Celebrity Traitors star reveals one thing they'd do differently to avoid "humiliating" axing

The first The Celebrity Traitors season two star to leave the castle has opened up about what they would have done differently to avoid their "humiliating" exit. Amol Rajan became the first star to be axed from the spin-off series after being picked to potentially be recruited as a Traitor.

Journalist Amol and comedian James Acaster were both selected by Traitors Richard E Grant and Maya Jama to plead their case as to why they should join them in the Traitors' turret.

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The successful star would don the famous green cloak and side with the Traitors, while the remaining celebrity would be killed as they now knew too much after seeing the Traitors face-to-face.

Unfortunately, Amol's case just wasn't strong enough, and it was James who was recruited by Maya and Richard.

Appearing on The One Show following his exit, Amol opened up about how "horrible" it was for him to not only be the first celeb to leave, but also not be picked as a Traitor.

When asked by host Alex Jones what he would change about his gameplay strategy if he had his time again, Amol laughed and said he would "definitely do it differently" to avoid going out first.

He also said: "I would probably give Richard, the lord of chaos, a little bit less of a hard time.

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"The one thing I will say is that lots of people are giving him a hard time, and I think I did get quite close to being recruited as a Traitor, but the thing about the celeb version is people's reputation walks in before they do.

"They think 'Oh, he's a journalist; he asks different questions,' so I should have known I had a target on my back. But I didn't realise Richard was going to go quite that mad quite so quickly."

He described Richard's announcement, when he told his fellow contestants he was a Traitor just moments after he was picked, as one of "the best moments of TV he'd seen in a while".

He teased that the remaining contestants will "all live with the consequences", following Richard's shocking moment, and that he is "certainly living with the consequences".

Alex asked whether Amol would have voted for Richard at the first roundtable, and he said yes, and that if he had been recruited as a Traitor, he would have nominated Richard to give himself and Maya "some protection" from the Faithful hunting them down.

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The most recent episode ended on a cliffhanger, with the celebs butting heads over whether they believed Richard's admission means he is actually a Traitor, or if he was "just being Richard".

He also opened up about how "intense" appearing on The Traitors is and the "horrible" moment he was eliminated from the competition.

"It's absolutely horrible. It's horrible. It was horrible at the time," Amol said when asked by Alex and her co-host, Roman Kemp, what it was like watching the moment back again.

"Just so people know, when you are on The Traitors, it is your world. You're hundreds of miles from your family; you don't get your phone. It's so intense."

He continued: "You walk into that chapel, absolutely terrified. Spoiler alert: I thought I'd been recruited as a Traitor, but I turn up and see James Acaster also with me, and over there are two open coffins."

Amol said the time that host Claudia Winkelman appeared to take picking between them felt like "five years", and that his "heart leapt out" when his coffin door was closed.

The One Show airs every weekday evening at 7pm on BBC One.

The Celebrity Traitors airs on BBC One and streams on BBC iPlayer.

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Freelance Reporter, Digital Spy Rebecca is a freelance journalist who specializes in TV and film. After beginning her career as a digital entertainment journalist for the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, she embarked on a freelance career in 2021 contributing to the likes of Metro UK, The Sun, WhatCulture, Screen Rant, FilmHounds Magazine and more. Her particular field of interest is horror cinema and she has written for genre publications such as Ghouls Magazine and Moving Pictures Film Club. LinkedIn