Chaos, coffins and 'Claudiapatra' steal the show in Celebrity Traitors

ByHelen Bushby

Culture reporter

Spoiler warning: This article reveals details from the first episode of The Celebrity Traitors, series two.

One person in particular may have dominated much of this opening episode, but Claudia Winkleman's gothic arrival still caused a stir.

Carried aloft by druids in a closed coffin, the show's host arrived in a church, to greet 21 anxious-looking celebrities.

"That was quite the nap," she said as she emerged.

"Claudiapatra!" gasped model and actress Jerry Hall - spotting similarities in both grandeur and hairstyles between Claudia and Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen.

Winkleman said at the show's press launch she loved her "iconic entrance", but admitted she'd initially wanted to hide in the castle's suit of armour.

"It's like a sort of GCSE history fantasy - it was either that or the grandfather clock," she said.

But the main talking point of this show was actor Richard E Grant, with his shocking admission.

Grant and presenter Maya Jama were selected as two of Winkleman's three traitors.

But immediately afterwards, Grant appeared to forget the entire point of the game, by gleefully blurting out to those around him he was actually a traitor.

You could have heard a pin drop after he said it. Stunned silence.

He later admitted, in footage for viewers of the show: "That may be the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. I was so thrilled to have been chosen as a traitor that in my unguarded excitement, I said, 'Of course I'm a traitor'.

"I clearly need to defuse all the heat that's coming in my direction."

"It's an interesting angle," laughed singer James Blunt just afterwards, while comic Rob Beckett told him: "I think you've just done something that's never happened in the game - it is a bold strategy."

Ex-BBC journalist Amol Rajan swooped the following day, asking Grant: "What happened last night?"

But instead of sewing clever seeds of doubt, Grant said he'd been so "blatant" about wanting to be a traitor that he simply responded he was one, when he was asked.

It was an odd reply, perhaps because he was flustered.

Rajan labelled him the "Lord of Chaos", but Hall stayed loyal.

"I just don't believe Richard's a traitor, I've known him 30 years and he's my neighbour," she said.

"He says and does eccentric things, he's an amazing guy, but I think he's like acting out because he's not been chosen."

Hall's loyalty could be tested though, given Alan Carr murdered Paloma Faith in series one by touching her face.

Comic and writer Miranda Hart also thinks Grant could be a faithful, but admitted she is confused.

Winkleman told the press launch she thought Grant blurted out his identity in error, because he was so thrilled to be a traitor.

"He was giddy, wasn't he? He's just laughing at what's happening. Fantastic," she said.

Ed Gamble, the host of BBC Two's Uncloaked, added: "It felt like he'd been given the lead role in a film and he just had to tell everyone. It's such an insane moment."

Grant may find that no one tells him a secret ever again.

He did eventually decide to let the much more cool, calm and collected Jama take the lead in their subsequent decision making.

Meanwhile the other celebrities also proved their worth on the show, not least "hard man" Ross Kemp, the former EastEnders actor-turned documentary-maker, whose programmes have focused on gangs and the armed forces.

Having admitted how nervous he was in the pews of the church, he came into his own for the task, along with ex-army captain James Blunt.

They divided the celebrities into teams, leading them to successfully find the treasure on the pirate ship, bagging £15,000.

But Kemp quickly crumbled back in the castle, when paranoia set in.

The Last of Us and Game of Thrones star Bella Ramsay, a key player in the task, had grabbed a captain's hat from the boat. She playfully planted it on Kemp's head, marking their victory.

Little Mix's Leigh-Anne Pinnock then touched Kemp on the arm as she walked through the bar.

Clearly remembering how Carr killed off Faith early on, Kemp got understandably fearful he had been killed by a traitor.

This tickled Gamble, who said: "It is one of the funniest things I've ever seen - the moment he gets touched on the arm, having already thought Bella Ramsay putting a captain's hat on him is a murder in plain sight.

"What a variety of men live within the Ross Kemp sphere.

"He's a big hard man running that mission. And then immediately terrified of a member of Little Mix touching him on the arm. That's incredible."

We also learned that although quite a few celebrities wanted to be traitors, including Rajan and Beckett, comics James Acaster and Hart and mathematician Hannah Fry wanted to be faithfuls - Fry said she was "dripping with prefect energy".

Meanwhile YouTuber King Kenny and actress Myha'la had their own strategies.

"I have an innocent face; I want to avenge Niko [Omilana, the first to be banished in series one]. He left too early," Kenny said, while Myha'la added she wants to be perceived as "doughy-eyed, fun, and maybe a little naïve", unlike her scheming character in Industry.

Fashion is likely to be another talking point in the castle.

Beckett observed that when actress Julie Hesmondhalgh wore the shield she'd won, she looked like a "cardinal" in her long, red dress, adding: "I thought we were in the Vatican!"

True to form, Joe Lycett wore a polka-dot shorts suit with a purple feather collar.

Hall was also keen to strut her stuff, saying she wanted to stay long enough to "wear all my fabulous outfits".

Blunt deadpanned: "Well, look, if you go early, I'll wear your outfits."

But although the one-liners were flying, the show got very serious at the end, when the game's new twist dictated that Grant and Jama had to select their third traitor.

They had to choose two celebrities to meet them in person to argue why they should stay, with the winner joining them and the loser becoming the show's first murder victim.

"They'll beg – there is a God. I'm loving it. Delicious," Grant said, grinning like a kid in a sweet shop.

Rajan and Acaster were chosen, having both put pressure on Grant over being a traitor.

"Amol is the biggest Rottweiler on me; it would take the heat off me for having been such a plonker," he admitted, while adding: "James Acaster is laser-eyed in his conviction that I am a traitor."

Despite wanting to be a faithful, Acaster argued a solid case to stay, telling Grant: "If I go tonight, the first person they're looking at is you."

Rajan then took the floor, saying: "I do think I am uniquely placed to take the heat off you. I'm here because I sniff out liars for a living.

"The faithful think I will identify the traitor by doing my job really well. If I'm on your side, I'll throw them off the scent."

Taking the episode full circle, they each laid in a coffin, just as Winkleman had, to await their fate.

"I'm "90% that nice, warm guy who's on the news, but I'm also 10% psychopath," Rajan had said earlier.

Although his Machiavellian side wasn't apparent when I sat opposite him for years at the BBC, it will be interesting to see what sort of a traitor he is - if he emerges from his coffin.