Joanne McNally lifts lid on shocking exit process for banished Celebrity Traitors stars
Joanne McNally was a Faithful until she was banished in the penultimate episode of The Celebrity Traitors.
Joanne McNally compared the removal of banished players from The Celebrity Traitors to a "military" operation.
The 43-year-old comedienne was eliminated in the penultimate episode of the BBC game show on October 29 after her co-stars wrongly suspected her of being a Traitor during the Round Table.
And she did not realise how full-on it is once contestants were asked to leave the show's base at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands.
On the latest episode of her and 41-year-old Vogue Williams' My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast, the latter wondered what happens when players are banished.
Joanne revealed: "So you get off the podium, they rush you out the side door and you’re bundled into a van like Whitney Houston in the Bodyguard.
"You have a little backpack there, it’s like an emergency backpack in the castle at all times so that if it’s the night that you do go you have your essentials.
"And then you’re taken to a different hotel."
The actress had to return to the castle the following day.
Joanne explained: "You actually have a full day’s work to do in the castle because you have to do all your B-shots and there was a video of me in the bath, so it’s all that stuff and your final interviews.
"I always wondered why in the castle if you needed to go to the bathroom or anything it’s this big kind of production.
"It’s because they have to make sure the castle is clear and there’s not people who’ve been banished the night before because they were in the castle doing all their extra last bits of work.
"So they were making sure no one crossed paths. It’s such a huge production and they run it so military!"
Meanwhile, comic James Acaster, 41, wanted to stage a mass walk-out on The Celebrity Traitors after being left terrified during a mission that involved being buried alive.
The entertainer, who took part with The Last Of Us' Bella Ramsey, 23, told Far Out magazine: "I was lying there thinking, actually, I think I’m really scared of this. As soon as the soil was heaped on top, Bella did say, 'Imagine if they can’t get us out.'"
Model Jerry Hall, 70, did quit the challenge and James believes he should have followed suit, saying: "[Jerry] didn’t like it. She didn’t like, well, none of us liked it.
"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.'
"We should have just done what – 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.'"
James was recruited as a Traitor, a role he struggled with, during the October 29 semi-final, after actor Michael Sheen, 57, cornered him in a tense Round Table interrogation, which led to James' banishment from the castle.
Previous reports suggested filming was halted shortly before the vote as James was so upset.
A source told The Sun newspaper: "What you don’t see is the moment when James got upset as he crumbled when he could see he was about to be caught.
"Both the producers and the other celebrities could see how he was struggling with the pressure of keeping his true identity secret and he reached some kind of breaking point when he was confronted.
"That saw the team feel compelled to intervene, and filming was brought to a halt as they assessed the situation. They spoke to both James and the rest of the stars and didn’t allow filming to resume until they were sure everyone was in a fit state.
"But very little was caught on camera, and what little that was recorded did not feature in the final edit."
James was banished, leaving remaining Traitors, Love Island host Maya Jama, 32, and YouTube star King Kenny, 29, to battle their way to the final, which aired on October 30.
But they were both subsequently banished, clearing the way for Faithfuls Romesh Ranganathan, 48, and Sebastian Croft, 24, to win the £83,000 prize pot.
The comedian and the Heartstopper actor will split the winnings between their respective charities.
Romesh is donating his share to the Refugee Council, while Sebastian is donating his to Choose Love.
