James Acaster finally proved he is a perfect Celebrity Traitor – he just disappointed me doing it

James Acaster has spent a lot of time on Celebrity Traitors nervously sweating over the fact he’s not a Faithful.

But last night the 41-year-old finally embraced the backstabbing spirit that makes the BBC’s big game of wink murder so intoxicating.

Sadly, he didn’t plunge the knife into the back of the Faithfuls. He betrayed his fellow Traitors, Maya Jama and King Kenny, during a particularly difficult challenge.

And yes, I do think it was a betrayal.

You see, unlike normal challenges where all the celebs in Claudia’s castle work together to earn money for the prize pot, last night gave the Faithful and Traitors different tasks.

The Faithful had to assemble shields (which would protect them from murder) using puzzle pieces. The Traitors, meanwhile, had to steal the pieces and assemble their own shield, which would have added £9,000 to the prize pot.

This meant the Traitors had to move around blindfolded Faithfuls, avoiding detection to get their murderous mitts on the pieces they needed.

James, however, thought the challenge was too difficult and refused to help, leaving fellow Traitors Maya and Kenny bumbling about in the dark until they ran out of time.

It was, as the kids say, ‘a d*** move’ and worse than that, it was just a bit embarrassing.

I know James is ‘The Reluctant Traitor’, and he doesn’t like all the plotting, betrayal and murder, but what show did he think he was signed up for?

Did he think he was going on DIY SOS and was shocked when he turned up with a paint roller in hand to find out it was actually Traitors?

If you sign up for Traitors, you have to play the game; you can’t just choose to sit it out because you don’t like the role you’ve been given.

And until now,I’ve found James’s wet blanket-ness (Definitely a word) tolerable, as he kept to the spirit of the Traitors Oath, but last night was the first time I’ve thought he needs to get a grip.

Not because he refused to help, but because he didn’t even take off his blindfold to communicate with his teammates. Instead, he pointed at Michael Sheen and Bash, and made it clear he would not move.

Great.

This is a game at the end of the day; this isn’t life and death, and by refusing to help Maya and Kenny, he put his fellow faithless cutthroats at risk of detection for no other reason than that he wanted to save his own skin.

That’s annoying, and it shows a side of James I don’t like.

There’s an irony in that. James is so desperate to be a Faithful that he’s actually turned traitor against the Traitors, inadvertently showing his self-serving side.

You might think I’m in no position to criticise James, but I’m not alone.

An anonymous colleague and former James Acaster Stan wrote in the work Slack this morning: ‘James shirking his duties as a Traitor was actually the biggest ick of the season so far.

‘I did not expect this from him… and neither did the millions of women who have been lusting after him for the past month.’

GDPR violations aside, people on X are also raging. Showbiz reporter Ed Gleave wrote that James ‘might be the dullest booking ever’.

‘His refusal to take part in the mission was embarrassing,’ they added. ‘Getting to be a Traitor is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, and he’s wasted it.’

User Confyna agreed, saying: ‘James Acaster should put himself out of misery and banish himself – like you’re not even helping out your fellow Traitors; what is your purpose?’

@iluvmyusicc, however, was the most scathing, adding, ‘he really ruined this show for refusing to play the Traitor role. Not removing the blindfold is so cowardly. Like, mate, go home.’

And look, there are plenty of people out there defending James, and the obvious argument (which I actually agree with) is that his awkward reluctance to play the game is exactly what makes him an interesting player.

He’s so uncomfortable with lying to his friends in the castle that it makes for good telly, but to my mind there’s a big difference between what James has been doing and what he did last night.

Until now, he’s been a ‘bad Traitor’. Last night he refused to be one at all.That’s boring, and the last thing I want is for The Traitors to become boring.

And if you’ve read this and thought this is unfair, or that I don’t like this. I’ve got one thing to say. ‘What’s wrong, too challenging for you?’

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

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