Some Celebrity Traitors fans believe the Faithful made a mistake in banishing Richard E Grant, the first Traitor to be voted out at the first roundtable. Despite his admission to everyone in the castle that he was a Traitor, a section of the BBC fandom argues that knowing a Traitor's identity early on should lead to keeping them around to observe their behaviour.
The theory was shared on the Reddit megathread dissecting the third episode, where @the0rthopaedicsurgeo commented: 'The best tactic for Faithfuls is to keep Traitors in the game, otherwise they just recruit. It would've been absolutely hilarious if everyone at the roundtable agreed "So obviously Richard is a Traitor", and then just kept him in the game anyway. They just drag him along all the way to the final, like a despondent dead man walking, blocking at least one recruitment, and then vote him off.'
Fans debate the strategy
In the replies, @Username_version2000 said: 'Yeah it's been discussed that it's better the enemy you know kinda thing.' They referenced a tweak in the US version of The Traitors, where banishing a Traitor earns $15,000 (£11,326) for the prize pot, which would fend off this gameplay.
The theory suggests that keeping a known Traitor allows Faithfuls to watch how they vote, who they talk to, and what theories they support, in hopes of identifying other Traitors. However, there are practical issues, as demonstrated by Hannah Fry, whose behaviour at the first breakfast revealed she had been recruited. Recruited Traitors are often shambolic, as seen with Freddie Fraser, Charlotte Berman, and Kieran Tompsett, who took Wilf Webster down with him.
Recruitment and practicality concerns
Beyond unpredictability, keeping a Traitor around would require banishing several Faithful, who are unlikely to be happy sacrifices. In the civilian version, with a large cash prize and fame at stake, the plan would never fly. Even the celebs had doubts about Grant.
The idea of keeping known Traitors has been championed by show megafan Richard Osman, who said on The Rest is Entertainment in 2024: 'A big flaw is this: three Traitors, then what if they get voted out immediately? Well if they get voted out, you just put new Traitors in. So actually the early weeks of it are meaningless. Because they're just going to get replaced. If you get a Traitor out on week one, you might as well not. Because they're immediately going to get replaced. You might as well for the first few weeks, just get rid of people who annoy you.'
Celebrity Traitors continues tonight at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
