Richard E. Grant stunned viewers, producers and his fellow celebrities when he announced he was a Traitor barely 30 minutes into the premiere of the second series of Celebrity Traitors, undoing the secrecy that is supposed to sit at the heart of the BBC game show.
Host Claudia Winkleman had secretly selected the 69-year-old actor and fellow contestant Maya Jama as the series' Traitors at the first roundtable of the new run. The format depends on the Traitors keeping their identities hidden from the Faithfuls, who must try to identify and banish them at nightly roundtables while the Traitors murder players each night. Within minutes of leaving the roundtable, Grant sat down with comedian Joe Lycett in the castle and, when asked whether he was a Traitor or a Faithful, blurted out that he was a Traitor. A stunned Lycett asked him to repeat himself, and Grant doubled down, saying there was no point being in the game if you were not one.
The exchange, which aired in the opening episode, instantly became one of the most talked-about moments in the show's history. Lycett told Grant he had done something that had never happened in the game, calling it a bold strategy, while fellow celebrities including James Blunt, Ross Kemp and Rob Beckett looked on in disbelief. Grant had been open about how desperately he wanted to be chosen as a Traitor, telling Winkleman and anyone who would listen that the deceptive role was the one he coveted.
Moments later Grant appeared to grasp the scale of his error. In the confessional he called it the biggest mistake of his life, saying he had been so thrilled to be chosen that in his unguarded excitement he simply could not keep the secret. He added that he was absolutely convinced he would be going home, and that he needed to defuse all the heat coming in his direction.
Behind the scenes the reaction was visceral. Executive producer Sarah Fay said the moment was a mixture of sickness rising and triumph at the same time, adding that nothing like it had ever happened in the show's history and that within five minutes of leaving the roundtable he had already mucked up. Winkleman said Grant had been so giddy at being chosen that he could not contain his excitement, describing him as vibrating with excitement. Bosses were forced to warn future contestants that being a Traitor is supposed to be a secret.
The flashpoint, filmed earlier this year, has since become legend at Studio Lambert, the production company behind the series, where staff are said to refer to any such slip as "Doing a Reg". Some of Grant's fellow contestants were convinced he was bluffing and could not possibly be telling the truth, a confusion that only deepened the drama. Viewers, meanwhile, were delighted, with clips of the exchange spreading rapidly online and fans branding Grant a legend and calling it the television moment of the year.
The second series sees 21 celebrities playing at a castle in the Scottish Highlands for up to 100,000 pounds for their chosen charities. Whether the actor can talk his way out of an early banishment remains the question hanging over the castle as the series continues, with viewers already predicting he will be the first to face the Faithfuls' wrath at the roundtable.