The Celebrity Traitors has returned to BBC One for a second season, with comedian Joe Lycett among the 21 new contestants competing for a cash prize for charity. The show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, splits celebrities into Faithfuls and Traitors, who must avoid elimination to win.
Last year's winner was Alan Carr, who took home £87,500 after convincing fellow players he was a Faithful. Now a fresh batch of famous faces, including Lycett, is taking on the game of deception.
Why did Joe Lycett change his name?
In March 2020, Lycett legally changed his name to Hugo Boss by deed poll as a protest against the fashion brand. The company had been sending cease-and-desist letters to smaller businesses and charities using the word 'boss' in their names, including the Welsh brewery Boss Brewing, formerly based in Swansea.
The comedian said he felt it was unfair for a "massive company taking on a little company". He argued that people would not confuse a local brewery with the well-known Hugo Boss brand.
Protest and reversal
Announcing the change on X, formerly Twitter, Lycett wrote: "It's clear that @HUGOBOSS HATES people using their name. Unfortunately for them, this week I legally changed my name by deed poll, and I am now officially known as Hugo Boss. All future statements from me are not from Joe Lycett but from Hugo Boss. Enjoy."
Hugo Boss responded to the BBC at the time, saying: "As an open-minded company, we would like to clarify that we do not oppose the free use of language in any way. We accept the generic term 'boss' and its various and frequent uses in different languages. We welcome the comedian formerly known as Joe Lycett as a member of the Hugo Boss family."
The protest gained wide attention on social media, with more than 50,000 people liking his post. However, in April 2020, the Birmingham-born star announced he had "decided to go back to the Lycetts". He still refers to himself as "the comedian formerly known as Hugo Boss" across social media.
The first episode of Celebrity Traitors season two is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
