The penultimate of The Celebrity Traitors series 2 gave us one of the most shocking moments in the show’s history, a round table Traitor’s confession. After getting some heat on him for the first time, comedian James Acaster - the ‘reluctant Traitor’ as he came to be known - admitted to the players that he was a Traitor and they should all vote him out. But the real shock happened off camera.
It's been revealed by an insider that behind the scenes, it was chaos, with some emotional details edited out of the episode. The heightened emotions seemed to have reached a boiling point that required intervention in order for the game to continue. Here’s everything we know about James Acaster’s explosive confession - and what the producers didn’t want us to see.
James Acaster’s bombshell moment
First, to recap on last night’s incredibly dramatic, emotional and frankly gobsmacking round table. The remaining players, as they usually did, voiced their theories, questioned each other and defended themselves when needed. Fellow traitor Maya Jama actually also came under her first proper interrogation from Michael Sheen – who has now dubbed himself ‘the vengeful daddy’ of the castle. A cringeworthy name, but it would seem this new persona turns out to be highly beneficial for the Faithful.
But it was when Michael decided to combine his two theories together that the temperature really began to rise. He started with the players who were in the room when they believed Ross Kemp was murdered in plain sight. That immediately put all three Traitors – Maya, Kenny and James – in the line of fire. He then cross-referenced this with both who was the last to leave that room, and his other theory: that the players should be looking at the quieter Faithfuls, those who have thus far comfortably remained under the radar, which in turn, led him to James Acaster. Punctuated with a very stern finger point.
What we saw as viewers was then James continuing to play the game as he always had, without lying. It seemed that in that moment, under that scrutiny, he realised he would have to lie in order to stay in the game – the same way Maya had done moments before him. But instead he decided to remain true to his Faithful instincts and to everyone’s shock, confessed to having been a recruited Traitor. He immediately owned up, saying: ‘I just want to explain my situation . . . I was made a Traitor . . . without wanting to be.’ He then encouraged the others to vote for him, which they did, and just like that the funny man was out of the castle.
He made impassioned speeches about how he went into the game hoping for a Faithful win, and that he can now rest easy believing that he may have just helped that happen. But now it turns out, there was much more to the situation than we thought.
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The emotional detail edited out of the show
It has since been revealed that last night’s broadcast may not have shown the whole truth. It appears last night’s round table was edited in order to appear continuous, and hide the moment where the cameras were turned off. According to an insider who spoke to The Sun, James got a lot more upset than was shown on camera, saying, ‘What you don’t see is the moment when James got upset as he crumbled when he could see he was about to be caught’.
Going on to explain that producers felt the need to step in and stop filming due to James’ emotional reaction, fearing for the stars mental health and wellbeing. As James appeared to reach a breaking point, filming was brought to a halt as they assessed the situation. Welfare officers were brought on to speak with both James and the other contestants, with the producers refusing to resume filming the voting section of the round table until they were positive all involved were okay to continue.
The Sun insider went on to say, ‘Very little was caught on camera, and what little that was recorded did not feature in the final edit.’ Overall, it sounds like the situation reached an emotionally heightened breaking point, forcing producers to take steps in order to protect the safety and overall wellbeing of James. We all know the game is intense, but for some it can feel all too real.
For many viewers, while the way in which this came to a head was certainly very shocking, the fact that it happened was less so. James had said from day one he did not want to be a Traitor, citing his love for detecting and finding clues, as well as his aversion to all things lying and treachery. But, as it turns out, he was not kidding about his inability to lie.
Throughout the game we could see James get increasingly more and more upset with the rules of the game, actively avoiding treachery wherever he could. One such moment saw him abandon his fellow Traitors Maya Jama and King Kenny during a challenge, refusing to sabotage the other player’s mission. Some saw this as cowardly, but others saw it as loyalty to the team he always wished to be on, the Faithful. Which similarly feels like the reason for his breakdown and confession. Did he want to see a Faithful win so badly he decided to sacrifice himself? Or was the heat of it all just too much for him? And how will the Traitors fare being a man down heading into the final? Well, we’ll all just have to watch and see tonight, won’t we?
