Richard E Grant denies staging Traitors reveal to get out of filming

Richard E Grant has denied staging his traitors reveal slip-up to get out of filming on The Celebrity Traitors.

On the first episode of the latest season, the actor was chosen as a traitor alongside Love Island presenter Maya Jama.

Soon after being selected to deceive his fellow contestants, the actor admitted he was a traitor to several other people, leading to enough suspicion that he was the first person banished at the roundtable.

Grant has said despite his slip-up, he was convinced none of the other contestants would have taken his comment seriously.The Sun subsequently reported that some workers on the BBC show believed the actor had staged his slip-up to get out of weeks of filming.

In a post on his Instagram story on Tuesday, Grant wrote: “I usually wouldn’t comment on things like this, but I’ve been made aware some press outlets are suggesting I ‘staged’ my traitors reveal to get out of filming.

“This is categorically false. I’m an avid fan of the show and have been since it first aired.

“Being picked as a Traitor when I was convinced I’d be a faithful was an absolute dream and a sheer shock to the system.”

During the roundtable on the show he received votes from the majority of the contestants, including from both his fellow traitors, Jama and comedian James Acaster – whom they had recruited.

As Grant stood in front of his fellow celebrities to reveal his identity, he said: “I am… an unfaithful traitor.”

Following his banishment, Grant admitted that revealing his true identity so early in the game was a “catastrophically idiotic thing to do”.

When asked how he felt about deceiving others as part of the game, Grant said his daughter told him ahead of filming that he would be “slaughtered” as he was “incapable of hiding what you feel about people or anything”.