The energy inside the Celebrity Traitors castle reportedly remained ‘tense’ even when the cameras stopped rolling.
The new season of the hit BBC reality series has the nation gripped as we watch to see if Traitors Maya Jama, James Acaster and Professor Hannah Fry can hoodwink the rest of the Faithfuls or break under the pressure.
Since Traitor Richard E. Grant revealed his identity and all but guaranteed his banishment in a stunning piece of television, the Faithfuls have not been so lucky in catching the snakes lurking in their ranks.
Two roundtables in a row, they have banished earnest Faithfuls, including Industry star Myha’la and actress Julie Hesmondhalgh, leading to unrest among our star-studded cast.
Even on camera, we saw James Blunt skulking the castle corridors in shame after leading the charge against Julie, with many left unimpressed and frustrated at another wrong choice.
Now, insiders have reported that tension seeped off-camera, causing an unsettling atmosphere, with one contestant reportedly even losing their nerve.
A source told the Mail on Sunday: ‘The tension is coming across on screen, but it was just as bad if not worse when the cameras stopped rolling,.’
The source claimed it was difficult for stars to ‘switch off from their game’ even when heading ot their own rooms for the night, that they were still ‘at each other’s throats’ and filled with ‘utter paranoia’.
They continued: ‘They were all making each other more stressed out. A lot of them just couldn’t hack it, I’m not sure what they thought they were signing up to.
‘One contestant really lost their nerve at one point and their co-stars were absolutely stunned,’ also pointing to how even the usual chirpy comedian Rob Beckett ‘really struggled at points’ to his co-stars’ surprise.
Ahead of the show airing, it was reported that James A (whom we now know is a reluctant Traitor) became so ‘anxious and panicked’ that production stopped rolling briefly to check on him at the request of his Ardoss Castle castmates.
The source at the time clarified the pause ‘didn’t affect the outcome of the game at all’.
As for the gameplay, there’s pleny of ahead for viewers to look forward to. In fact, an insider claimed that an unforseen twist during filming forced producers to ‘throw their plans out of the window’ and scrap a pre-planned cliffhanger.
Meanwhile, the outcome of the entire game could be in jeopardy after the stars making the final were allegedly already leaked with a friend of one of the contestants reportedly revealing the information.
The BBC is now hoping the classified information doesn’t make its way online. Stars are sworn to secrecy when it comes to discussing how the show will play out, with the final still three weeks away.
Celebrity Traitors airs at 8pm on BBC One on Thursday and Friday nights.
Metro has reached out to BBC for comment.