Celebrity Traitors producers forced to ditch plans for show after ‘unthinkable’ moment which was even MORE chaotic than Richard E. Grant’s gaffe

CITI NEWSROOM • 1d ago

By CAROLINE PEACOCK, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER 23:46 07 Oct 2026, updated 00:01 08 Oct 2026

Celebrity Traitors producers have been forced to ditch plans for the show after an ‘unthinkable’ moment took place – which is said to be even more chaotic than Richard E. Grant’s gaffe.

The hit BBC show left viewers furious on Friday over the ‘ridiculous’ cliffhanger ending as it abruptly ended mid-round table.

As a result, viewers have been patiently waiting for Thursday’s episode, where they will see who the all-star line-up will cast their votes on to banish from the castle.

But now, it has been reported that ‘something so unbelievable happened that even execs didn’t see it coming’.

A source told The Sun: ‘Cliffhangers on The Traitors have become legendary so bosses never want to disappoint and hope to have the nation on tenterhooks all week, waiting for Thursdays to come around – that’s part of the reason the format being fed out twice a week works.

‘So they plot out likely moments in gameplay that will be the Friday cliffs.’

But after the mad event, bosses were ‘forced to throw plans out the window to accommodate the epic moment – which should make great TV’.

The Daily Mail has contacted the BBC for comment.

The tension rose between the celebrities at the first round table of the series as they debated whether Richard is a Faithful or not, after the actor made the biggest slip-up in history by openly admitting he was a Traitor.

And just as the celebrities were going back and forth on Richard’s innocence, Claudia Winkleman announced: ‘Players the time for talk is over,’ and the second episode surprisingly ended.

Fans were left shocked by the ‘massive cliffhanger’ as viewers didn’t even get the chance to see the stars write who they believe is a Traitor on their chalkboards.

Elsewhere in the episode, former Today programme host Amol Rajan fell at the first hurdle when he was murdered by Richard and Maya Jama.

Viewers have been left waiting for 24 hours to see if he or comedian James Acaster would win the battle to be chosen by Richard and Maya to be the third Traitor, but on Friday fans discovered it was Amol who lost out.

Speaking after his shock exit, Amol admitted that he is ‘grieving’ being kicked off so early in the series.

He said: ‘It’s just an absolutely unforgettable ride of a lifetime. And honestly, there’s kind of an unhappy contrast right now, because I’m sort of grieving what might have been. In time I know that I’ll come to look on this as honestly one of the greatest privileges of my life.’

The Traitors host Claudia was seen pacing back and forth before slamming the coffin shut on the broadcaster, meaning he is the first player to be eliminated.

‘It’s game over,’ he told the camera. ‘It is gutting to be the first out, but James is a fantastic player, and people aren’t going to suspect him, and they might suspect me.

‘Maybe I was a little bit foolish with Richard, but then again, I ended up in the chapel with a nearly 50/50 chance to join their club.

‘But do you know what? Games are games. Just like there are winners, there has to be losers. I’ve loved the ride.’

The first two episodes mark the return of television’s most deceitful game show – and it has yet again proved to be a smash hit with viewers.

Nominated as one of Claudia’s Traitors, Richard has perhaps already made the biggest slip-up in Celebrity Traitors history.

As he mingled with Faithful Joe Lycett in the lounge area, the comedian jumped straight in with the question: ‘What are you?’

‘A Traitor,’ Richard responded with a huge grin on his face.

Unsure what to believe, Joe said: ‘I think you’ve just done something that has never happened in the game… bold strategy.’

The surprise confession has left the rest of the celebrities in a tailspin, with the actor acknowledging he will face the heat at the first round table.

But James, who has been pushing forward the theory Richard is a Traitor, will now be working alongside them to throw the Faithfuls off the scent.

The second series launch episode attracted a record-breaking nine million viewers on Thursday, surpassing all previous premieres for The Traitors UK.

Overnight figures show the first episode peaked at just over nine million and averaged 8.9 million viewers – up three million from the first celebrity series and 2.5 million from series four of The Traitors back in January.

Last year’s star-studded celebrity series – featuring the likes of winner Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross, Stephen Fry, Kate Garraway and Paloma Faith – launched with a peak audience of 6.5 million viewers, averaging 6.1 million across the episodes.

The last non-celebrity series opener in January garnered 6.9 million peak viewers and averaged 6.4 million views.

The total audience for the series is expected to go even higher in the coming days, with viewers who streamed the show on iPlayer yet to be counted.

It also beat ratings for Strictly Come Dancing’s first live show, which have plummeted since presenters Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly stepped away.

Emma Willis, Josh Widdicombe and dancer Johannes Radebe have since replaced the iconic duo.

The first episode of the dance show had a peak of five million viewers, down from the 6.2 million who tuned in for the same stage of last year’s competition.

Celebrities on The Traitors are playing the game in Ardross Castle in the Highlands, hoping to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.

And the remaining 20 competitors took part in their second mission in Friday’s episode, which was set in a graveyard and involved them being buried alive in pairs.

They were put in coffins in the ground, with soil thrown on top – but for Jerry Hall, it all became too much.

Turning to her partner, mathematician Hannah Fry, she quipped: ‘I’m sorry I don’t think I can handle it,’ before shouting the code word ‘haggis’ which meant they were both out of the mission.

The pair are therefore up for the show’s next murder, while the others are shielded.

‘It was really scary. It is like being in a horror movie. It is awful! Lying in that coffin and then they closed the doors and locked it and started throwing dirt on. My head started spinning. I just had to get out immediately,’ Jerry told the camera.

The show ended with the first roundtable, where Richard found himself under fire after slipping up and declaring himself a Traitor in the launch episode.

‘Let’s be frank, you are celebrities. You are very successful. When you speak, people listen. You might find that slightly different here,’ Claudia told them.

‘At this roundtable there is no VIP treatment. There are no riders, there is no fluffing. If you hit a rough patch, you definitely cannot call your agent.

‘In here, you have to do only one thing, and one thing alone, and that is find the traitors. So then players, for the very first time, the floor is yours.’

As the discussion kicked off, Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh said: ‘We are at risk of being the most idiotic group of Faithfuls in the world if we go for someone else tonight based on nothing at all when someone has come in the room and say, “I am a Traitor”.’

Comedian Romesh Ranganathan added: ‘You’ve given all of us a problem because by doing that it was a big mistake by you. I feel like you have forced our hand by the honest truth of it.’

Reacting to the episode, viewers wrote on X: ‘If Richard E Grant survives this round table, these faithfuls will be screwed. The man literally told them he was a traitor and then killed one of the main people who was against him and people are still thinking he’s a faithful??’;

‘We can’t have Richard E Grant going this early. He’s too entertaining’;

‘Massive respect to Richard who made one of the worst errors of all time on The Traitors and has just laughed his way through all of it’;

‘If Richard goes at the round table THEN they have the choice to recruit so maybe nobody goes? *prays for Hannah.’

But, with BBC leaving us on another cliffhanger, viewers will have to wait to discover Richard’s fate.

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