Celebrity Traitors finalist Nick Mohammed has revealed how isolating it was to film the show, disclosing that he was only allowed one monitored phone call a day with his children.
Speaking on the Table Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware, the actor, 46, explained that he could FaceTime his children once a day, but only with producers listening in. He said: “I was allowed once a day to FaceTime them, but only with the producers listening into the phone calls.” He added that this was “because if anything gets out, the game was over”.
Limited contact and downtime
Mohammed described the difficulty of not being able to tell his children when he would return, saying: “So that was the most difficult thing, and not being able to tell them exactly when I would be going because I didn’t know, and I could be back in 48 hours. I could be gone in three weeks, which turned out I was.”
The Ted Lasso star also said the celebrities had limited downtime. He explained that contestants were kept in a holding area and dismissed at random, so they could not tell who had been eliminated or what that signified.
Final and aftermath
Mohammed, a Faithful, reached the final, where he and David Olusoga voted off fellow Faithful Joe Marler, believing he was the final Traitor. This allowed Traitor Alan Carr to win the prize pot for his chosen charity. Carr’s win later earned a BAFTA for Most Memorable Moment.
Reflecting on the experience, Mohammed said it almost felt as though it had “never happened”, because filming took place over April and May, with the show airing in October, leaving months of embargo during which he could not discuss it. He noted that contestants had no access to the outside world and did not have their phones during filming.
Current series conditions
This year’s contestants have faced similar restrictions. In an interview with The Times, current Traitor James Acaster said he was told off by the production team after a conversation with his partner. He said: “You can’t have an authentic conversation because you can’t tell them anything that’s happening. At one point my partner said, ‘Have you caught the sun?’ I was saying, ‘Oh yeah, we were outside for one of the missions.’ I was told I couldn’t even tell her that.”
Acaster added that it was “just a game” and that the production team should remember that. His comments were criticised by Richard Osman and Marina Hyde on their podcast, with Osman arguing that the show is “not just a game, it’s a television show about a game”, and Hyde suggesting contestants should “toughen up” given they are paid for the work and participating for charity.
