Welcome to the castle - When your fears subside, and the shadows still remain…| 2026 Celebrity Traitors Thread 7 [TV Pace]

[CaveMum]

Oh my god, how did you lot fill that last thread up so fast?!

Previous thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5592483-welcome-to-the-castle-we-got-everything-you-wantwe-know-the-names-2026-celebrity-traitors-thread-6-tv-pace?page=1

This is a tv pace thread so make sure you’re up to date with the live broadcast and yes, previous series (regular and celeb) will be discussed!

Please no spoilers if you read them online!

The story so far (as at end of episode 9)

Traitors (still active)
Maya Jama
King Kenny (recruited)

Faithful
James Blunt
Leigh-Anne Pinnock
Michael Sheen
Romesh Ranganathan
Sebastian Croft

Murdered
Amol Rajan
Bella Ramsey
Rob Beckett
RossKemp
Miranda Hart

Sharon Rooney

Banished
Richard E Grant (Traitor)
Myha’la
Julie Hesmondhalgh
Professor Hannah Fry (recruited Traitor)
Joe Lycett
Jerry Hall
Joanne McNally
James Acaster (recruited Traitor)

For these that want to keep up with Claudia’s outfits: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/lifestyle/a73628412/celebrity-traitors-claudia-winkleman-outfits/

Blimey it's all gone off the rails this year hasn't it! The production crew must be on vodka for breakfast.

Good grief, I settle down after breakfast to catch up on the thread and find it filled and I’m panicking to get a new one up!

Good thing I always have the updates ready to go #nerd

The observant among you will notice I have run out of Welcome to the Jungle lyrics and have moved on to November Rain.

Players, for the final time (?) the floor is yours.

Richard and Marina were good last night, and I’m 100% behind Marina’s goal of getting Andy Murray on next year!

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-rest-is-entertainment/id1718287198?i=1000798722715

It was a mistake not to banish Sharon and murder Michael, as Joanne did have some heat on her and wasn't on the right track with uncovering the traitors so she wasn't really a threat the same way Sharon and Michael were/are. Now it's too late to murder Michael.

I think Maya's massively at risk.

Not just massively at risk. JA gave the game away. Michael gave his theory of the people in the library, all now gone except Maya, JA and KK. JA said yes that's right. Maya looked hugely pissed off (I would be too), and no one could bring themselves to talk to her. Michael is obviously faithful, Maya and KK traitors. Who could argue with it?

I was a bit suspicious that, after so much time blundering in the dark, the faithfuls suddenly started talking about Maya and James A this ep (although not Kenny so much, I don't think?). It feels like they were given a hint by production to spice things up a bit, although I know realistically they probably can't do that. Does being so close to the end just focus the mind?

James A was a disaster. Obviously there was a chance he'd have to be a traitor, so if he was so sure he couldn't handle it he should not have gone on. I agree with a poster on the last thread that it's even worse as he was playing for money.
I do think some blame lies with his agent, who may have pushed him, and the production team; surely due diligence is done on MH etc before they do the casting?

Maya is in trouble and if they murder Michael I think she'll get banished. I wonder if the final will be Kenny, Leigh Anne and Bash.
I'm really impressed by Leigh Anne. She was so kind and emotionally astute to Miranda when Joe left (and has drawn heat for it!), and I saw when Joanne was banished and Sharon was tearful, she went straight to her with a hug. I'd like her to win, even though she's not exactly been active in finding the traitors.

There are posters on here with some very odd ideas about how the entertainment business works...

Given that JA didnt attend Uncloaked, I am not buying the "getting upset" narrative. I think he's had a quarrel with production and thrown the toys out of the pram, or has demanded an early exit
The whole premise traitors is built on is that the traitors identity is secret.
What a bellend and a baby Acaster is!

A couple of weeks ago, I predicted Leigh-Anne would win. I still think she will.

I guess she has to. Maya has to keep her in as the only other female. Then everyone will banish Maya. Hoping Michael and Blunty win with her, they deserve it (more than her).

I don’t think the Producers would influence or steer the contestants thinking but they will control the narrative of the edit to make the show as dramatic as possible. I suspect Maya and James A (and maybe Kenny) and the library theory had been mentioned for a while, but they didn’t include those comments in the edit so it’s more dramatic when the Faithfuls seemed to suddenly cotton on. It makes for better TV.

@NiaAndFar I didn't watch Uncloaked last night, but I did think James Acaster did appear?

I wouldn’t read too much into James A not being on Uncloaked - Rob Beckett wasn’t either (they said he had a prior commitment).

The “sensible” way for this all to play out now is:

Murder Michael
Banish Maya
Then I suspect James B and Leigh-Anne will get banished, so it will come down to whether Bash and Romesh trust Kenny.

The spanner in the works would be if a Kenny decides to try and defend Maya as that will look suspicious when she has so much heat on her.

I maintain though that there is no good reason to end the game when three people are left - theres always a chance theres a Traitor left and besides, better to split the money between 2 than 3. To me it is Traitorous behaviour to vote to end when there are 3 players left. That’s why the ending of S2 annoyed me so much - Molly should have realised Jaz was Faithful simply because he voted to banish again!

Oh he didn't appear on Uncloaked then?

He just did the post-banishment interview in the castle with Ed. He didn’t appear on the podcast record.

I would love to see Murray deadpan his way through it. I'm not sure it's his cup of tea though.

We caught up late last night so missed the previous thread and can’t face wading through so many pages!

It’s probably been said but as James A broke the rules, my view is he should have been booted out and they should then have voted - potentially getting another traitor (Maya most likely) or a big character faithful (Michael) and making for a more interesting last day.

Hoping Michael and Blunty win with her, they deserve it (more than her).
I don't think they do at all. Both are consistently confidently wrong. Michael spent a lot of time at the last RT talking over Maya, and was STILL talking about himself and his theories as they left the RT and went to the bar.
Blunt is at least quite funny, and is clearly trolling us with his wardrobe of John McEnroe tracksuits and coordinating headbands, which I've thoroughly enjoyed.

Ah, thanks for the clarification @CaveMum I read he defended his action on the grounds that it has improved the chances of the faithful? That really annoyed me, if true.
If you had a breakdown, own it. Don't frame it as a noble act of sacrifice.

Thanks for the new thread and I’m not sure who I’d like to win. None of them stand out but I do agree about Leigh-Anne, she’s been consistent all the way through

I would have loved Miranda to win but alas it wasn’t to be

So would I!

This is the thing that's bothering me this series actually. It feels obviously and so heavily edited. Manipulated. We know they spends months editing, but the cutaways to people's expressions which are clearly not from that moment are so obvious. I feel like producers are taking us for idiots, though I know that obviously they need to make good telly etc. Last year seemed to flow more naturally.

I’m anyone but Michael. He’s irritated me beyond belief this series. I was also anyone but James A, but he’s gone.

I have a potential spoiler for an international version am I allowed to say?

I was anyone but James A, but not that way!
It will be so dull if Leigh-Anne wins.

If they continue to fixate on who else was in the library maybe they could spin it as why would all the traitors be in the room where the murder took place, surely they'd split up. That could then put people back onto Leigh-Anne "creating the diversion" with Miranda and the choreography.