Amol Rajan admits playing the ‘wrong game’ after early Celebrity Traitors exit

Broadcaster Amol Rajan has reflected on his short-lived stint on the new series of The Celebrity Traitors, conceding that he played “the wrong game” after becoming the debut participant to be murdered on the show.

The 43-year-old was targeted during Friday’s episode of the BBC reality show by secret traitors, actor Richard E Grant and TV presenter Maya Jama. Meanwhile, comedian James Acaster was brought in as the third traitor for the series.

During Thursday’s broadcast, Rajan and Acaster had met Grant and Jama to argue why they should be recruited rather than eliminated.

Appearing on spin-off show The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked on Friday, Rajan said: “It’s hard not to watch it and think I, obviously, with 20/20 hindsight, I played the wrong game.

“That was a crazy, crazy once-in-a-lifetime (opportunity).”

The former Today Show presenter explained that he felt he would have performed well as a traitor if given the chance to switch sides.

He said: “Obviously, I wish I’d been chosen, and I wish I’d been a traitor.

“I can say, hand on heart, that if I’d been chosen as a traitor in the first, when Maya and Richard were, if I got the nod or the tap at the roundtable, I think it would have thrown me a bit.

“I’d be like, ‘what am I doing? what’s going on?’, having genuinely spent a day as a faithful, if I’d then been recruited, I think I would have been quite a good traitor because I’d actually known what it was like to be a faithful.”

Following his exit, the journalist suggested Acaster would prove to be “brilliant” in his new role.

Rajan acknowledged that entering the game as “the journalist who asks all the awkward questions” meant he had warned himself to “shut up” in an effort to avoid being murdered or banished early on.

Friday’s instalment ended on a suspenseful note after Grant drew significant suspicion at the roundtable.

The actor had accidentally revealed his traitor identity to several participants shortly after discovering his role in Thursday’s episode.

Discussing Grant’s slip-up, Rajan said: “What was that about? I mean no one’s ever done that. I mean who knows?

“I think the one tactic that you should try to abide by is to keep a little bit, you know, fly under the radar a little bit for the first few days. Just shut up for the first few shows.”

The Celebrity Traitors returns on Thursday at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.