Welcome to the castle - Sometimes we get burned, you’d think sometime we’d learn | 2026 Celebrity Traitors Thread 8 [Post Final Chat]

[CaveMum]

Previous thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5594538-welcome-to-the-castle-when-your-fears-subside-and-the-shadows-still-remain-2026-celebrity-traitors-thread-7-tv-pace?page=1

This is a post-Final thread so if you haven’t seen it do not read on!

Finalists
Maya Jama (Traitor)
King Kenny (recruited Traitor)
James Blunt
Leigh-Anne Pinnock
Romesh Ranganathan
Sebastian Croft

Murdered
Amol Rajan
Bella Ramsey
Rob Beckett
RossKemp
Miranda Hart
Sharon Rooney
Michael Sheen

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

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

So happy Bash and Romesh won. My kids are teens and for them the biggest stars were Bella, Bash, and Kenny (plus Michael Sheen). We knew Bash would be playing a good game. And Romesh was consistently funny the whole way through, love him. I did feel for James B at the end but do like how self depreciating he is, unlike Michael Sheen.

If there is a lot of metagaming (and as an intelligent contestant you would, wouldn't you. It was Hannah's whole thing as a faithful with all her spreadsheets until she was recruited) then the production team will be aware of the discussions and mix it up. The last normal Traitors had a Celtic Alliance in the turret and a traitor on traitor RT which is 'against the rules'.The rules don't really matter if it makes good TV. REG is still being talked about because it was so entertaining.

Now to continue watching the Indian series...

Same.

if anyone should be accused of ruining the series it’s REG 😉

James A doesn’t do well on reality tv.

It seems his superiority complex can’t cope.

According to a podcast he was o, he told Anne Diamond, who was a fellow contestant on House of games ‘This is just a stupid quiz for stupid people with stupid brains!’
She apparently called him a ‘dickhead’. I’m inclined to agree with her ( I suspect Maya might agree too).
His time on Bake off was similarly awful.
I’m thinking someone on Traitors casting didn’t do due diligence checks.

Enjoy The Circle of Shaq
Fabulous presenter

The contestants 😁😁😁

I loved every minute of Indian Traitors
I may have watched it more than once @FruAashild

i thought the finale was actually quite good especially when down to the last 5 with Kenny shooting himself in the foot by trying to end it and then James blunt realising when he went to vote again that they’d choose him.

James A was the let down through the series for me with his behaviour the whole way through. If you’re not going to play the game, then don't play at all.

I actually forgot about REG, that was just embarrassing quite frankly. Still not sure if he didn’t think the ‘game’ had started or understand it properly. I assume he had never watched it.

Enjoyed the final having not loved the series. Some good twists and turns - kids were screaming at the telly 😆

I loved this too and his euphoria after completing the challenging task .

If you watch Uncloaked , you will see Romesh make a specific issue of singling out and praising Bash . He said that Bash was very good as he was very analytical and was prepared to alter his opinions / theories as he was going along when new events , evidence came to light .

We saw that others in this series and previous ones tended to get fixated on their theories ( which were usually wrong ).

I also agree that it really showed how great a player he ( Bash ) was that Romesh , who was older and more established relied on Bash’s opinion ( rather than the other way round ) when they were able to discuss who to banish( Kenny ).

Romesh was also a teacher previously. I am really grateful and appreciative of teachers such as you @Purplesproutingradiator (and no doubt Romesh in his past life) who see part of their role as nurturing / developing their pupils . Especially so as there are so many challenges in teaching today .

He fucked up in the excitement of the moment when asked if he was a traitor - something I suspect many of us could do.

However he has openly and repeatedly said it was entirely his own fault and apologised for the error (rather than blaming everyone around him and deliberately throwing his team under the bus).

Romesh is going to have some of the cast of this series on his Radio 2 show today from 10am - wonder who will turn up.

It was endearing to see more of Bash and even more so to see the trust, as much as you can have in the game, that developed between him and Rom.

Shame about Blunty because he did contribute to the win but easy for him to think Rom was a traitor trying to get rid of him.

Trying to remember-don't they usually have a dinner party?

Not sure if anyone has already posted but thinking they do?

