James Acaster hits out at ‘completely fabricated’ Celebrity Traitors reports - The Independent
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Anyone watching Celebrity Traitors will know that it can get intense – but not intense enough to fall out with your friends, as James Acaster has confirmed.
The comedian, 41, has rubbished rumours that he grew “annoyed” with fellow contestants Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan during their time on the hit BBC show, which came to an explosive end last week with Faithfuls Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft triumphing over the Traitors.
Around halfway through the five-week run of the show, on 18 October, reports emerged in tabloids claiming that Acaster had complained about “teasing” behaviour from comedians Beckett and Ranganathan.
In a recent interview with Alan Carr, Acaster flat-out denied the “fabricated” rumours and called out outlets for reporting on them.
“I think there was something in the papers that said I’d complained because Rob and Romesh had been teasing me,” he told Carr.
“I was like, I’ve been friends with those guys for over 10 years. They were lovely the entire show. I didn’t complain about any of my fellow players. It’s so completely fabricated.”
He continued: “They contacted my agents – and Rob and Romesh’s agents, all of them said that is categorically untrue. They said, ‘Cool, printing it tomorrow.’ And that was it.”
At the time that the reports emerged, the BBC show’s team spoke out and confirmed that there “no incidents of this nature” had occurred during filming.
“Claims of teasing amongst the cast on the show and claims of complaints about teasing are categorically untrue,” a spokesperson told The Independent.
“There were no incidents of this nature and there is no evidence to support these allegations.”
Representatives for Beckett and Ranganathan also told The Independent that “these claims are completely untrue and couldn’t be further from the truth”.
The dust is still settling after the final episode of this year’s series saw Faithfuls Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft triumph over the Traitors and take home a shared prize of £83,000 for their chosen charities. However, viewers are still reeling from Acaster’s surprise confession at the penultimate roundtable where he admitted to being a Traitor and was subsequently banished, drawing some criticism from people accusing him of “ruining” the game.
His fellow stars and peers in the industry, however, have spoken out to defend him, with Ranganthan praising his co-star on the show following his banishment, stating: “The amazing thing about James is that he has done something that I don’t think I’ve seen anybody do.
“He played a truly unique game, which was to accept his role, but to do it as a Faithful, helping as he possibly could, and that is kind of typical of the sort of thing that James A does. And I respect it a lot.”
In a new interview, Maya Jama, his fellow Traitor, also addressed his shock confession and reluctant Traitor status, saying: “I don’t think anybody knows how it would feel once you’re in the situation, and that’s going to impact everyone completely differently. As he said, for him it was a lot.”
Fans were concerned after Acaster went seemingly unmentioned in the spin-off show The Traitors Uncloaked over the weekend.
On Friday night, as Ed Gamble and host Claudia Winkleman discussed the final with contestants Ranganathan, James Blunt, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and King Kenny, fans noticed Acaster’s conspicuous absence from the conversation. “I hope James Acaster is OK,” TV host Dan Walker remarked on X. “No appearance and not even mentioned on the Uncloaked show.”
Acaster was not the only star to skip the Uncloaked final: Bella Ramsay, Michael Sheen, Joanna McNally, Rob Beckett, Sharon Rooney, Myha’la, Jerry Hall, and Maya Jama were also absent.
The Independent contacted Acaster’s representative and the BBC for comment.
This series of Celebrity Traitors has been a ratings winner for the BBC, bringing in 15 million viewers at its peak, even amid disgruntlement over how the show unfolded.
Friday’s final was watched by its biggest live audience to date, with 11.2 million viewers tuning in.
