The comedian says he was ‘really scared’ when soil was heaped over the players’ coffins, in an interview given before his semi-final confession as a Traitor
James Acaster has said he and his fellow Celebrity Traitors contestants “should have walked out” of the BBC show during an earlier mission in which players lay in coffins covered with soil. The comedian told Far Out Magazine he was “really scared” and that actress Jerry Hall, who refused to carry on, was the one he respected most. The interview was published on 23 October, before the episode in which Acaster admitted he was a Traitor and left the series.
‘I think I’m really scared of this’
Speaking in the magazine’s Existential Boozer series, Acaster recalled the coffin challenge. “I was laying there thinking, actually, I think I’m really scared of this,” he said. “As soon as the soil was heaped on top, Bella did say, ‘Imagine if they can’t get us out’.”
He said none of the players liked it, but he singled out Hall for refusing to continue. “I respect Jerry the most because Jerry just went, ‘I’m not doing this’,” he said. The others, he said, were thinking: “We want to win Traitors in our coffins, idiots.” He added that once he heard Hall had left the challenge, he should have told Bella he was leaving too: “If it’s a free-for-all now, we should all get out. They can’t stop us all.”
In the same interview he named Anne Diamond, Jacob Rees-Mogg and his friend Josh Widdicombe as people he would like to see on the show. He also said he had expected more public attention than he had received and had avoided reading online debate. Those remarks were recorded before viewers saw his exit, so they are not a response to the reaction to it.
The semi-final confession
In the series’ penultimate episode, broadcast on Thursday 29 October, Michael Sheen pressed Acaster at the roundtable on how Ross Kemp had been “murdered” in the game and how he knew about the poisoned perfume bottle. Acaster replied: “I can’t really argue that it sounds feasible… I can promise you that I didn’t spray him.” He then told the group: “I was made a Traitor without wanting to be… that’s all I wanted to be” – a Faithful.
He received every vote and, before leaving, said: “I am, reluctantly, a Traitor.” He added that a “weight has been lifted off his shoulders”.
The Independent reported that the episode drew a live audience of 10.7 million, about 62% of viewing in its slot and the biggest of the series so far.
Accounts of the filming pause
The Daily Mail quoted an unnamed insider saying filming was paused after Acaster became “anxious”, and that “everyone agreed filming should be stopped before things got too heated”. The Sun separately reported a welfare check before the roundtable. Acaster’s representative declined to comment. The BBC said on 30 October that contestants are supported by a dedicated welfare team and that participant welfare is its highest priority, but it did not confirm the length or circumstances of any pause.
In an exit interview with Radio Times, Acaster said revealing himself at the right moment had been part of how he coped with the role and that he felt guilty when other players were upset by eliminations. He said he had seen the Traitor part as necessary to give the Faithfuls someone to catch. In a separate interview with Independent TV, he said Sheen’s questioning took him by surprise. On The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, Richard Osman suggested he may have been looking for a way out without spoiling the game. That is Osman’s interpretation, not Acaster’s account.
Some viewers said he had spoiled the game one episode before the finale, but Romesh Ranganathan, Osman, Amol Rajan, Josh Widdicombe and Miranda Hart publicly defended him. Presenter Dan Walker said he was concerned at Acaster’s absence from the finale’s Uncloaked discussion. The Independent reported that eight other cast members were also missing, and The Sun said several had other commitments. The reason for Acaster’s absence has not been given.
Behind the scenes
Acaster has told The Times and The Standard that he disputed how the show portrayed James Blunt’s case against Julie Hesmondhalgh, saying the edit left out an exchange that made Blunt’s suspicion more understandable. A production spokesperson told The Independent that contestants have different conversations and not every exchange can be shown. Acaster also said players stayed in an ordinary hotel about an hour from the castle, could not leave unaccompanied, and had around ten minutes of supervised video contact with family each morning.
Acaster has spoken publicly about his mental health, including in a 2020 BBC interview. Anyone affected can contact the Samaritans free on 116 123.
