BBC Says James Acaster Complaint Over “Macho Banter” on ‘Celebrity Traitors’ Is “Categorically Untrue”

The BBC has denied that its Celebrity Traitors star James Acaster clashed with fellow comedians Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett during the making of the show.

Over the weekend, the U.K.’s Mail on Sunday published an article claiming that producers on the Studio Lambert series — undoubtedly the most talked-about program in Britain right now — said Acaster complained that he was being “teased and mocked” by comic duo Ranganathan and Beckett.

Sources reportedly told the outlet that Acaster, who has been unwillingly recruited as a traitor, became uncomfortable over his co-stars’ “macho banter.” Ranganathan and Beckett were accused of “going too far” with some of their jokes, said the piece, “and on-set chatter suggests James ‘is much more sensitive than they are.'”

The Mail on Sunday report continued from a “source”: “Rob and Romesh clearly thought they were having a bit of a laugh, but James began to feel quite a lot of it was at his expense, and away from the cameras he started to get annoyed and upset by it. In the end, he spoke to the production team about it, saying he was unhappy and felt like he was being singled out.”

On Monday, a BBC representative refuted the article entirely, telling the press: “Claims of teasing amongst the cast on the show and claims of complaints about teasing are categorically untrue. There were no incidents of this nature and there is no evidence to support these allegations.”

But it hasn’t helped that Celebrity Traitors is enormous — averaging an impressive 9.3 million live viewers per episode in the U.K. — and gossip about on-set drama reliably attracts eyeballs. Acaster, in particular, has been the subject of many an alleged “insider” report during the show’s run. Aside from his surprise heartthrob status, the British comedian has been vocal about feeling anxious as a traitor. A Sun article gained traction as early episodes aired, claiming he’d had a panic attack during one of the challenges and producers had to “step in.”

Acaster is a traitor next to Love Island U.K. host Maya Jama, though that third spot in the turret has been consistently vacant. Richard E. Grant accidentally revealed he was a traitor minutes after Claudia Winkleman’s selection in the first episode and was banished that night in an unprecedented roundtable first for Britain’s Traitors franchise.

Acaster and Jama then recruited The Rest Is Science podcast host Hannah Fry, but her behavior had garnered far too much suspicion. She was subsequently banished last week. The traitors might have an easier time following the seduction of social media star King Kenny, who is considered a real traitor-hunter by the faithful.

Fellow celebrities on this season include Bella Ramsey, Miranda Hart, Michael Sheen, Sebastian Croft, James Blunt, Ross Kemp, Jerry Hall, Myha’la, Joe Lycett, Sharon Rooney and Leigh-Anne Pinnock.