Celebrity Traitors: How James Acaster’s explosive admission may mean the Faithful win against the odds

Series Two of the beloved reality show has already seen one Traitor confess their true identity, in a moment that similarly set the internet ablaze.

Richard E Grant now infamously uttered to Joe Lycett that he was a Traitor in the very first episode, in a slip-up that sealed his fate and saw him become the first banished player of the series.

James Acaster confessed to being a Traitor

PA

Since then, the Traitors have been playing catch-up, with three new recruits - Acaster, Hannah Fry and King Kenny - all donning the iconic green cloaks and heading to the turret to plot murders and mischief.

Despite losing Fry to banishment midway through, the remaining Traitors have largely gone undetected, and the Faithfuls have instead been banishing their own.

In fact, last week saw all three named as the most trustworthy players in a hilarious moment that seemingly threw the credibility of the Faithful crew out the window.

The Celebrity Traitors is down to its final few players

Prior to this week, all three Traitors were looking firm in their positions within the castle and a spot in the final looking undeniable, with virtually no heat on any one of them.

Even their extremely risky task, in which Winkleman instructed them to murder in plain sight by “boring a Faithful to death”, seemed to go undetected despite some very “obvious” yawning, as noticed by viewers.

The appointed leader of the Faithfuls Michael Sheen said it best himself at the beginning of Thursday’s episode: “After today, the maths is really against the Faithful, so I feel like I have to sift everything up as much as I can.”

Traitors King Kenny, Maya Jama and James Acaster, were voted the most trustworthy players in the game

BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry

However, in The Traitors, nothing is set in stone and last night’s episode, the penultimate in the series, cemented this, with one Traitor being banished and another seemingly steps away from being caught.

At breakfast, following the banishment of Joanne McNally and the murder of Sharon Rooney, the dwindling Faithfuls decided they needed a new approach.

James Blunt said they should start looking at the quieter players, and finally Acaster found himself in the firing line, particularly for gunning hard for McNally.

And Jama also found herself getting heat, with Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian “Bash” Croft questioning why she has been able to sail through the competition so easily.

The Celebrity Traitors final will take place on Friday

“The murder in plain sight, I think we’ve got to go back to that. We’ve got to pull something out of the bag,” said Sheen, and refocus they did, with the actor leading the charge against the remaining Library Three: Jama, Acaster and Kenny.

Going into the roundtable, it seemed poised to be a showdown between Sheen and Jama, with the actor earlier calling out the presenter for making a “brilliant Traitor”.

Enter Acaster, with the curveball of all curveballs. As the comedian received heat on him for his quiet demeanor, as well as the library theory, he did something unprecedented: he confessed to being a Traitor.

“I was made a Traitor without wanting to be,” he confessed. “It’s me. Vote for me.”

Maya Jama, Richard E Grant and James Acaster

PA Media

Acaster’s confession, whilst shocking, was a free pass for the Faithfuls, who voted him off swiftly after that, in a huge win for their cause.

Whilst Acaster was always a reluctant Traitor, and ultimately stayed loyal to the Faithfuls until the very end, there is no denying his admission has rocked the once strong unit of the Traitors.

His confession gives weight to Sheen’s theory that they need to start looking at the quieter people, as well as those who have for the most part slipped under the radar.

Jama also now undeniably has an immense amount of heat on her, and going into tonight’s episode, the decision whether to murder Sheen or not could have huge repercussions.

Maya Jama yawning during the ‘murder in plain sight’ challenge

BBC

Killing Sheen could eliminate her biggest threat in the competition, though suspicions would likely go straight to her. The library theory is still in full swing, and dead or alive, Sheen has a huge impact on the other Faithfuls, as the undisputed “leader of the roundtable”.

And despite Kenny being Jama’s right-hand man throughout, could he save himself by sacrificing his friend? We’ve seen Traitor-on-Traitor action before, and for a series as jam-packed as this one, would anyone be surprised if even more drama occurred in the final episode?

Not only that, the Traitors have been getting sloppy, with Jama referencing her power to kill at breakfast, and Kenny declaring him a “Traitor myself” at the roundtable.

Acaster himself has said that his decision to confess has really opened up the game.

King Kenny, Maya Jama and Michael Sheen during last night’s episode

PA

Speaking to friend Ed Gamble on Uncloaked, the comedian said: “Now we’ve got a proper final on our hands,” he said. “With three Traitors, it would have been a foregone conclusion that we were gonna win.

“I went into that roundtable thinking I had no heat on me. It was a surprise. But I was glad they caught me.”

With just one episode to go, everything is to play for ahead of the final banishment. Whilst a Traitors win is still a possibility - we’ve seen the Faithful make numerous mistakes throughout - Jama and Kenny are entering the final with far more heat and much less confidence.

Could tonight be an Alan Carr 2.0 or will the Faithfuls emerge victorious? Tune in to BBC One at 8pm to find out.