Wondering if the time lost by the James A debacle meant they didn't have time?

Odd thing to leave out?

Wow! You're that easily triggered and you complain about James A!

All these people complaining about the show being ruined because he didn't do what they wanted or expected him to do. Hilarious.

After flying under the radar for me I was so impressed with Bash last night. He was actually the most deserving winner after Romesh went off on a tangent against James B - and how strong of Bash to hold firm
and persuade Romesh. They nearly ended up with Kenny at the end…

I did feel for James B - he looked so upset when Romesh turned on him. However fair play to Romesh for allowing himself to be persuaded by Bash. That also shows huge strength of character.

I think considering James A’s mental health issues and previous suicidal
thoughts he wasn’t a great candidate for this and his agent needs to leave him to stand up. But I don’t think he deserves all the criticism. We have to stop attacking celebrities in a public way - especially ones who have mental health issues. And I know people will be ‘oh he knew what he was getting in to’ and ‘it’s just a game’. Well he gave it a go for charity and he started to clearly struggle and look unwell. So have a bit of empathy.

Yes, they didn’t gave a big final celebration this year, or at least it was ‘t shown. Wasn’t that when they revealed their chosen charities?

He said he didn't kill Ross by spraying the perfume. That was perfectly true - nobody did because that's not how he was killed. The others just assumed that was the mode of killing nobody seemed to have noticed the yawning and 'Am I boring you? ' and jumped to conclusions.

I thought it was a very fitting end to James Blunt's game. Very near the end he was talking to camera about how he needed to find a way to get everyone to follow his lead.....whilst also admitting he really didn't know who he thought the traitors were!

His whole game was characterised by doggedly pursuing wildly inaccurate hunches - right to the bitter end!

Who do we think will be the ; “winners “ from the celebrities who may have been at least partially motivated to appear to raise their profile / widen their audience / broaden their areas of work ?

I do think there were quite a few genuine fans of the series and this will have motivated them to appear as well .

Alan Carr’s career has really grown since last year . He has been able to purchase a multi million pound castle in the Scottish Borders .

My take ( not exhaustive and not ranked ) .

1. Bash - he wasn’t widely known and I think he will get more work .
2. Maya - I think she was already pretty well known . I don’t watch Love Island but had heard of her . I think she will be able to broaden the areas / types of work she is offered and move on from Love Island , if that is her intention .
3. Miranda - I have said before that I didn’t really understand why she has got so famous previously , as I did find her comedy annoying . But I did like her in interviews etc . I think CT has reminded people what a really lovely and funny person she is and I think it will generate more work for her . I know that that she still has ongoing issues with her health ( ME / Lyme’s disease ) . So hopefully she will be able to cherrypick some further work , health permitting .
4. Amol - I do find him a bit annoying and smug at times . But CT also showed a more rounded version . I think he benefitted in a way from being murdered first, as he was able to appear on quite a few programmes commenting on what was going on at the castle .
5. Romesh - I do love him and he came across very well in CT . He is already pretty high profile , so not sure .

What do others think ?

So glad Rom and Bash got to the end!

I have always loved Bash (Big fan of HeartStopper).

But OMG - poor Blunty’s face when Rom voted for him! JB was distraught! He looked exactly like how Joe Marler looked when he was turned on in the last series!

I can’t get JB’s sad, heartbroken expression out of my mind 🤣

Kenny sprayed the perfume - it was part of the task as it was a sleeping draught.

Loved the Indian Traitors, convinced myself I could speak Hindi after watching it!

Did you watch that HoG ? Ann Diamond was awful on it and plainly sulking that he was beating everyone so soundly.

The betrayal of Joseph Marler

I posted an image with that. It's deemed "sensitive"! I genuinely have no idea why.

I've always been a huge fan of Amol Rajan on R4 - he's so knowledgeable about so many areas, he really does his homework before interviews, and he's incredibly articulate and succinct.

But I think he's massively misjudged this "next chapter". He's liked and respected for being good at what he does, not really for being generally "likeable" as a brand if that makes sense (and this is coming for someone who honestly rates him!) He's clearly and openly pursuing a more lucrative career, but I'm worried he's losing existing fans without picking up any new ones.