James Acaster has explained why he confessed to being a Traitor during the penultimate episode of Celebrity Traitors, a decision that led to his banishment and set the stage for the BBC show's final.
During Thursday 29 October's Round Table, the remaining players discussed who should be banished. Michael Sheen faced considerable scrutiny, but attention turned to Acaster when Sheen implicated him during discussions about Ross Kemp's murder in plain sight.
Why did James Acaster make his Traitor confession?
Acaster was recruited as a Traitor by Maya Jama and Richard E Grant early in the series, though he had made clear to presenter Claudia Winkleman that his sole desire was to be a Faithful. When the group confronted him, he revealed he was indeed a Traitor, resulting in his banishment.
After leaving the show, Acaster said: "With three Traitors, it would have been a foregone conclusion that we were going to win. Don't get me wrong, I thought it was hilarious at one point that we were just going to walk our way to the final and win the whole thing, but this is much better, isn't it?"
He added: "As a Traitor sometimes, when you see people have real life reactions that are bigger than the game, you feel bad. I would have to remind myself they don't have a game without you, literally, if no one's doing this stuff, they can't play, and they all want to play. So you are doing an important job here. When they catch you, they'll be really happy and they'll like it."
Celebrity Traitors finalists
Acaster explained that the prospect of revealing his Traitor identity helped him cope with the experience. He said: "The idea of doing that got me through the whole experience because you feel as a traitor sometimes, when you see people have real-life reactions that are bigger than the game, you feel bad."
"And I would have to remind myself they don't have a game without you, literally, if no one's doing this stuff, they can't play, and they all want to play. So you are doing an important job here, so they all have something to do, and when they catch you, they'll be really happy and they'll like it, and it will feel good to just tell them and see that reaction."
Seven celebrities have made it through to the final: Michael Sheen, Maya Jama, King Kenny, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, James Blunt, Sebastian Crost and Romesh Ranganathan. The remaining Traitors are Maya and Kenny. Among those who previously held the role of Traitor were Richard E Grant, who made history as the first Traitor ever to be banished at the opening Round Table of a series, and Hannah Fry.
Grant's elimination came as little shock to viewers after he made a significant blunder in the first episode, inadvertently revealing to his fellow contestants that he was a Traitor. Celebrity Traitors airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
