just call home – despite this being clearly explained to them at the start of the process.'
'They kicked off and in a rant, compared the team on the show to being like human traffickers.'
Per the rules, phone calls are allowed only under the strictest circumstances and 'at the discretion of producers, at select times, on a producer’s phone, and a producer must be present'.
Welfare measures
A show insider explained that the restrictions were 'to protect the integrity of the game'. However, due to the intense nature of the show, a dedicated welfare team is on hand 24 hours a day, including psychological support, to look after players during their three weeks of filming.
This report comes weeks after Maura Higgins revealed she used code words to communicate with her team when she was a contestant on season four of The Traitors US.
'You get one call a week – [I called] my manager,' she explained to host Alix Earle on an episode of Get Real With Me. 'She wanted to know if I was a Traitor or a Faithful, and obviously the producers are in the room listening to your phone calls, so I knew I wasn’t going to be able to tell her.'
Previous incidents
'But we had a secret way of telling each other. I told her something like if I mention a series on Netflix, then that means I’m a Traitor. If I don’t mention it, then that means I am a Faithful.'
The Love Island star recalled how her manager confirmed her status by name-checking the Netflix show herself. 'And then she brought it up to me and I was like, "No, I’ve not seen that." So she knew straight away I was a Faithful.'
This series, Richard E. Grant famously announced he was a Traitor publicly to his castmates, leading to his downfall at the first roundtable. It later emerged he had accidentally given away his status during an interview in June with BBC Radio 6 Music, which was edited before broadcast.
Banished Faithful Julie Hesmondhalgh has also said she removed herself from the Celebrity Traitors WhatsApp group to avoid spoilers from co-stars over who made it to the final.
Metro has contacted the BBC and producers Studio Lambert for comment.
