Celia Imrie reveals advice she gave Richard E Grant before Traitors blunder

Celebrity Traitors alum Celia Imrie has revealed that she warned 2026 contestant Richard E Grant that it would be hard to keep his “brain working” at all hours while filming the deceptive game show.

Grant, 69, stumbled at the first hurdle and threw the celebrity edition of the much-loved BBC show into disarray during it’s first episode by revealing his secret identity as a traitor to his fellow contestants.

Imrie, who placed seventh in the inaugural A-list version of the series told the Saltburn star ahead of his time in the show’s Scottish castle that the game is “very strict” and “it’s hard always being on”. A fact he soon forgot.

“[He] rang me up and asked what it was like. I said I didn’t quite know what I was letting myself in for,” Imrie told The Times.

“But it was good fun, although it’s very strict and there is an element of cruelty about the game,” she added of the show’s foundation in betrayal.

It comes after Grant’s fellow contestant, former BBC presenter Amol Rajan, shared that the lauded actor told him he “just went mad”.

Rajan, who was the first celebrity to be killed off by Grant and his fellow traitor Maya Jama, wrote in his newsletter that he asked the actor why he chose to eliminate him from the show.

“To protect myself,” Grant was quoted as having replied. “And that’s a compliment!”

Rajan replied: “But if you really wanted protection, you should have recruited me. That would have been a compliment!”

“Ah yes, that makes sense,” Grant said. “But I think I just went mad.”

Meanwhile, the show’s host Claudia Winkleman attributed Grant’s blunder to sheer “giddiness” over the fact he’d been selected as a traitor.

“He was just so happy. He just couldn’t believe it,” the host said.

“The genius of the game is everybody plays it completely differently, and he took that to the next level.”

Grant, Jama, and their newly recruited traitor, comedian James Acaster, must now work to kill off the remaining 17 faithfuls without detection.

Celebrity Traitors will return on Thursday at 8pm on BBC One.