<\/p>\n
S<\/span>he broke wind and broke the internet. Last week on The Celebrity Traitors, the gothic drama of the creepy cabin mission was interrupted by an audible parp. \u201cWhat just happened?\u201d asked host Claudia Winkleman, struggling to keep her composure. \u201cI just farted,\u201d said actor Celia Imrie<\/a> sweetly. \u201cI\u2019m so sorry. It\u2019s nerves \u2013 but I always own up.\u201d<\/p>\n All around her, fellow famous types dissolved into fits of laughter. It was immediately hailed as a contender for TV moment of the year. Take note, Bafta, if you\u2019re not too busy holding your nose. Deadline magazine reported<\/a> that the viral scene \u201cput some wind in the sails of the show\u2019s ratings\u201d.<\/p>\n At a time when doom merchants are sounding the death knell for traditional channels, talking point programmes such as The Celebrity Traitors might help save terrestrial TV. Powered by Imrie\u2019s gas, viewing figures have risen to nearly 7m live and 11.7m in total, making the current contest an even bigger hit than the three \u201ccivilian\u201d series. Half of all Britons watching TV at 9pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays are glued to the goings-on at Ardross Castle. And it\u2019s two residents in particular about whom everyone is talking.<\/p>\n Traitor Alan and Faithful Celia are locked in a battle to be the reality game\u2019s undisputed MVP. Sure, there are deadlier Traitors (see quiet assassin Cat Burns) and more effective Faithful (see the two Joes), but it\u2019s Carr and Imrie who are truly box office.<\/p>\n <\/span>Hilarious value \u2026 Alan Carr on The Celebrity Traitors. <\/span> Photograph: BBC\/Studio Lambert\/Euan Cherry<\/p>\n Comedian Carr came out of the gate first, hogging the spotlight in early episodes. When he felt the shoulder-tap from Winkleman to anoint him as a Traitor, our bespectacled cult hero flew into a panic. \u201cI have a sweating problem and can\u2019t keep a secret,\u201d he wailed, immediately dubbing himself \u201cthe new Linda\u201d. Tasked with murdering in plain sight, he came over all a-fluster.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such a stretch for my acting skills,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how Meryl Streep does it.\u201d As he gabbled nervously, glugged ros\u00e9 and gave unsubtle winks, it was highly relatable. Carr was behaving exactly how many of us would if asked to commit televised subterfuge. As one social media wag noted<\/a>, it\u2019s like your favourite wine o\u2019clock auntie was suddenly moonlighting for MI5.<\/p>\n Since coldly betraying his real-life pal Paloma Faith, Carr has grown into his treacherous role. He slyly covered his tracks with a heartfelt eulogy at Faith\u2019s graveside and a string of pot-stirring fibs. He\u2019s now writing death order scrolls with relish, chuckling: \u201cI\u2019ve got a taste for it now.\u201d When the Faithful bemoaned the \u201cmurder\u201d of Tom Daley, he shrugged: \u201cDeal with it.\u201d \u201cAlan has become a killing machine,\u201d said co-conspirator Jonathan Ross approvingly.<\/p>\n That green velvet cloak becomes him. As Richard Osman said last week<\/a> on The Rest Is Entertainment: \u201cAlan\u2019s like an accountant who\u2019s accidentally been made head of a mafia family. Everyone goes, \u2018He\u2019s not going to be able to handle the violence\u2019, and within a year, he\u2019s killed everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n Even in the midst of his murder spree, quick-witted Carr is hilarious value. When Daley threw shade at Kate Garraway for using the word \u201cflabbergasted\u201d, Carr told him: \u201cYou can\u2019t call someone a Traitor just because they have a better vocabulary than you.\u201d When Ross wore a leopard-print cardigan, Carr asked if he\u2019d come dressed as the Flintstones and muttered: \u201cYabba-dabba-don\u2019t.\u201d<\/a> He said of scatty Garraway: \u201cIf Kate doesn\u2019t come down for breakfast, people will just assume she\u2019s gone into a broom cupboard by mistake.\u201d During the forest wailing mission, he said of one throaty banshee: \u201cShe needs to suck on a Fisherman\u2019s Friend.\u201d<\/p>\n