Celebrity Traitors star banished after admitting to being traitor at roundtable

Comedian James Acaster has been banished from The Celebrity Traitors after he admitted he was a traitor during the roundtable in the penultimate episode of the series.

The 41-year-old attracted heat during Thursday’s episode of the BBC reality gameshow in a discussion about former EastEnders star Ross Kemp’s plain sight murder, where he struggled to defend himself, and then admitted he was a traitor.

He told the contestants: “I just want to explain my situation, I was made a traitor without wanting to be, I’ve had a unique experience on this that no-one’s had before, where I wanted to be a faithful and that’s all I’ve wanted to be.

“I couldn’t just go, ‘guys it’s me, vote for me, but that’s all I can do really’.

Acaster said he had pointed out the perfume bottles, which killed Kemp during the murder, on purpose.

After receiving the most votes at the roundtable, the comedian said: “When I came into this experience I told Claudia (Winkleman, the show’s presenter) that all I wanted to be was a faithful, and all I wanted to do is go around this castle and try and help the faithfuls as much as possible catching traitors.

“I’m really proud to say that’s what I’ve been able to do, under the circumstances. I am, reluctantly, a traitor.”

In a cutaway scene, he added: “I’m glad that I was so faithful, that I couldn’t make it to the end as a traitor.”

Acaster became the second traitor to announce his identity to his fellow contestants, after actor Richard E Grant said he was a traitor mere moments after being chosen earlier in the series, leading to him being banished.

Actor Michael Sheen also attracted heat during the roundtable, with James Blunt saying he was the “father” of the group who had been responsible for the traitors being “guided in the wrong direction”, while contestants also aimed some suspicion at former Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock.

Blunt was also suspected of being a traitor by comedian Romesh Ranganathan, who replied by saying we should be “looking at the quieter ones” naming Acaster and Maya Jama, with Sheen adding that they had “never had any heat”.

Sheen then pointed out that Acaster was the only one who did not leave the library during Kemp’s murder.

It comes after actress Sharon Rooney was murdered and comedian Joanne McNally was also banished before Friday’s final.

Social media star King Kenny, Jama and Acaster said they killed Rooney to create confusion among the faithfuls.

Speaking after finding out she had been murdered on the BBC reality gameshow, Rooney said: “I think this was Maya Jama, I think that is her love heart and her kisses.”

McNally was voted out after King Kenny held the final and deciding vote, as well as the special power of a double dagger giving him the two votes at the roundtable, and opted to banish her.

After her fate was decided, McNally said: “I’ve had such an amazing time with all of you, it’s been one of the best experiences of my adult life, I actually feel emotional…

“It has been amazing, thanks so much for all making it what it was, I’m premenstrual.

“I’ve had such a great time, I am a hardcore faithful.”

King Kenny was given the special power last week after he and fellow traitors Jama and Acaster were deemed the most trusted by their fellow contestants during a challenge.

Jama attracted heat during the beginning of Thursday’s show, when she toasted her fellow contestants by saying: “To killing them, banishing them even.”

For the mission, the celebrities were tasked with matching the severed heads of celebrities who had left the show with their buried bodies, with teams splitting into one in the lab, where the heads were, and one in the garden, where the bodies were.

Those in the lab had to relay screams to their contestants in the garden in order to match the head and bodies.

The contestants matched all of the bodies to the heads, meaning they collected £5,000 for the prize pot, bringing it to a total of £64,500.

The show sees 21 celebrity contestants take part, with those assigned as faithfuls attempting to identify the contestants who have been made traitors. The traitors “kill off” players in the middle of the night.

The stars are playing the game at Ardross Castle in the Highlands, with a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice up for grabs.

The Celebrity Traitors final will air on BBC One at 8pm on Friday.