Acaster

Comic James Acaster is said to feel ‘destabilised’ after he revealed to his co-stars that he was in fact a Traitor, as he narrowly missed out on a place in the Celebrity Traitors final

Celebrity Traitors star James Acaster is said to be feeling “destabilised” after he revealed his bombshell. The comedian started the BBC programme as a Faithful but was eventually recruited as a Traitor, despite making it clear that he was unhappy about it.

Throughout his time on the show, Acaster, 41, said he didn’t want to lie and that he played the game “as honestly as he possibly could.” But during last Thursday’s roundtable, James dramatically revealed to his co-stars that he was, in fact, a Traitor – leaving everybody stunned by the bombshell.

But while James had cleared his conscience, his decision didn’t go down too well with viewers at home. Following his revelation, he was subsequently banished from the castle by his co-stars.

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The Rest Is Entertainment podcast hosts Richard Osman and Marina Hyde have also discussed the backlash James faced after sharing his news on the show. Discussing any regrets that the cast may feel now, Richard said: “If you’re in it, like if you’re James [Acaster] at the moment, I bet you think, ‘Oh, I wish I hadn’t done that because everyone can have one opinion about this today.’

“James then has to listen to 56 million opinions, you know, and like nobody needs that. And the thing with him, he’s so brilliant and so talented that whatever he does next will, you know, supersede this in a heartbeat.”

He added: “But you know, it’s just annoying to have to spend a couple of weeks sort of in a position where you feel slightly destabilised. James, if you’re listening, or people who know and love James are listening, James, we love you. I’m very excited for what he does next.”

Meanwhile, James’ co-star, singer James Blunt, has claimed that a lot of the roundtable discussion was edited out of the final version of the episode. Speaking to the BBC, Blunt said: “He didn’t fall on his sword. That’s what you saw, that’s what you feel, but he didn’t. You didn’t see the full extent of the interrogation. It was heavy in there, and it was clear-cut. He was pinned to a post. We got him. We really, really got him.

“I think how that played out hasn’t really been revealed to you, but he didn’t just say, ‘Oh, guys, you got me’.” He went on to say of the editing of the show: “There are elements [of the show] where I was screaming at the screen for a different reason than you.

“No matter what really went on in that castle, you’re a victim to the edit.” James also revealed that he only went on the show to promote his new material and wasn’t too bothered about going along with the game.

He disclosed: “We all get paid the same, whether you’re there for day one or day 23. So for most of the time, I was trying to… Get the hell out of dodge. But no one was killing me, and no one was banishing me.”

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James on his exit

“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,” he said.
“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.”

REVIEW: The recruited comedian has bragged that he hasn’t told one lie during his time in the game but surely he’ll come unstuck soon?

James Acaster is playing Celebrity Traitors in a brand new way, having been recruited to the dark side very much against his will. But against all expectation, he’s acing it.

The comedian, who told host Claudia Winkleman that he had no desire to be a Traitor at the start of the show, was picked to be one anyway, by Maya Jama and short-lived eejit Richard E Grant.

And while it was almost annoying when he simply refused to join in with Maya’s murderous glee as they pulled the plug on Bella Ramsey, I’ve come around to the idea so much that I’m finding his gameplay quite admirable.

Somehow James is managing to succeed as a Traitor while playing as a Faithful. Yes, it’s quite weird, but against the odds he’s making it work. And watching him try to justify every little thing he does – presumably so he can sleep at night and also so he can point this out to everyone afterwards – is fascinating.

In tonight’s episode he told King Kenny, the latest Faithful to make it through the turret’s revolving door: “I’m basically playing the game as a Faithful – I haven’t told a single lie yet, but I’m protecting Maya.”

He seemed almost happy, presumeably on the back of the previous night’s murder having gone so well. Because while Ross Kemp would have been FURIOUS to get murdered, and Romesh Ranganathan might have been a bit miffed too, Rob Beckett just laughed at them.

Afterwards James said he wished ALL the murders could be done face to face, because it had helped to ease his conscience when he saw that Rob, at least, was very much remembering it was all just a game.

Because he’s more Faithful than Traitor James has had no qualms about voting out two fellow baddies so far – Richard E Grant and Hannah Fry. So Kenny is right to be worried about being double crossed by him or Maya Jama, but for now James is genuinely delighted to have the fellow avid Faithful on board. “I’m feeling much more relaxed now that Kenny’s on the case,” he said. “You know when you get someone who comes in at work who you know will actually do all the jobs – and you can just hold a broom and look like you’re doing something.” Yup, James is going to hide behind Kenny for all he’s worth.

Meanwhile Maya is having a tough time of it because the Traitors are dropping like flies. I mean yes, she does keep voting for them too. But still, she must be feeling a bit lonely.

Now the Faithful are all pumped up again and Bash (Sebastian Croft) keeps mentioning James Acaster as a potential Trator so it might not be long before he’s forced to defend himself.

I wish someone would just ask him: “Are you a Traitor?” because if he can’t lie, it’ll be Richard E Grant all over again. Roll on tomorrow’s episode…

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