Richard E Grant has spoken out about the stinging betrayal he experienced just before his departure from The Celebrity Traitors. The 69-year-old actor emerged as one of the most memorable stars the programme has ever had, after revealing his true identity shortly after being selected as one of Claudia Winkleman's Traitors alongside Maya Jama.
Despite attempting to backtrack and salvage his position after confessing to being a Traitor, Richard's destiny was decided, and he became the first celebrity to be banished this year, missing the chance to emulate Alan Carr, who triumphed in the inaugural series of The Celebrity Traitors.
A 'catastrophic' admission at the Round Table
Richard has now discussed the moment he realised his time was up, despite potentially being the show's biggest fan. His rivals chose to expel him, using his own admission as proof against him, with Love Island presenter Maya, and enlisted Traitors James Acaster, following suit to dodge any suspicions.
Reflecting on receiving the votes from his fellow Traitors, Richard disclosed: "It didn't surprise me because they have to save themselves, and at the Round Table, James never uttered a word, other than when he was asked, 'Who have you chosen and why?'"
He never said a word before, so he clearly listened to everything, and it was a tsunami of my name around the table. So, to have gone against that like Joanne [McNally] did is risking your neck.
Richard's regret and the producers' reaction
Richard also pondered on the blunder that led to his downfall, stating, "Joe [Lycett] asked me. He said, 'Are you a Traitor?' I suppose what I should have done in retrospect is go around everybody and say, 'Are you a Traitor? Yeah. I am a Traitor, I am Spartacus. I am a Traitor,' to try and make light of it, but that may have dug my grave even deeper.
"It was a completely catastrophically idiotic thing to do! I can only imagine the faces of the producers looking at each other and mouthing 'he said WHAT?!'"
Following Richard's notorious gaffe, which has become etched in history and almost as unforgettable as Alan Carr failing to announce he was a Faithful without breaking into laughter, Claudia and The Celebrity Traitors producer Sarah Fay shared their reactions.
Claudia remarked, "He was just so happy, he couldn't believe it." She continued: "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."
Host and producer weigh in
Ed Gamble, the host of spin-off series Uncloaked, chimed in: "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 further commented: "What an amazing moment, such an insane way to start a brilliant series!".
Executive producer Sarah also revealed 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 in 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 went on: "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."
The Celebrity Traitors continues tonight at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
