James Blunt has been told off by BBC bosses after using a promotional image from The Celebrity Traitors to advertise a designer suit. The 52-year-old singer was instructed to delete a social media post promoting the £1,695 outfit he wore on the hit reality show.
Blunt, who is competing as a Faithful in the second series of the Claudia Winkleman-fronted competition, shared an official publicity photograph of himself dressed in a tweed suit by Cotswolds-based tailor Barrington Ayre. He wrote: 'The name’s Blunt. James Blunt,' alongside a link to the clothing brand’s X account. However, the photograph featured both the BBC and The Celebrity Traitors logos, putting the post at odds with the broadcaster’s strict rules surrounding commercial endorsements.
BBC responds to the post
When contacted for comment, a spokesperson for the BBC told Metro: 'The BBC has clear guidelines in place around commercial activity which we take very seriously and players have been reminded of this. The social media posts referred to have been taken down.'
BBC editorial guidelines available online prohibit stars from using the corporation’s programs or branding to promote products and services. The source added that the BBC and Studio Lambert were unaware of the posts and, once alerted, spoke to all parties, and the post was removed from X immediately. According to his post, Blunt had been supplied with the expensive outfit by Barrington Ayre, although the nature of any arrangement between the musician and the tailor has not been confirmed.
Blunt’s new wave of attention
The reported telling-off comes as Blunt enjoys a new wave of attention thanks to his appearance on the hugely popular reality competition. The former Army officer has already made quite an impression on viewers, who were particularly entertained to discover that his military experience might make him unusually well-equipped for the castle’s challenges. During the opening episode, Blunt and fellow contestant Ross Kemp wasted little time taking charge of the group, drawing on their respective backgrounds to organise the celebrities during missions.
Before finding fame with his 2004 hit You’re Beautiful, Blunt spent six years serving in the British Army, reaching the rank of captain. He was deployed to Kosovo as part of a Nato peacekeeping mission and has previously claimed that his refusal to follow an order to confront Russian troops helped avert a potential Third World War. Blunt’s appearance has also given viewers another opportunity to appreciate his famously dry sense of humour, which has earned him a devoted and large following on social media.
Record-breaking series continues
Meanwhile, the second series of The Celebrity Traitors has already proved an enormous success for the BBC. Its opening episode attracted an average of 8.9million viewers, peaking at 9.1million, setting a new record for the programme. Audiences were given plenty to talk about when Richard E Grant, selected as one of the show’s Traitors alongside Maya Jama, appeared to spectacularly sabotage his own chances almost immediately. The actor stunned his fellow contestants by declaring 'I’m a Traitor' within the first half-hour, leaving viewers wondering whether his time in the castle was already numbered.
James Acaster was subsequently recruited to join the Traitors, while Blunt remained among the Faithful attempting to identify the deceivers in their midst. Metro has contacted representatives for James Blunt for comment.
