Celebrity Traitors star King Kenny has admitted that he knew James Acaster’s shock Traitor confession during the show’s final week sealed his own fate.
The BBC hit’s final episode last Friday (30 October) saw King Kenny and fellow Traitor Maya Jama both banished from the game, which was ultimately won by Faithful contestants Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft.
But during an appearance on the InbeTweeniez podcast this week, Kenny suggested the outcome may have been different if Acaster hadn’t admitted he was a Traitor during a tense roundtable in the show’s penultimate episode.
“I was shocked,” Kenny said. “Ultimately, in that moment when he spoke about him not spraying the perfume and bringing up that the murder happened in plain sight in that room, I said to Maya, ‘Time’s coming, but we’re going to have to fight for our lives and try and win this’.”
Acaster confessed to being a Traitor after a dramatic roundtable stand-off with Michael Sheen. The Welsh actor theorised that Acaster must have been responsible for the “in plain sight” murder of Ross Kemp, whose time in the game was brought to a close during a plot involving a perfume bottle filled with a poisonous mist.
“I kind of had an argument to try and stay as long as I could because I was out of that room when the murder happened,” Kenny continued during his podcast appearance. “So that was the only hope I had to try and win this.”
There has been much controversy surrounding this series of Celebrity Traitors, particularly involving Acaster, who bent the rules of the game by playing as what he termed “a Faithful Traitor”. This culminated in his unprecedented confession at the roundtable, which a number of contestants have discussed in the aftermath of the show.
On the podcast, Kenny suggested the BBC should make changes to the show’s casting to ensure something like Acaster’s rule-bending won’t happen again.
“I think the producers should make sure that everyone wants to play the game effectively,” he said. “Whether you’re a Traitor or a Faithful, everyone’s happy to do whatever. It makes the game much more fun.”
Earlier this week, James Blunt revealed that viewers “didn’t see the full extent” of Acaster being interrogated at the roundtable and that the comedian “didn’t fall on his sword” – and later discussed his and Sheen’s plans to expose him.
“Michael and I had been really planning our assault on him through the roundtable in the morning,” he told Hits Radio on Wednesday (4 November). “I think you picked up that I really then became obsessed about the perfume.”
“I’d walked that through with Michael and we really knew what we were going [to do] and then Michael delivered an absolute knockout,” Blunt continued. “Some of this wasn’t necessarily shown. It became so evident that we had nailed him to a post at that stage. And so, what you’ve seen is him just saying, ‘Oh guys, you got me.’ But it wasn’t like that. It was much harder than you saw. It was a courtroom and we drilled it down.”
He added: “So to all those who would critique James and say, ‘You just put your hands up and quit.’ He really didn’t. It was more dramatic than you saw.”
The BBC, meanwhile, issued a statement after the penultimate episode aired last Thursday, following The Sun’s reporting that production was halted during Acaster’s final roundtable after the comedian became distressed.
“Our highest priority is always the safety and welfare of everyone taking part,” a spokesperson said. “Players are closely monitored and supported throughout by production which includes a dedicated and experienced welfare team.”
In her own post-show interview, Maya Jama said she felt for Acaster’s predicament during the series.
“I know, bless him,” she told Variety. “Never in a game would you expect that you’re going to be put in a situation where you absolutely hate being a Traitor. And I obviously had no idea beforehand that he didn’t want to be a Traitor, I just thought everyone’s kind of up for it.”