Celia Imrie gave Richard E Grant very specific advice before 2026 Celebrity Traitors

Celia Imrie has revealed the very specific warning she gave Richard E Grant before he entered the castle for the second outing of Celebrity Traitors, cautioning him that the BBC game is "very strict" and that "it's hard always being on".

Imrie, who placed seventh in season 1, told The Times that Grant had telephoned her for advice ahead of filming in the Scottish Highlands. "[He] rang me up and asked what it was like. I said I didn't quite know what I was letting myself in for," she recalled.

She added: "But it was good fun, although it's very strict and there is an element of cruelty about the game".

Grant has previously said he found the warning spot on, revealing on The One Show that Imrie had prepared him for "the cruelty of people who you instinctively want to trust" once suspicion falls on you in the room.

Grant said: "We've known each other for 40 years. I said, 'Celia, what is the thing you can't be prepared for?' She said, 'The cruelty of people who you instinctively want to trust, in a room like this and suddenly every single person suspects you'. And I think that's a very accurate thing to have said. I've already said too much!"

For Grant, he stumbled at the very first hurdle when he accidentally blurted out that he was a Traitor almost immediately, though thankfully most of his fellow celebrities assumed he was joking or bluffing, so the slip did not instantly expose him.

Speaking of the jaw-dropping moment moment, executive producer Sarah Fay told press including Radio Times: "It was a mixture of a little bit of sick coming up in my mouth and a punch at the same time. We've never had anything like that happen before. I mean, within five minutes of being out of the roundtable, he'd already mucked up!

"I still can't believe it now. But yeah, I mean, how iconic! And as producers, you always want to make sure the series are fresh and new. And we've been very lucky so far. We've just come back from filming our seventh series.

"We've just finished civilian, and every single series, luckily, the cast brings something completely different. But never in our wildest dreams did we think that we'd have a Traitor admit they were a Traitor five minutes after the roundtable."

Grant alongside fellow Traitor Maya Jama's first victim was former BBC presenter Amol Rajan, who was murdered by the Traitors in an early twist. Rajan later wrote that he asked Grant why he had been targeted, and the actor replied: "To protect myself. And that's a compliment!" When Rajan pointed out that recruiting him would have made more sense, Grant conceded: "Ah yes, that makes sense. But I think I just went mad."

Grant, Jama and newly recruited Traitor James Acaster must now work to eliminate the remaining Faithfuls without being caught.

Celebrity Traitors continues on Thursday 8 October at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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Authors

Katelyn Mensah is the Senior Entertainment Writer for Radio Times, covering all major entertainment programmes, reality TV shows and the latest hard-hitting documentaries. She previously worked at The Tab, with a focus on reality TV and showbiz news and has obtained a BA (Hons) in Journalism.