BBC bosses warn Celebrity Traitors cast about leaks after Richard E. Grant spilled secret early

It was a bombshell moment for viewers across the nation when Richard E. Grant casually outed himself as a Traitor to the Faithful in the castle during the very first episode of The Celebrity Traitors.

A never-before-seen moment on the UK version of the show, it had producers panicking behind the scenes and the Oscar nominee ultimately sealing his own fate as the first to be banished.

But now it turns out that wasn’t the first time he confessed to being a Traitor, having accidentally spilled the beans several months ago too.

Meanwhile, Julie Hesmondhalgh has said she removed herself from the Celebrity Traitors’ WhatsApp group to avoid spoilers from her co-stars, and it’s also already been reported that the players who make it to the very end have been leaked by a friend of one of this year’s contestants.

Now, according to The Daily Mail, Richard broke the rules ahead of the show’s broadcast by all-but revealing he was a Traitor in an interview in June, which was then edited to avoid spoilers.

According to the publication, a BBC insider then said: ‘Players have once again been reminded about keeping the outcome of the game to themselves following a number of incidents.’

It comes after BBC Radio 6 presenters Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie shared that Richard had accidentally blabbed about being a Traitor to them four months ago, forcing their ‘brilliant producers’ to cut parts of the interview to avoid his slip-up.

On a recent episode of their Radio 6 Music show, they revealed: ‘People were saying when Joe Lycett said to him on Traitors, “What are you?” and he says “Traitor” that was his downfall, but if they had been listening in June, you would have heard that he revealed it earlier, so we took this out because we didn’t want to spoil your enjoyment.’

With his fate on the show now confirmed, the presenters played the original clip in full from their chat with Richard, where they asked him if actors have an advantage on the show.

He responded: ‘You would think so, but the very nature of being an actor is that you rely entirely on the camaraderie of the people that you are working with and to trust them, and when you are a Traitor it’s far more challenging than you might anticipate.

‘You would think it would be easy for actors; I think the reverse is the case.’

Whoops! While more subtle, Richard also seemed to have a moment with Metro in a junket where it was hard to control his face when Savage House co-star Claire Foy responded to a question about his experience on the show with: ‘He will be amazing in it.’

Did his choices flash before his eyes then, perhaps? It seemed like it, with the benefit of hindsight.

Contestants on The Traitors are required to sign NDAs and avoid sharing the outcome of their show and any details ahead of airing, or find themselves in breach of its conditions and potentially risking a fine of up to a reported £100,000.

The Mail reports that the BBC were aware of Richard’s accidental interview confession and that no further action will be taken.

On Monday’s episode of BBC Breakfast, Julie appeared as the latest player to exit the game on Friday night’s episode – and while she said she doesn’t know who wins, it was due to her own vigilance.

‘I’ve heard little bits of things,’ she revealed.

‘People were sharing who’d won at one point, and me and a couple of other people removed ourselves because we just don’t want to know.’

The Coronation Street star then confirmed that she had temporarily exited before the spoilers began.

‘I said, “Just let me remove myself, add me [back in] when you’ve finished having this conversation.”’

Sarah Fay, the show’s executive producer, previously confirmed the team were rocked by Richard’s Traitor admission as it went against the rules of the game.

Recalling the moment it happened, she said: ‘It was a mixture of a little bit of sick coming up in my mouth and an air punch at the same time. We’ve never had anything like that happen before.

‘Within five minutes of being out of the roundtable, he’d already mucked up. I still can’t believe it now. I mean, Richard E Grant, how iconic. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that we’d have a Traitor admit they were a Traitor five minutes after the roundtable.’

Metro has contacted the BBC and reps for Richard E. Grant for comment.

The Celebrity Traitors continues on Thursday at 8pm on BBC One.

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