Claudia Winkleman has reacted to a major blunder made by one of her Celebrity Traitors, after Richard E Grant admitted his real identity within minutes of being picked.
The former Strictly Come Dancing presenter has returned to lead 21 celebrities through the ultimate game of deception and trust. Following Alan Carr’s emotional win last year, the likes of Amol Rajan, Bella Ramsey, James Acaster, James Blunt, Jerry Hall, and Joanne McNally are hoping to win money for their chosen charity.
The line-up is completed by Joe Lycett, Julie Hesmondhalgh, King Kenny, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Maya Jama, Michael Sheen, Miranda Hart, Myha’la, Professor Hannah Fry, Richard E. Grant, Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Ross Kemp, Sebastian Croft, and Sharon Rooney.
Richard E Grant’s immediate confession
During Thursday’s tense opening episode, viewers were introduced to the new cast, while Claudia unveiled her Traitors as Love Island presenter Maya Jama and actor Richard E. Grant.
Ahead of the series airing, Maya had expressed her desire to show a different side to herself, saying: “I'd love to play someone who's the complete opposite of me, a proper villain or someone really evil.”
Meanwhile, Richard made it clear how desperate he was to be a Traitor - though within minutes, he made a huge blunder that has now left a huge target on his back. When asked if he was a Traitor or a Faithful by his competitors, he immediately admitted his real identity, before realising his mistake and working to take it back. But the other celebrities were quick to pick up on his slip-up, and suspicions have begun to reach the surface.
Claudia’s reaction to the slip-up
Following the iconic confession - almost as memorable as Alan Carr failing to declare that he was a Faithful without bursting into giggles - Claudia said, of Richard’s reaction to being picked as a Traitor: “He was just so happy, he couldn’t believe it.”
She went on: “You couldn’t not give it to him, you couldn’t not because he wanted it so much and he’s so compelling. And he’s Richard E Grant, I couldn’t believe that he was actually in the castle. He was giddy. And five minutes after he said it, he went, ‘Ohhhh’. The genius of the game is everybody plays it completely differently and he took that to the next level.”
Ed Gamble, who hosts spin-off series Uncloaked, added: “It was absolutely incredible. He was vibrating with excitement in the turret. It felt like he’d been given a lead role in a film, and he just had to tell everyone. It was such an insane moment.” He added: “What an amazing moment, such an insane way to start a brilliant series!”
Producers stunned by the confession
Executive producer Sarah Fay also shared at a screening: “Within five minutes of being out of the round-table, he’d already mucked up. I still can’t believe it now! Richard E Grant, how iconic! As producers, you always want to make sure the series feels fresh and new, and we’re very lucky so far. We’ve just come back from filming our seventh series, we’ve just finished civilian, and every single series, the cast brings something completely different. But never in our wildest dreams did we think that we’d have a Traitor admit they were a Traitor within five minutes after the roundtable.”
She continued: “We needed to make sure that we were all on our guard, in terms of the cameras, like how is he going to try and get himself out of this one? We’ve never, from the moment of being picked, seen a Traitor have to try and backpedal like that.”
Ahead of the new series airing, Claudia shared her reaction to the celebrity cast. She said, “I couldn’t get over it. My bosses had to repeat the names at least three times. We’re so lucky they said yes. Everyone taking part is fantastic. We are honoured they wanted to play the game.”
Richard also shared how being an actor could be a flaw in the game. When asked if he was competitive, he said, “You have to be if you're an actor. You can’t survive the profession without being so. It's too brutal.” Speaking of his acting skills, he added, “I think it'll make people more suspicious because they assume that you're a natural-born liar. Oh, you're an actor, so I can’t believe anything that you say!” He went on: “I've played so many villains that I assume people will think that I'm a bad egg.”
The Celebrity Traitors continues on Friday at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer, with episodes airing weekly on Thursdays and Fridays.
