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Celebrity Traitors stars made zero effort and BBC bosses will be tearing their hair out

REVIEW: After one big yawn in the castle, the most disastrous mission ever was followed by the least productive Round Table. What’s going on?

21:05, 22 Oct 2026Updated 21:19, 22 Oct 2026

A disastrous Mission – in which the Traitors failed to bank any money at all – was tonight followed by a terrible Round Table, in which the Faithful simply clammed up. The producers must have been tearing their hair out.

It all started to go wrong when James Acaster decided he simply wasn’t going to do anything asked of him in the Mission, because he was “too scared”. And outraged Maya Jama and King Kenny could do nothing about it – because he did’t even raise his blindfold to look them in the eye.

Freaked out by his refusal, the pair of them crept about a bit but never looked close to building their shield, and – spooked by the creaking floorboards – in the end just aborted the mission entirely.

What is staggering is they didn’t even bother to sabotage the shields that had been built, leaving three of the Faithful fully protected from murder that night. So marks for effort to all three – zero.

Emboldened after winning the shields, some of the Faithful realised that the Traitors were on the ropes. “They’ve been absolutely rubbish,” James Blunt said, as Michael Sheen agreed: “They’ve got scared.”

They were absolutely right. But as though their inertia was catching, the Faithful then decided they’d respond by giving up speaking at the Round Table. Theories? Nah, they decided, collectively. Miranda Hart had one, but then withdrew it.

Jerry was asked for her thoughts directly, but having banged on repeatedly about James Blunt since the start, refused to say his name. And that’s after she’d earlier made the astonishing claim that he must be a Traitor because: “His face is redder than a fox’s ass at gooseberry time.” Well, if you say so Jerry.

In the end it was the former model who got her marching orders, not because the others really thought she was a Traitor, but because Michael suggested the next best thing was to get rid of any unhelpful Faithful.

Hang on though, hadn’t they noticed that Jerry and Sharon Rooney were the last ones in to breakfast that morning? Which means – as EVERY self-respecting fan of the show knows – that they must have been the other two Faithful in contention for murder, along with Ross Kemp. Duh. Never even mentioned.

When night fell, James Acaster was fully braced for the backlash he knew he deserved in the turret, saying: “I know I’m going to get a dressing down, I’m aware of that.”

Sure enough Maya and Kenny were fuming that he’d hung them out to dry. “I was scared,” he argued, deflecting their anger by insisting he was getting better at being a Traitor, not worse.

“When I killed Ross Kemp in plain sight, I loved it,” he declared. “And I have enjoyed today more.” Maya said she was proud of him but loyalty-wise, he must be skating on thin ice.

Now Romesh Ranganathan is convinced he’s about to be bumped off and if it’s not him it will be Miranda or Sebastian Croft. (The other two will walk in last to breakfast, you mark my words.)

James picked Romesh saying that his popularity and authority with the other Faithful would make his exit a huge blow. Calling him the “deputy head” of the round table, James said: “Morale-wise, everybody loves having Rom around.”

His words were kind but was this his way of trying to get rid of the fellow comedian, who is said to have made his life tricky in the castle? As Romesh headed to bed, he was muttering: “I’m going to die tonight.” And he could be right.

But whoever goes might find they’ve have a lucky escape if tonight’s effort was anything to go by. If this was a school report it would contain just three words: Must. Try. Harder.

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Ross Kemp explains Celebrity Traitors paranoia as ‘icon’ Jerry Hall is banished

Oct 22, 2026 News Desk

Ross Kemp has feared being killed in plain sight since the very first day – but when it finally happened, he didn’t have a clue

Ross Kemp has admitted that “fear of failure” was what drove his intense paranoia in the Celebrity Traitors castle, which proved highly entertaining for viewers.

The actor and presenter was killed by the Traitors in plain sight last night, after he was the first to yawn in the library, breathing in a deadly perfume sprayed by King Kenny under orders.

But having been fearful of being bumped off in public since the very first day – after Bella Ramsey put a hat on his head and Leigh-Anne Pinnock touched his arm – when it actually happened he was none the wiser. Speaking just after he left the castle Ross, 62, said: “I lived every day thinking I was going to get killed, and now it’s actually happened.

“The fear of failure on this is not comparable to anything. Whether you’re an actor, or in a hostile environment where you could get killed, you don’t let people down. Yes, no one’s going to get killed here, but the wish of not wanting to let yourself down or the people around you, was quite the drive.

