James Acaster has revealed he has been too scared to look at the public reaction to his dramatic appearance on The Celebrity Traitors, admitting he has avoided searching for himself online since the BBC show's success.
The stand-up comedian became one of the most talked-about contestants in the show's second series after making the unprecedented move to reveal he was a Traitor at the round table. He has now spoken about the attention he has received, including being labelled a "villain" by some viewers.
Heartthrob comments on Table Manners
Appearing on the Table Manners podcast with Jessie Ware and her mother Lennie, James was asked how he was handling the spotlight after becoming something of an unlikely heartthrob. Jessie told him: "How does it feel to be a bit of a heartthrob? I mean, maybe you've always been a heartthrob, but I definitely took notice of you, James Acaster, at that round table. I really was quite attracted to you when you fessed up."
Lennie echoed the sentiment, explaining that she found the moment attractive because James had admitted his faults and acknowledged his actions. Jessie also came to his defence against his critics, saying: "I know that lots of people have said you were a villain, which I think is ridiculous, and I found it very attractive as a woman."
Too scared to search online
James, 41, confessed he had deliberately steered clear of looking up the public's reaction, admitting he was far too frightened to search for himself online. He revealed: "I'm not on social media, I genuinely don't look at it. With a show as big as Traitors, I'm too scared to Google myself or look at the press. So I genuinely haven't seen any of it."
He clarified that he only learnt about particular stories when they were important enough for his agent to flag them up. The Off Menu star added: "So it's weird really, because I have a bit of a disconnected thing from it. So I'm not really... I know that those things have been talked about and gone on, but I don't know how massive they are."
Standing by his actions
James also confessed he knew his jaw-dropping round table moment would spark diverse reactions, especially since it was unprecedented on the show. He said: "I didn't go in planning to do it, but after it happened, you go, well, that's never happened on the show before, so there's going to be every opinion. Every opinion under the sun about that."
Despite expecting criticism, he maintained he was ready to defend his decisions rather than fret about those who took issue with him. He said: "Part of me was just like, stand by it, I don't care. You obviously get to that point as well, where you know that the public will have every opinion about it, and you can't worry about the people who don't like whatever it is that you've done."
Romesh Ranganathan on James off-camera
His remarks come after series champion Romesh Ranganathan shared details about James' conduct off-camera. Romesh, 48, triumphed alongside actor Sebastian Croft, 24, with the duo splitting the £83,000 prize money between their respective charities.
James had originally been a Faithful before being recruited as a Traitor, but found himself struggling with his new position and wanted to stay a Faithful, which led to journalist Amol Rajan being eliminated. Speaking to fellow series champion Alan Carr on The Romesh Ranganathan Show, Romesh was quizzed about whether James had genuinely been as reserved as he seemed on television.
Alan said: "I saw James Acaster was like a rabbit in headlights, but was he like that, or did they edit it? Was he quiet?" Romesh replied: "I don't think he was quiet. He wasn't quiet. I think it's fair to say he was wrestling with being a Traitor, but he wasn't quiet."
