James Acaster has revealed he was told off by BBC bosses for a mistake he made off camera while filming Celebrity Traitors. The comedian and podcaster, 41, switched from Faithful to Traitor early in series two, joining Maya Jama and Richard E Grant as part of the traitorous trio. Although Richard was later voted out, James has continued alongside Maya and new recruit Hannah Fry.
Phone call restrictions
While the show is mainly filmed in a castle in the Scottish Highlands, the celebrities do not live there. Instead, they stay in a Travelodge an hour away, where they are shut off from the outside world and chaperoned to avoid giving secrets away.
Even a daily 10-minute phone call with loved ones is monitored by a member of the production team. For James, this led to an uncomfortable exchange with producers when he told his partner he had caught the sun during a mission.
Speaking to the Times, James said: "You can't have an authentic conversation because you can't tell them anything that's happening. At one point my partner said, 'Have you caught the sun?' I was saying, 'Oh yeah, we were outside for one of the missions.' I was told I couldn't even tell her that."
Richard E Grant's account
James is not the only contestant to speak about life behind the scenes. Richard E Grant gave more detail while appearing on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire on Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, explaining how food was delivered to his room, outside of which a guard stood.
He said: "You are so institutionalised in that thing within 24 hours, because you are isolated, kept in a separate room. There is a guard outside your door, your food is delivered and there's no internet access, so you are kind of shut down. You're not told what the time is or what time the meals are going to be."
Richard added that contestants were also told what to wear on a daily basis, with all clothing presented in advance. He said: "You are also prescribed, on a daily basis, what you have to wear and all of those things have to be presented in advance. So, you are kind of infantilised and institutionalised at the same time."
