James Blunt has revealed that viewers "didn't see the full extent" of James Acaster's interrogation before he confessed that he was a Traitor to the group. It comes after Acaster revealed that he admitted to co-star Jerry Hall that he was a Traitor in scenes that weren't aired on the show.
Viewers were gobsmacked when the comedian, 41, outed himself as a Traitor to his shocked co-stars at the penultimate roundtable before votes were cast and ultimately led to his banishment. Blunt, 52, has now said that Acaster had been caught in a lie about a perfume bottle used in a murder in plain sight.
Blunt on the interrogation
Speaking to the BBC, Blunt said: "He didn't fall on his sword. That's what you saw, that's what you feel, but he didn't. You didn't see the full extent of the interrogation. It was heavy in there and it was clear-cut. He was pinned to a post. We got him. We really, really got him."
He added: "I think how that played out hasn't really been revealed to you, but he didn't just say, 'Oh guys, you got me'." Pointing out the editing of the series, he continued: "There are elements [of the show] where I was screaming at the screen for a different reason than you. No matter what really went on in that castle, you're a victim to the edit."
Blunt's motivation and Acaster's confession
Blunt, who narrowly missed out on winning the show after he was banished by co-stars Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft, admitted that he had only gone on the show to promote his new music and hadn't really been fussed about playing the game. "We all get paid the same, whether you're there for day one or day 23," he said. "So for most of the time, I was trying to… get the hell out of dodge. But no-one was killing me and no-one was banishing me."
There has been much speculation over the editing of the show after it was reported that filming was stopped after Acaster became "distressed", with viewers pointing out that scenes had been clearly edited due to continuity errors. Speaking on Celebrity Traitors winner Alan Carr's podcast, Life's A Beach, Acaster revealed that he had been accused of being a Traitor by Jerry Hall, but couldn't deny it.
He said: "I looked her in the eye and said, 'I think it might be me too, Jerry,' and she said, 'You're very sneaky.' And I told her I was very sneaky and it might be me. I was like, well, surely that's going in the edit."
Editing and welfare concerns
Yet the moment wasn't included in the show. Acaster also spoke about how a lot of what he said during the roundtable grilling was edited out of the episode. "I said a lot more around that roundtable than the edit would suggest," he said. "Most of the time, they want to keep how the Traitors vote as a surprise. They don't want to be like there's hints that I might go one way or the other. So a lot of the time what I said at the roundtable is cut out."
Last week, the BBC insisted that the welfare of contestants on Celebrity Traitors was the "highest priority" after filming had to be paused. A BBC spokesperson said: "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."
