James Acaster's casting on Celebrity Traitors could turn out this week to be a huge blessing, or it could end up taking us on the wildest ride - which some viewers might think is also a blessing.
The 41-year-old comedian is known for his off-beat, sometimes chaotic presence on TV panel shows, his podcast with The Traitors Uncloaked's Ed Gamble, Off Menu - where he screams "poppadoms or bread" most episodes, yes, even did it at Robert De Niro, too, which shows fearlessness.
He's funny and clever and a brilliant comedian. But how will he fare as a Traitor after Richard E Grant and Maya Jama picked him over Amol Rajan in the first of the nighttime ultimatums?
A comic who is hard to read
He's a comic who is so hard to read or predict, but also his chaotic delivery and idiosyncrasy is built into the expectation of his behaviour. He could be a great Traitor, throw the Faithfuls off the scent - but he could also be thrown off the boil and go somewhere completely unexpected (or banished).
Back in July I saw James at the first of his Cardiff dates at the Wales Millennium Centre. It was set up as if Acaster was playing a tribute act of himself - Craig Simons. The set satirised the whole tribute act schtick and required James to be switched on and keep track of every quip and reference to stay in the Craig Simons as James Acaster mindset.
There were hecklers who felt confident, unsurprising as his previous tour was called "Hecklers Welcome", and tried to maintain a back and forth. But there was a moment that threw the comic off his stance, namely two brothers in the front row who - and based on Acaster's reaction, one took umbrage at the comic's summation of Welsh politics - a summation not based on any political event that took place in Wales in 2026.
An unpredictable performance
What followed was a spiral away from the planned set - we had flecks of it, but Craig Simons went right out the window - confirmed by friends who went the subsequent two evenings and said "oh no it was nothing like that."
It was still a funny show, based on Acaster's dealing with the situation, and a great bit on waiting for luggage at the airport. He made fun of himself and how one little action completely threw him off course.
In Traitors terms, he managed to make the situation work for himself. And it could be wonderful on the show. His trademark unpredictability is just that, a trademark. Alan Carr managed to win last year just by being Alan Carr. James could do the same.
Confessions and reports
He could also get himself into a twist and no secret recruit can expose themselves like that. Ahead of the show he confessed: "I'm not good at lying and I don't make a habit of it. Maybe the biggest lie I've ever got away with was telling Ed Gamble I'm not doing The Celebrity Traitors."
There are also reports that Acaster, who has often spoken about his anxiety and depression, became overwhelmed and filming had to be paused. This hasn't been confirmed officially but even so, it could be during a challenge - which are pretty full on - so we'll have to wait and see on that.
He's also said that he didn't want to be a Traitor ahead of the show's airing. But he also didn't want to be James Acaster on his tour, he wanted to be Craig Simons. He performed very much as James Acaster in Cardiff, and adapted to his situation - something that is an irreplaceable skill for a Traitor.
The Celebrity Traitors continues weekly in October, on Thursdays and Fridays, 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
