A report alleging that Celebrity Traitors contestant James Acaster was made to feel "uncomfortable" by Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan during filming has been categorically denied by the BBC.
The reality series, in which contestants known as the Faithfuls try to uncover the secret Traitors before being eliminated, returned for its second UK celebrity edition on 1 October, with a cast that included the three comedians.
Now, a Daily Mail article has claimed it wasn't all fun and games, with Acaster reportedly unsettled by the behaviour of Beckett and Ranganathan, who are close friends outside of the iconic Scottish castle.
"Rob and Romesh clearly thought they were having a bit of a laugh, but James began to feel quite a lot of it was at his expense and away from the cameras he started to get annoyed and upset by it," said the source.
The report claimed Acaster spoke to the production team, saying he was "unhappy and felt like he was being singled out".
It continued: "When Rob and Romesh get going together they are unstoppable and hilarious, but not at all malicious – it was more a misunderstanding. Rob and Romesh’s gags were all meant in good humour, but James just didn’t see it that way.
"They're completely different characters, and obviously with Rob and Romesh being such close friends away from the show, it meant they were totally on the same page and he just wasn't."
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In a statement provided to Radio Times, a spokesperson for The Celebrity Traitors firmly and decidedly shut down the rumour, saying: "Claims of teasing amongst the cast on the show and claims of complaints about teasing are categorically untrue.
"There were no incidents of this nature and there is no evidence to support these allegations.”
Radio Times has also reached out to representatives for Acaster, Ranganathan and Beckett for comment.
Acaster, a Traitor, and Ranganathan, a Faithful, remain in the competition. Beckett, meanwhile, was 'murdered' face-to-face in episode 5 by Acaster and fellow Traitors Maya Jama and Hannah Fry, who has since been banished.
On his exit, Beckett said: "I'm a bit sad because I would have liked to have gone further, but a killing in plain sight, I've managed to get a Traitor, I've got a couple of Faithfuls wrong at the banishments, I’ve done some Missions, done the breakfast - I feel like I've done almost all of it.
"I'd rather have been a Traitor. The thing is, as a Faithful, you're reactive, whereas the Traitors are proactive, and there's more to do, you get to go in the turret and all that. So I would have preferred to be a Traitor, but I was happy being a Faithful."
Of his friend Ranganathan, he said. "Romesh looks hard to read, but I know him like a brother, and I knew, as soon as I looked him in the eye, that he was a Faithful, and he knew I was a Faithful."
The Celebrity Traitors continues on Thursday 22nd October at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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