The second season of Celebrity Traitors will finally air this week, and while many BBC fans are eager to see which of its star-studded cast will buckle during the game of deception, some from its high-profile line-up are anxious about how they will come across.
The hit reality game show, which has cast the likes of Maya Jama, James Acaster and James Blunt, will kick off on Thursday (October 1), with Claudia Winkleman returning as host. However, it's now been said that some of the stars are "desperate" for a first-look at the show over fears they'll "come across badly."
Stars request early previews
During an episode of his The Rest is Entertainment podcast, Traitors superfan and author Richard Osman claimed: "They've never done a show where they haven't seen a cut of it beforehand." To which his co-host Miranda Hyde revealed: "They've asked for them. But they are not given them."
Richard stated: "Of course, they are not given them. And so everyone is nervous because they are professionals and they do understand… 'oh, what if they just keep in that one thing I did and don't keep in that thing?' So everyone will worry.
"People are naturally paranoid beforehand because, of course, you go to sleep, and you wake up thinking, 'oh my god, what if I'm edited in this way and this is such a huge deal and such a huge programme.'"
Confidence in the edit
Despite this, the comedian added that he's confident none of the season two stars taking part have anything to worry about. He assured: "I think because of the way Studio Lambert makes television and the way that the BBC will edit it, everyone's going to be okay."
This comes after James Acaster explained his technique and hopes to be a Faithful while airing a glaring blunder from the previous season. As Traitors are required to make physical contact with their fellow contestants to eliminate them from the game, the comedian told the BBC: "Absolutely no touching. Not letting anyone touch me, because I'm not getting murdered in plain sight."
Comedians under suspicion
With others in the line-up, such as Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Miranda Hart, Joanne McNally and Joe Lycett, James also suggested that Alan Carr's beloved performance during season one has "tainted" the experience for other comedians.
He added: "There will be suspicions that it's going to be at least one of these guys [comedian players], that we might form an alliance if we're not broken apart.
"I think we're going to be the first ones under the magnifying glass being looked at. Particularly at the beginning, when you have absolutely nothing to go on. And then you consider that a comedian won last year with Alan Carr, disarming everyone with jokes the whole time. He has tainted us all!"