“I was under a considerable amount of pressure by my children to do this, and you can’t really say no to it. It’s so popular. I think it’s the cleverest show on British television.”

Ross bowed out on TV with some sinister words for those who had killed him. “Well played Traitors,” he said. “But you’re always going to bee Traitors. And I know where you live…”

Stressing that he had “enjoyed it immensely”, Ross explained: “The whole environment just makes you paranoid. If you’re a fan of the show, you know that murder in plain sight happens. So when someone puts a hat on you, or touches your arm, however innocently it might be, I don’t think I’m wrong in suspecting it.”

Tipping “very clever” Maya as a potential winner, along with fellow Traitor James Acaster, Ross insisted: “I don’t feel that bad that I’ve gone when I’ve gone.”

And having put his absolute all into the Missions, in which money is raised for the prize fund, he’s hoping that he’ll now be missed. “I think it’s just in my nature to take on a physical challenge and want to succeed at it. I hope the next three or four Missions involve really heavy lifting across water, hopefully with some poo involved. I’ll watch it with great glee,” he laughed.

Jerry Hall said that being banished because she was “an icon” had come as a surprise, with Miranda Hart wrongly suspecting that the producers and host Claudia Winkleman wouldn’t have been able to resist putting Jerry and Richard E Grant into the turret together.

But Jerry – who recognised that she’d “made mistakes” in her exit speech – said she hadn’t laughed so much in years. Insisting she’d given it her all, she said: “Oh, it’s so much harder than the catwalk – it’s a very competitive world, and there’s some ruthless people, I should have been better prepared. Apparently the reason I got voted off was because I was an icon, which didn’t sound like it was a very factual reason. I think they saw me as a threat.”

But the 70-year-old said she’d even enjoyed her banishment, declaring: “It was kind of fun, and they were all so sweet. It was a lovely ending.”

The model, originally from Texas but now living in London, has no idea who the real Traitors are. “I’ve suspected James Blunt for quite a while, and Joanne, and even Leigh-Anne, and Miranda too. And Romesh, so there you go.”

Nevertheless, she was proud of what they’d achieved. “We caught two Traitors and we’d made quite a bit of prize money, I thought we were on a roll.”

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Celebrity Traitors’ Rob Beckett laughs off murder while Hannah Fry calls herself ‘rubbish’ baddie

Oct 16, 2026 News Desk

Rob’s murder left all the Faithful confused while banished Hannah admitted her spreadsheets hadn’t helped her as a Traitor

While comedian Rob Beckett found being murdered funny in The Celebrity Traitors, Professor Hannah Fry said she’d cried more during her five days of playing the game than at any other point in her life.

Hannah was banished at the round table last night with 12 of the 15 remaining players writing her name on the slate – giving them a landslide 80% victory. Speaking straight after leaving the castle, she admitted that she’d found her time there to be a rollercoaster of emotions. “I laughed more, cried more and got more excited than I ever have in the entirety of the rest of my life combined,” she explained.

“I really preferred being Faithful. I think it’s just a much more authentic experience,” she added, saying that one of the lessons learned was that she hated “lying to people’s faces”. “I think there’s actually some pride in being a rubbish Traitor.”

The maths guru, who has two daughters aged eight and six with her ex-husband, said that being a Traitor had been far harder than playing as a Faithful – which is what she’d gone into the game to do. “One of the reasons why I didn’t want to be a Traitor is because the only way your game ends is by being banished or winning – having people vote for you and having heat on you is part of the role of being a Traitor.”

Hannah confessed she’d avoided voting for Julie Hesmondhalgh out of guilt because the actress was “lovely” and had instead gone for Jerry Hall as “the one person on that whole table who could handle being voted for”.

The 42-year-old said she always knew she might not last long in the game. “On the first day, I asked Michael Sheen who he would murder, and he said, ‘You’. At that point I knew I was really in trouble.”

And the BBC presenter also confessed that getting the roman numerals right in her final mission – to help with the group £8,000 – had been far tougher than it looked. “I knew that everyone was going to expect me to be the one to solve it, but I think people have this image in their heads that mathematicians just sit around thinking of big numbers all day – it couldn’t be further from the truth. I haven’t used a number since I was about 16, I’m all about the x’s and y’s.”

