Richard E Grant Says His Celebrity Traitors Exit Came Down to One Honest Mistake

Richard E Grant has said his early exit from The Celebrity Traitors came down to one misjudgment. He admitted he was a traitor and assumed the other players would not take him seriously.

He was voted off after that admission. He told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that revealing his role so early was a mistake. He said he never thought the others would believe him. The Guardian

He made the comment to Victoria Derbyshire on that programme, broadcast on 11 October 2026. The BBC published the exchange as video titled "Celebrity Traitors: 'I didn't think they'd take me seriously'" featuring Grant. RTE

According to Grant, fellow contestant Joe Lycett asked him which side he was on. That question led Grant to confess he was a traitor. Lycett replied that confessing was something never done in the game and called it a bold strategy. He was wrong. Grant said: "I never thought they would take me seriously."

Grant said his daughter had warned him before filming that he would be "slaughtered" because he cannot hide his feelings. Looking back, he said he should have played it as a joke, telling everyone "I am a traitor" and "I am Spartacus". In his telling, the joke might have defused the admission. It did not occur to him at the time.

Grant had been chosen as a traitor by Claudia Winkleman in the opening episode. The Guardian He was under pressure when the cast made its first banishment vote. The show works like a bluffing game, with a few secret traitors hidden among faithfuls trying to spot them. The Guardian He was banished on Thursday in a landslide vote. BBC The BBC later described him as a self-sabotaging traitor who exited the castle. BBC

The vote was a landslide. The exit was swift. Grant described filming conditions as tightly controlled. Contestants waited alone in a room with a guard outside, had food delivered, had no internet access, were not told the time, and were told what to wear daily. He said he has chosen not to watch the series because watching himself unscripted leaves no place to hide.

Other parts of the traitor picture moved fast around him. Maya Jama is a traitor. Grant and Jama invited James Acaster to join them. BBC Hannah Fry accepted an offer to become a traitor. Industry star Myha'la played as a faithful and was banished the night after Grant. BBC

The broader context here is that a celebrity edition changes the calculation for players and producers alike. A confession that might sound like misdirection from an unknown player carries different weight when it comes from a familiar face with a reputation for candour. Grant assumed irony would be presumed. The group presumed sincerity. For the rest of the series, the early loss of a self-declared traitor means the remaining traitors must recruit and recalibrate while the faithfuls watch more closely after being proved right.