James Acaster, one of the celebrities entering the Traitors castle, has previously joked about being dumped for Rowan Atkinson, saying: 'I got left for Mr Bean.'
Acaster's break-up joke
The 41-year-old comedian dated actress Louise Ford until 2013, the same year she co-starred with Atkinson in the play Quartermaine's Terms. The co-stars later became a couple and are still together. Atkinson was married to Sunetra Sastry at the time; they separated in 2014 and divorced the following year.
During a stand-up gig in 2019, Acaster made light of the split, telling the crowd: 'I found out a year after we split up. I opened the newspaper and there was a full-page story. No one else in the history of time has ever been left for Mr Bean. I'm a goddamn saint to have kept this in the back pocket so long.'
He added: 'It's my job to say things that are funny and the funniest thing that's ever happened to anyone, happened to me and I put it on the back burner out of respect.'
Filming paused on Celebrity Traitors
Acaster reportedly found the experience of being in Ardross Castle an ordeal. A source told The Sun that at one point during filming he became 'visibly stressed', which resulted in shooting being halted. His castmates, including Maya Jama, Richard E Grant and Amol Rajan, reportedly raised concerns with the production team, who paused the game to check on him.
The insider said: 'The show is incredibly intense, and during one particular scene at the castle, James became very anxious and panicked. Some of the other celebrities on the show spoke up and said cameras should stop rolling so he could calm down, and production were in agreement as well.'
They added that 'everyone looks out for each other', creating a 'proper sense of camaraderie', and that the pause did not impact the game once filming resumed.
Celebrity Traitors returns tonight at 8pm on BBC One.
