Richard E Grant has denied claims that he deliberately revealed his traitor status on The Celebrity Traitors to avoid filming the show. The actor was selected as a traitor on the first episode of the latest season, alongside Love Island presenter Maya Jama.
Shortly after being chosen to deceive his fellow contestants, Grant admitted his role to several other people, which led to enough suspicion that he became the first person banished at the roundtable.
Actor responds to speculation
Grant has insisted that, despite his slip-up, he believed none of the other contestants would have taken his comment seriously. The Sun subsequently reported that some workers on the BBC show thought the actor had staged the incident to avoid weeks of filming.
In a post on his Instagram story on Tuesday, Grant wrote: "I usually wouldn’t comment on things like this, but I’ve been made aware some press outlets are suggesting I ‘staged’ my traitors reveal to get out of filming.
"This is categorically false. I’m an avid fan of the show and have been since it first aired.
"Being picked as a Traitor when I was convinced I’d be a faithful was an absolute dream and a sheer shock to the system."
Banishment and reaction
During the roundtable, Grant received votes from the majority of the contestants, including from both his fellow traitors, Jama and comedian James Acaster, whom they had recruited. As he stood before the group to reveal his identity, he said: "I am… an unfaithful traitor."
Following his banishment, Grant admitted that revealing his true identity so early in the game was a "catastrophically idiotic thing to do".
When asked how he felt about deceiving others as part of the game, Grant said his daughter had told him ahead of filming that he would be "slaughtered" because he was "incapable of hiding what you feel about people or anything".
