The Celebrity Traitors finale has triggered a backlash from viewers who accused the BBC of bias after the two winning contestants chose to donate their prize money to refugee charities.
The second series of the celebrity version of the show ended with a Faithful win, with Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian "Bash" Croft splitting the £83,000 prize pot equally between their chosen charities. Romesh said he would donate his half to the Refugee Council, while Bash shared his £41,500 with Choose Love, a humanitarian charity supporting queer refugees and displaced people.
Viewers react angrily on social media
Social media users quickly expressed their anger at the charity choices. One person wrote: "Those charity choices just ruined that whole game ... #celebritytraitors James Blunt 100% would have donated to army veterans - the real people in need. Disappointing."
Another said: "They give the charity money to displaced refugees… what about the UK homeless people/homeless UK veterans. Good grief. The London privileged Left have spoken."
A third comment read: "Oh f*** the f*** off. Refugee charities! How dare they? Charity is meant to begin at home. The producers should have vetoed those choices from the get-go. That is traitorous to this country. Never should that be allowed to happen."
TalkTV presenter weighs in
TalkTV's Julia Hartley-Brewer also criticised the outcome, claiming: "The end of #CelebrityTraitors was the most BBC thing EVER. Because of COURSE the two winners are donating their winnings - our licence fee money - to a charity for refugees and a charity for 'queer' refugees."
However, other viewers defended the celebrities' decisions. One questioned: "Why are some people so offended about the money going to charities. The woke charity thing is ridiculous. Charity is charity; surely that can only be a good thing."
Supporters praise the winners
Another fan praised the winners, saying: "So glad Bash and Romesh won. They had the same charity cause, to help refugees who have faced oppression. So it's right those two are the winners."
During the final banishment, James Blunt caused his own elimination by voting not to end the game, with Romesh voting for him and Bash eventually turning on him after Kenny was voted out. The prize pot started empty and grew throughout the series, with each completed mission adding thousands of pounds to the final total.
In the first celebrity series in 2025, the stars built a prize pot of £87,500, with Traitor winner Alan Carr donating his entire fund to the children's cancer charity Neuroblastoma UK. Unlike the civilian version of the show, none of the celebrity contestants keeps the money for themselves. The rules for distributing the prize fund follow the same structure as the core series, meaning that if a single Traitor escapes detection and reaches the end, they steal the pot, leaving the Faithfuls with nothing. If all remaining players in the final circle are Faithfuls, they split the prize pot equally.
