Why "scared" James Acaster tried to 'walk out' of Celebrity Traitors even before his shocking confession

The unprecedented moment that James Acaster revealed he was a Traitor at the Round Table during the semi-final of Celebrity Traitors caused jaws across the nation to drop and saw producers pause filming and carry out a welfare check.

It turns out though that it wasn't the first time Acaster had struggled while filming the show, with him since admitting there was another moment he nearly quit the show entirely.

Earlier in the series, he and his fellow players players took part in a mission that saw them buried alive in coffins in a truly horrific twist.

Related: "I’m shook": Fans react to Traitor outing in bombshell Celebrity Traitors moment

Talking to Far Out Magazine, he said: "I was lying there thinking, actually, I think I'm really scared of this.

"As soon as the soil was heaped on top, Bella [Ramsey] did say, 'Imagine if they can't get us out'."

Fellow player Jerry Hall was the first to shout out "haggis", the safe word, something Acaster says he fully understood: "She didn't like it. She didn't like, well, none of us liked it.

"No, I respect Jerry the most because Jerry just went, 'I'm not doing this.' Like, are you kidding me? And the rest of us were just like, "We want to win Traitors in our coffins", idiots."

"As soon as I heard Jerry got out, I should have said to Bella, 'I'm getting out, forget it. If it's a free-for-all now, we should all get out. They can't stop us all. We could all do it'."

Related: Celebrity Traitors' James Acaster delivered exactly what the show needed – and we should thank him

Acaster's semi-final bombshell came after he fell under suspicion for orchestrating the murder of Ross Kemp.

As the pressure intensified, he said: “I just want to explain my situation; I was made a Traitor without wanting to be, I’ve had a unique experience on this that no one’s had before, where I wanted to be a Faithful and that’s all I’ve wanted to be.

“I couldn’t just go ‘guys, it’s me, vote for me’, but that’s all I can do really.”

Celebrity Traitors airs on BBC iPlayer.

Visit our Streaming Guide now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.

The new edition of Legends, a 100-page celebration of the world of K-pop, is here. Buy K-Pop in newsagents or online.