James Blunt has been "told off by Celeb Traitors bosses" after breaking a major show rule, in a row that has embarrassed the BBC during its record-breaking series.
The BBC has reportedly ordered the singer, 52, to remove a post he shared in which he plugged the expensive suit he wore in the opening episode of The Celebrity Traitors. The £1,695 tweed suit appeared in a publicity snap taken for the show, which Blunt shared on his personal X account alongside a link to the X account of the brand Barrington Ayre, the Cotswolds-based tailor believed to have supplied it.
"The name's Blunt. James Blunt," he wrote in the caption of the post. The picture carried watermarks for the BBC and Celebrity Traitors - a detail that made the commercial plug particularly awkward for the corporation.
The BBC has strict editorial guidelines that prohibit stars from exploiting BBC programmes or brands in any advertisements or promotions. Neither the BBC nor Studio Lambert, the production company behind the show, was believed to have been aware of the post until the Mail on Sunday brought it to their attention. A BBC insider said: "As soon as the BBC was alerted, it spoke to all parties and the post was removed from X."
The incident is a minor but telling embarrassment for a series that has otherwise been a triumph. The second series of The Celebrity Traitors launched on BBC One with a record-breaking average of 8.9 million viewers, peaking at 9.1 million, and executives are understood to be thrilled by figures far beyond what they expected in an era of declining live television.
The show has dominated headlines for weeks: actor Richard E Grant's epic gaffe in which he revealed he was a Traitor after just 30 minutes; the racism row over the banishment of actress Myha'la; comedian James Acaster's comparison of filming conditions to East Germany; and James Blunt himself, whose deadpan social media presence has made him a fan favourite contestant.
The corporation's swift action reflects how seriously the BBC takes its commercial impartiality rules. Its editorial guidelines are designed to protect the BBC's brand from being used, even implicitly, to endorse products - a principle that applies as much to a celebrity's personal social media as to the programmes themselves. For Blunt, known for his self-deprecating wit, the telling-off is unlikely to dent his popularity - but it is a reminder that even the BBC's biggest stars cannot blur the line between programming and promotion.