Richard E Grant appears to make a grave mistake as Celebrity Traitors series two opens with coffins
Claudia Winkleman burst from a coffin in a spectacular kick of to the latest season (BBC/Studio Lambert)
Richard E Grant appeared to give the game away almost instantly on The Celebrity Traitors, telling Joe Lycett “A Traitor” minutes after being selected.
The BBC celebrity edition returned on Thursday night with Claudia Winkleman choosing Love Island host Maya Jama, 32, and Grant, 69, as the first two Traitors of series two.
Jama, clearly delighted, told the camera: “Goodness. I don’t even know what to say! I’m so excited. I wanted to bring a different side of me out, and here she is. My villain era has begun.”
Grant’s apparent slip came soon after, when Lycett asked him: “What are you?” and Grant replied: “A Traitor”. Grant later reflected on the moment, saying: “That may be the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. I was so thrilled to have been chosen as a traitor that in my unguarded excitement, I said, ‘Of course I’m a traitor’. I clearly need to defuse all the heat that’s coming in my direction.”
Comic Rob Beckett reacted: “I think you’ve just done something that’s never happened in the game – it is a bold strategy.”
Coffins, camp and ‘Claudiapatra!’
The launch episode leaned into the show’s gothic camp from the first minute, with Winkleman carried into a church inside a closed coffin before emerging to announce: “That was quite the nap.” Jerry Hall summed it up with one word: “Claudiapatra!”
The series two trailer had already promised another starry run, with 21 more famous faces entering Claudia Winkleman’s iconic castle after an acclaimed first series. As always, the cast includes a stellar line-up of LGBTQ+ contestants including Bella Ramsey, Sebastian Croft and Joe Lycett.
What is the recruit-or-murder twist on Celebrity Traitors?
The episode’s closing twist put Jama and Grant in a brutal position: they had to invite two celebrities to plead for a third Traitor spot, with the person not chosen set to be murdered.
They selected Amol Rajan, 43, and James Acaster, 41, and the show ended on a cliffhanger before revealing who would join them. In the final moments, both potential recruits were shown lying in coffins as they awaited the decision.
Rajan made his pitch bluntly: “I do think I am uniquely placed to take the heat off you. I’m here because I sniff out liars for a living.”
