The second series of Celebrity Traitors concluded last night (Friday, October 30) with comedian Romesh Ranganathan and actor Sebastian 'Bash' Croft winning a combined £83,000 for charity. During the finale, the pair banished singer James Blunt, believing he was a traitor, but he was actually a fellow faithful.
James was indignant about being voted off, and Romesh joked that "James Blunt, at some point in the future, will kill me". Romesh believed James was a traitor after he picked up a misleading parting comment from Maya Jama when she was banished. The Love Island host said: "Good luck, you're going to need it."
Radio 2 Apology
Speaking on his BBC Radio 2 show this morning (Saturday, October 31), Romesh decided to play James' new single Circles from his album Airplane Mode. Before playing the song, Romesh sought to clear the air with his fellow contestant as he said "I love you mate".
He said: "Last night, was the finale of Celebrity Traitors. And I won, me and Bash (Sebastian Croft). Thank you very much guys."
"Up next we've got something new from James Blunt. Look, I want to take this opportunity to say: 'James, I'm sorry. I latched onto something I shouldn't have."
"I got scared and I feel like I let you down a bit. But James, I love you, I would have played this song anyway because I think you're great. But this is my way of saying 'James, I love you mate.'"
Finale Success and Reactions
The second series of Celebrity Traitors, presented by Claudia Winkleman, has proved to be a huge success, watched by an average of more than 11 million. Along with Romesh, James, Sebastian and Maya, YouTuber King Kenny and former Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock also reached the final.
Speaking after the finale, Romesh admitted he felt bad for James while he feared a pile-on from the crooner's fans. He said: "I genuinely, genuinely felt terrible about that. I had two emotions - one was that I felt so bad for James that I'd done that, and secondly, I just thought, 'All the James Blunt fans are going to hate me'."
"In my defence, after that last roundtable, you're wearing all of your nerves on the outside of your body and you're just trying to accumulate whatever data you possibly can … your antenna are up and you're just like, 'Can I find anything that might give me a clue before I go to that fire pit?' That was a thing that I latched on to and I'm sorry about that. It was a wafer-thin thing."
"His reaction terrified me. I almost said I'm just going to leave now and I'll make a separate donation to charity. I can't even speak now, I'm so terrified about it."
"I felt so bad and my heart broke for James. I was clutching at straws in a way."
