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Celebrity Traitors’ star James Acaster has revealed that scenes were cut from the BBC show that would explain why singer James Blunt led the charge to banish Julie Hesmondhalgh.
Last week’s episodes saw former Coronation Street star Hesmondhalgh become the latest player to be banished at the star-studded roundtable, after Blunt pushed his theory as to why she was a Traitor. On the show, Blunt explained that he thought the actor was a Traitor because she had received the very first immunity shield of the competition after the other contestants considered her to be the most trustworthy of the group – and figured that as part of a secret twist, perhaps they had in fact picked the first Traitor.
However, after receiving the most votes at the roundtable, Hesmondhalgh revealed that she was in fact a Faithful – much to the frustration of the other contestants, who appeared to blame Blunt for the incorrect banishment.
While Blunt’s theory seemed far-fetched to those at home, co-star Acaster has now revealed that other elements of his reasoning were cut out of the show.
“In the edit James Blunt’s reason was that Julie was given the first shield,” he told The Times. “What actually happened is that when they did the shoulder tap for the Traitors’ pick at the beginning, James told Julie who he thought was acting suspiciously around the table.”
He then explained that after the roundtable, Acaster told Hesmondhalgh that at that stage in the competition – when the Traitors had been picked but didn’t know one another’s identities – if you were a Traitor, you would not be sharing your theories just yet as you might be outing your fellow turretmates.
“Then Julie went into the room where James [Blunt] was, puts this to everyone, and says, ‘Like you, James. You’re not sharing your theories with anyone.’ And James is thinking, ‘Well that’s not true, because I just shared mine with you at the table.’”
When arguing for Hesmondhalgh’s banishment, Blunt pointed to this as evidence of the actor lying in the competition, which is “why Julie got voted off” and “isn’t in the edit”.
“If I was him, I’d be pretty gutted,” Acaster added.
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The Independent has contacted the BBC for comment.
Meanwhile, Acaster was selected as a Traitor, having been recruited by Maya Jama and (the now banished) Richard E Grant in the first week. The comedian has arguably been the least enthusiastic Traitor in the history of the show, having been very vocal about wanting to play the game as a Faithful.
Addressing the fact he was forced to switch allegiance so early on, Acaster said: “I was looking forward to being a little detective, solving puzzles and looking for clues.” However, he did add that he found it “absolutely hilarious” that he was made a Traitor after one day. “I was in that coffin smirking to myself.”
Celebrity Traitors returns tonight at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.