James Acaster shocked after The Celebrity Traitors scene was scrapped
James Acaster has revealed a dramatic moment between him and another player was cut from the BBC game show.
The Celebrity Traitors bosses scrapped a scene showing Jerry Hall confronting James Acaster over suspicions he was a Traitor earlier in the game, according to the comedian.
His fellow players and viewers were left stunned when the star came clean about being 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.
James, 41, has now revealed that model Jerry Hall, 70, had her suspicions about him before that dramatic moment on the BBC game show, but their face-to-face moment never aired.
Appearing on The Celebrity Traitors series one winner Alan Carr's Life's a Beach podcast, he shared: "They cut out my one, Jerry Hall went right up to me, face-to-face, and accused me of being a Traitor and she said, 'I think it's James!'
"I looked her in the eye and said, 'I think it might be me as well, Jerry!' And she went, 'You're very sneaky', and I said, 'I am sneaky, Jerry. It could be me!'
"And she went, 'Hm...' and went away. I went, 'Surely that's going in the edit'. No, nowhere to be seen!"
James insisted he was far more vocal at the Round Table than viewers were led to believe, after fellow comic Alan, 50, admitted he deliberately kept quiet during the interrogations because he was "so scared".
James said: "I actually said a lot more around that roundtable than the edit would suggest... I had it in my head that the traitors were the quiet ones at the roundtable so I went for it and was then like, 'Oh no!'
"Because most of the time, they want to keep how the traitors vote as a surprise, so they don't want hints I might go one way or the other. So a lot of the time, what I said at the roundtables was cut out, so that what I vote is a then a reveal.
"So I was like, 'Oh, that makes sense!'"
James was recruited as a Traitor by Love Island host Maya Jama, 32, and actor Richard E Grant, 69, but he ultimately cracked under the pressure of the game and outed himself after Michael cornered him during the semi-final of the show, fronted by 54-year-old Claudia Winkleman.
James told his fellow players: "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."
After receiving the most votes, he added: "When I came into this experience, I told Claudia that all I wanted to be was a faithful, and all I wanted to do is go around this castle and try and help the faithfuls as much as possible, catching Traitors.
"I’m really proud to say that’s what I’ve been able to do, under the circumstances. I am, reluctantly, a Traitor."
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 Maya 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.
