James Acaster has revealed that BBC producers cut a recurring roundtable moment from Celebrity Traitors, and fans are reacting to the behind-the-scenes insight. The 41-year-old comedian and presenter, who remains a Traitor alongside Maya Jama and King Kenny, shared the information after filming for the series had completed.
What the cameras don't show
Acaster explained that before each roundtable, the cast walks in silence down the corridor, sits down, and is blindsided by a song playing every single time. The track is The Hanging Tree, taken from The Hunger Games film series.
"So you walk in silence down the corridor, and you walk in, and you all sit down... and then they don't announce it's going to happen... so the first time you are completely blindsided, but they do it every single roundtable," he said.
He continued: "It's like a capella, Jennifer Lawrence... you're all sat there and the camera goes in the middle of you. You know, sometimes when you see the shots of the roundtable, it's like a panning shot of everyone sitting with a serious face?"
Fans react to the revelation
Acaster added that the cast has to sit with serious faces while the song plays, calling it "the only song we heard the whole time we were in there." He said the tune stayed in everyone's head all day.
One viewer responded: "Yep a guy from series one of the regular version confirmed this! Done it since the beginning." A second person said: "Oh my god this is absolutely hilarious!" A third joked: "Claudia trying to radicalise them." A fourth X user said: "Omg please this sounds like hell."
Traitor tensions rise
Fans believe Acaster's time on the show could be ending after his latest move. During a mission, the Traitors were tasked with earning money for the prize pot by moving to build a new shield while destroying others. Acaster refused to move, with Michael Sheen and Bash on either side of him, which caused chaos among the three Traitors as Kenny and Maya accused him of leaving them exposed.
One viewer noted: "Whilst I agree with James A's decision to stay still, he really should have taken his blindfold off at least. He really left the others out to dry then." A second replied: "Showed a lack of solidarity. But I think he was so scared that even the noise of that could give him away. But being the 'faithfuls traitor' is not a strategy that will work long term."
The other Traitors see him as a liability, and Kenny is expected to target him after the perfume comment.
