Celebrity Traitors returned on Thursday (October 1) evening, but some viewers are already concerned that Richard E. Grant has given the game away. Before Claudia Winkleman chose which celebrities she wanted to deceive the Faithfuls, Richard made his desire to become a Traitor abundantly clear. His voice was clearly heard, as he was chosen to be a Traitor alongside Love Island host Maya Jama.
But just minutes after the roundtable, Richard blurted out his true identity. The moment came when comedian Joe Lycett questioned whether he was a Traitor, to which the 69-year-old confirmed that he was. Richard attempted to laugh off the error, but not all of his co-stars were convinced.
Richard shocked by his own admission
It appears he even shocked himself, saying in his confessional: "Well, that may be the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. I was so thrilled to have been chosen as a Traitor that, in my unguarded excitement, I said, 'Of course, I'm a Traitor.' I clearly need to defuse all the heat that's coming in my direction."
However, no one was more stunned than the production team, who watched Richard's blunder unfold in real time.
Producer describes reaction to the blunder
"It was a mixture of a little bit of sick coming up in my mouth and a punch at the same time. We've never had anything like that happen before. I mean, within five minutes of being out of the roundtable, he'd already mucked up!" executive producer Sarah Fay said.
She added: "I still can't believe it now. But yeah, I mean, how iconic! And as producers, you always want to make sure the series are fresh and new. And we've been very lucky so far. We've just come back from filming our seventh series. We've just finished civilian, and every single series, luckily, 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 five minutes after the roundtable."
Co-star defends Richard
While many had grown suspicious of Richard following his bombshell admission, American actress and model Jerry Hall dismissed the concerns, attributing the remark to the actor's personality.
"I just don't believe Richard's a Traitor. I know Richard. I've known him 30 years, and he's my neighbour. He says and does eccentric things. He's an amazing guy, but I think he's, like, acting out because he's not been chosen," she told her co-stars.