Along with the trickier moments, there was also some highs. “Killing Rob Beckett was one of the best evenings I’ve had in my entire life,” she laughed. “I was running through the woods in the middle of the night, opening the door to Rob’s face. It was delightful.”

Speaking after being killed face-to-face with the traitors, dad-of-two Rob said that he cared less about the game and more about the juicy stories the other celebs were sharing in the castle. “What I loved most was meeting everyone and talking to them,” he explained. “When you have Michael Sheen, Richard E . Grant, Jerry Hall, James Blunt, I don’t care who’s a Traitor. Give me the anecdotes, I want the gossip. So everyone was going back to the hotel writing ideas of who it might be in their notepad, and I’ve got a notepad full of anecdotes that they told me that can only get wheeled out when I’m drunk at a party.”

When The Traitors arrived as his crypt to tell him he’d been murdered, he responded jovially: “Thank you very much James Acaster!” But he did say he expected comedy sidekick Romesh Ranganathan to “avenge my death”.

Rob, 40, reckoned the only Traitor he’d potentially identified at the start was Richard E Grant – so was “gutted” when the actor blurted it out. But the funnyman realised too late how James Acaster had been giving him a wide berth. “I gave James the benefit of the doubt because he desperately wanted to be a Faithful, but then that’s the oldest trick in the book, saying that. He had been really quiet, and on reflection, he’d avoided me a lot which makes sense, because I know him quite well. And then Maya Jama does not change her personality, whatever’s happening. So she’s going to be a great Traitor, I think she could win it.”

Confessing he was happy to go home because he’d been missing his kids, aged eight and 10, Rob said his highlight in the castle has been hitting it off with Jerry Hall. “I love her. She’s got such an amazing energy. She’s just so chilled. We just floated on together. She tells me her life motto probably every eight minutes, and that is ‘what will be, will be’.”

He now wants Jerry, 70, to win – along with his close pal Romesh. “Jerry Hall’s my pick, a rank outsider, but she’s my pick. The ultimate finale would be Leigh-Anne, Jerry and Romesh staring down Acaster. Three on one and they take his sorry ass to the cleaners.”

He believes his relaxed way of playing the game far outweighs the high-pressure path that Hannah had been forced down. ”I’d say, don’t stress yourself about it. All the money goes to charity. Have a good time for a long time.”

One of the surprising things Hannah discovered in The Celebrity Traitors was that she is actually related to Irish comedian Joanne McNally because their cousins are married. “We’re basically sisters,” she laughed. “I really loved her so much. She described herself as coming out of the womb as a show pony – that’s the perfect description of that woman. She is phenomenal. She knows exactly who she is, and she is totally unapologetic about it. I cannot tell you how much I admire her.”

While she’d like to see Joanne win, Hannah now thinks that fellow Traitor Maya or Faithful Leigh-Anne are the most likely to reach the final. “I think Maya is playing the most amazing game. When someone looks like that, I think that you expect her to have a bit of a chip on her shoulder because she’s one of the most beautiful women alive, but she’s also just so much fun. No airs and graces, totally delightful to be around.”

She also believes that Leigh-Anne has a great chance in the game, because she’s been woefully underestimated. “My God, that woman hasn’t got a single thing wrong. She’s the most perceptive person I’ve ever come across in my entire life. Is she psychic?

“Leigh-Anne needs to keep quiet about how good she is because I don’t think people have necessarily noticed. As soon as Maya notices that Leigh-Anne is that good, she’s going to kill her.”

Last night’s episode ended with boxer turned YouTube star King Kenny being recruited into the turret – much to his enormous surprise. “Being a Faithful was fun, but being a Traitor is going to be better,” he declared.

Urging Maya Jama and James Acaster not to double-cross him, he admitted he had concerns about joining them halfway through the game. “I worry the Traitors can switch on me at any time.”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

Source link

Celebrity Traitors stars made zero effort and BBC bosses will be tearing their hair out

REVIEW: After one big yawn in the castle, the most disastrous mission ever was followed by the least productive Round Table. What’s going on?

Ross Kemp explains Celebrity Traitors paranoia as ‘icon’ Jerry Hall is banished

Ross Kemp has feared being killed in plain sight since the very first day – but when it finally happened, he didn’t have a clue

Celebrity Traitors’ Rob Beckett laughs off murder while Hannah Fry calls herself ‘rubbish’ baddie

Rob’s murder left all the Faithful confused while banished Hannah admitted her spreadsheets hadn’t helped her as a Traitor

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