James Acaster has revealed he confessed to being a possible Traitor to Jerry Hall during an outtake from The Celebrity Traitors. The comedian, 41, admitted he was a Traitor during last week’s tense roundtable after facing heat for the first time in the BBC competition. His shocking confession led to banishment, leaving just Maya Jama and King Kenny as the remaining Traitors.
Confession Cut From Final Edit
Speaking on Alan Carr’s Life’s A Beach podcast, Acaster, who called himself “the reluctant Traitor”, revealed he had hinted at his identity earlier in the show; however, it never made the main edit. He said: “They cut out of my one, Jerry Hall went right up to me, face-to-face, this close, and accused me of being a Traitor, and she said, ‘I think it’s James’.”
“And I looked her in the eye and said, ‘I think it might be me as well, Jerry’, and she went, ‘you’re very sneaky’. I was like, ‘I am sneaky, and it could be me’, and then she was like, ‘mmm’, and then went away. I was like, ‘well, that’s surely that’s going in the edit’. No, nowhere to be seen.”
Welfare Reports and Response
After the penultimate episode of the second series, which saw Acaster banished, reports emerged that filming had to be paused after the comedian became upset. He was also reportedly given a welfare check before the roundtable began. A BBC spokesperson later responded to the reports, saying: “Our highest priority is always the safety and welfare of everyone taking part. Players are closely monitored and supported throughout by production which includes a dedicated and experienced welfare team.” A representative for Acaster declined to comment.
Acaster Dismisses Fallout Reports
Speaking on Carr’s podcast, Acaster also revealed he “said a lot more around that roundtable than the edit would suggest”, adding that producers wanted to keep the vote a surprise. He also dismissed reports that he had fallen out with his friends, eventual winner Romesh Ranganathan and TV presenter Rob Beckett. He said: “I think there was something in the papers that said I’d complained because Rob and Romesh had been like teasing me, so I’d complained to the… and I was like, ‘I’ve been friends with those guys for like over 10 years’. They were lovely the entire show, I didn’t complain about any of my fellow players, that is so completely fabricated. They contacted my agents and Rob and Romesh’s agents, all of them said that is categorically untrue, and they went, ‘cool, we’ll print it tomorrow’.”
Series Two of the beloved series was won by Ranganathan and actor Sebastian Croft, who split the £83,000 prize money between their two charities, Choose Love and the Refugee Council. The BBC has been contacted for comment.
