Filming on BBC One’s Celebrity Traitors appears to be an exciting experience; however, behind the scenes, some of the stars have shared how they really felt about the gameplay.
Earlier this year, 19 celebrities were whisked away to the magnificent Gothic Ardross Castle, situated on 100 acres of parkland, where they participated in the ultimate murder mystery game. Its premise is simple: while being murdered one by one, the faithful must try to banish the traitors whose identities are kept secret.
Many would love the idea of playing Celebrity Traitors with huge names like Stephen Fry and Charlotte Church. But Celebrity Traitors is a dark game, and at its heart lies betrayal and deception. Unlike the civilian version, where 22 strangers come to the castle, some of the celebrities are — or were — already friends.
Those who have played Celebrity Traitors have revealed the “unsettling” and “unnerving” reality of playing the game.
Jonathan Ross: ‘I didn’t enjoy Celebrity Traitors’
Jonathan Ross accepts the traitors’ cloak from Claudia Winkleman. (BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry)
Appearances can be deceiving. Jonathan Ross — who looks like he’s having a fantastic time on the show — declared he didn’t enjoy Celebrity Traitors. After asking Claudia Winkleman to make him a traitor, the former talk show host revealed that lying to his friends left him feeling “uncomfortable”.
He said, “I know they’re already planning a second celebrity version. I know because I’ve had two celebrity friends of mine call me and say, ‘I’ve been approached — is it good to do, is it bad to do?’ So I’m giving them the benefit of my experience, which was: I didn’t enjoy it.”
Speaking in his upcoming podcast episode Reel Talk, he explained: “I’m a Traitor, that’s why. I found the lying really wearing; it left me feeling increasingly uncomfortable.
“We were lying all the time, because you’re sharing a car with people in the morning, and even though we’re not supposed to be talking about the game, but obviously some people do, so you’re lying then.
“So you’re guarding this secret that you have, and others know that someone has. You’re on the defence the whole time and you have to look people in the eye and lie.”
Ross clarified on social media platform X: “Despite rather mis-leading reports, I am NOT discouraging anyone from taking part in future series of Traitors. I am pleased I did it — an extraordinary experience — but I did not enjoy the duplicity as the game progressed. It’s a tougher psychological challenge than I expected is all. But I would never try to talk anyone out of it – just trying to give them a sense of what to expect.”
Paloma Faith: ‘It is quite unsettling’
Alan Carr and Paloma Faith were best friends outside of Celebrity Traitors. (BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry)
It comes after Paloma Faith said she would be “happy to lose” Ross and Alan Carr as her friends following their betrayal. Being friends in real life made the singer of “Only Love Can Hurt Like This” an easy target for the traitors. Comedian Carr touched her face, killing her in the game with the poison from the black lily.
Faith told Ed Gamble on the BBC aftershow, Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, “I feel really even more betrayed. I feel betrayed by Jonathan and Alan.”
Behind the scenes, the singer chose to see an on-set psychologist because she found the gameplay “unsettling”. She told The Sun: “It is not on camera – I went to see them [welfare] all the time. Yeah, it was a therapist. I definitely learned some things about myself that I thought I had moved on from, from my childhood and everything.
“I guess it is a game of trust, isn’t it? So it is quite unsettling when you feel like everyone you know might not be as trustworthy as they seem — everyone is playing a game and it is hard to rationalise.”
Mark Bonnar: ‘It is unnerving’
Mark Bonnar stars on Celebrity Traitors. (BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry)
Actor Mark Bonnar has also shared that filming the BBC show can be “quite stressful”.
Of filming, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It is kind of unnerving. It’s very, very intense, especially when the traitors have been chosen you’re aware that the game has started, you’re aware that you have no idea if anybody is who they say they are, you try to make your mind up about people but it’s very difficult to discern.”
Celebrity Traitors airs at 9pm on BBC and BBC iPlayer on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source uk.news.yahoo.com ’
