James Acaster has responded to becoming an 'accidental sex symbol' thanks to The Celebrity Traitors, saying he is enjoying the attention. The 41-year-old comedian has become an unlikely object of desire for viewers of the BBC series, inspiring a wave of thirst-trap edits across social media.
Speaking on the Vinylly Retentive podcast, Acaster was asked by The Late Late Show presenter Patrick Kielty how he felt about his new status. 'Great. It's fine. It's nice,' he replied. 'I'm 41. I've spent the last few years since lockdowns being like, "well, that's it, over for me, no one's ever going to fancy me again".' He added: 'So it was quite a nicer turn of events to be fancied on Traitors.'
Friend's Reaction
His close friend and Off Menu podcast co-host Ed Gamble previously told Metro that Acaster's good looks have been common knowledge among their listeners for years. 'I've been party to this opinion from our listeners for a long time,' he explained. 'It's now just happened on a major scale and people think they're being original by thinking James is handsome.'
Gamble continued: 'He is a very conventionally handsome man, he is a very clever man, a very nice man, so it does not surprise me in the slightest.' He also revealed he had texted Acaster: 'I'm so proud of my friend for being fit.'
Faithful Traitor Strategy
While Acaster has embraced his newfound popularity, his approach to the competition has been more deliberate. Initially recruited as a Traitor alongside Maya Jama and King Kenny, he has adopted what has been dubbed the first-ever 'Faithful Traitor' strategy, behaving as though he isn't a Traitor at all.
'I think what I proved is that you don't have to be anything in particular to be a traitor,' he explained. 'The way that I chose to do it was just by behaving as I was planning to, which was as a faithful.' He added: 'I've always watched the show and thought that, and thought, why are you getting made traitors and then going around lying to everyone and then being like devious and then they figure out it's you.'
The Celebrity Traitors finale airs on Friday at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
