"The Boldest Move Yet?!" - Celeb Traitors Reaction (Week 1)

The Rest Is Entertainment

Marina Hyde and former Traitors cast member Charlotte Berman break down the chaotic first week of Celebrity Traitors 2027, focusing on Richard E.

Key takeaways

Richard E. Grant immediately confessed to being a traitor in episode one, prompting debate over whether it was a genuine slip or a calculated 'I am Spartacus' strategy that failed.
Charlotte Berman notes the show's ratings have jumped nearly 30%, opening at 9 million viewers compared to 6.5 million for the previous series premiere.

Main topics

Richard E. Grant's early traitor confession
Traitor recruitment strategy and missteps

Notable quotes

"I am ruthless."

Conclusion

The episode provides sharp strategic analysis and behind-the-scenes co

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:20) Hello and welcome to our very first Celebrity Traitors reaction episode of this series. This is The Rest Is Entertainment and I'm Marina Hyde. Now, if you haven't watched the first two episodes of The Celebrity Traitors, this is your spoiler alert warning. Do not proceed. We are discussing both in today's show. So, after an opening week of Castle Chaos, here is what we're going to chat about tonight. Richard E. Grant. tried out the boldest but most bizarre strategy of any traitor in history, actually admitting they're a traitor immediately. But has Britain's ultimate thespian already received his curtain call at the roundtable vote? We will discuss the biggest decision points of the game so far, from the picking of the traitors to what I'm hesitantly calling the midnight strategic fuck-up that left Amal Rajan in the dirt. And of course, looking ahead to who they should murder next week, Jerry Hall? or our colleague Hannah Fry. Okay, talking about dangerous decisions, one question seems to be on everybody's lips in the castle. Are actors actually dangerous? Do they make great traitors? I've got some thoughts on that very special class of celebrity. And finally, we will look at both of those tasks, some incredibly unusual gameplay and who we think are the dark horses of the series. Now, Richard, my Richard. is unable to join me for this first episode, but alongside me is true traitor's royalty. It is Charlotte Berman. Hello. Charlotte was a cast member of Series 3, best remembered for being an incredible strategic player, making it to the final five, and pretending to have a Welsh accent when she actually grew up in West London. Speaker 3 (2:01) Charlotte. How does it feel to see the castle again on screen? Oh my goodness, thanks for the intro. It's very exciting. We Speaker 2 (2:09) are Speaker 3 (2:09) honoured. I'm honoured. One of my favourite podcasts. It's amazing. I love seeing the castle on screen again. I Speaker 2 (2:15) can't believe every time I see it that I was in it. Yeah. Speaker 3 (2:19) You know, I see those rooms and I saw them because I was on Series 3. I saw them for Series 1 and Series 2 and then I got there and was like, wow. it's just like on TV. You know, you step in and you sit on the sofas and you sit around the fireplace. And yeah, it's amazing. And I actually loved seeing the celebrities do the same thing. But as you can tell, they're massive fans as well. And I saw, I think it was Richard actually poking his head in the kitchen when they first kind of let loose in the castle. And it was just really fun. It's going to be Speaker 2 (2:43) difficult to avoid him for Speaker 3 (2:44) many seconds longer. I just want Speaker 2 (2:47) to say one thing before we go on, which is that the ratings are off the charts. The last series of Celebrity Traders, the first series, opened with 6.5 million viewers. The first episode of this series, we don't know the ratings for tonight, opened with 9 million. So it's already nearly a 30 % uplift and it's already absolutely massive. Let's get into it. The rest is entertainment is presented by Octopus Energy. Now, entertainment loves keeping business in the family. Speaker 1 (3:16) Yeah, it's no secret that that's traditionally been an easier route perhaps into show business. It's not necessarily the only way to get into the business. However, there are lots and lots of examples where it really has worked for people. Speaker 2 (3:28) The Coppola's stretched out beyond film into music. Nicolas Cage, though, changed his surname from Coppola. He's Francis Ford Coppola's nephew and he changed his surname just so that he could... you know, just be Nicolas Cage. Speaker 1 (3:40) But one assumes that in LA they didn't know that he was a Coppola. He Speaker 2 (3:44) stands alone for me. Speaker 1 (3:45) I always think Stenner's Glass Guard is an interesting one because lots of his children... became very, very famous. And he always calls himself a nepo dad because as his children got more and more famous, people started coming to him more for roles. That's a nice way around. Speaker 2 (3:58) So entertainment has some remarkable family machinery, but however useful the surname, it isn't always the only way in. Speaker 1 (4:04) No, Octopus Energy, for example, didn't inherit its place in the energy industry. It's proudly independent. And one way it does things differently is having each customer's account looked after by the same small team of around 10 energy specialists. They know exactly who you are. Speaker 2 (4:20) I think we're going to have to begin immediately with Richard E. Grant. Yes. On the first night, he revealed immediately that he was a traitor when Joe Lycett asked him. Since then, he has attempted to cover his tracks. I mean, should we just talk about these traitors' picks, right? So they picked two. They picked Maya Jama. who I think is very interesting because I think she is a big dog. I Speaker 3 (4:44) think a lot of people in there don't realise Maya Jolly's a big dog. Speaker 2 (4:47) They're too old, but she is massive. She's Speaker 3 (4:49) massive. You can tell she's poised. She's switched on. Yeah, I think a lot of people might underestimate her, but also, I don't know, because her name has actually already been sort of fleetingly mentioned. So we'll see. But I Speaker 2 (5:02) think she's a good pick. She is a good pick. Richard. Their thinking behind this, I am fascinated to know. First of all, how can we blame them? They've already got the TV moment of the year. But he said to Speaker 3 (5:14) Claudia, I thought it was so wonderful, you know, when they had the little chat, he said, I think she said, describe being a traitor in three words. And he said, I am ruthless. And I literally said at that moment when I saw it, I said, he will be a traitor. He has to be. That kind of energy is what a traitor needs to bring. Speaker 2 (5:29) It's interesting that a lot of people... in the entertainment business would say that Richard is an unbelievable gossip. He cannot keep a secret. Like anyone who's ever worked with him, the producers, Bruce Robinson, who directed With Now, was like, what? Speaker 4 (5:43) He Speaker 2 (5:43) cannot not tell a secret. And also when he was picked, he said, my own daughter said, I just can't not say what I think. So in retrospect, there were some red flags. There Speaker 3 (5:54) were some Speaker 2 (5:54) giveaways that what happened might have happened. Having said that, the producers either way have got... Because we still don't know his fate at the end of episode two. So the producers have got two episodes of iconic television. I mean, it's what everyone's Speaker 3 (6:09) talking about at the moment, isn't it? It's like Richard. I just can't imagine. So when he actually said it in the bar, I actually, and I think everyone in the castle and probably everyone in the castle gallery sort of thought, what? Did I just hear that right? He's just said he's Speaker 2 (6:22) a traitor. Speaker 3 (6:23) Like Speaker 2 (6:23) that's what? Like no one says that. I mean, you saw Joe Lysa literally go. If you watch and you study the game, you know that those first banishments are basically just like... Random. You looked at me in a funny way. Totally random. Or Speaker 3 (6:36) you Speaker 2 (6:36) said something completely random when we were rowing a boat across a lake. I mean, there's 20 Speaker 3 (6:39) of you. Round 20, isn't there, when you start? And I know the celebrities probably know of each other, at least, if they're not Speaker 2 (6:47) necessarily each other's neighbours or best mates or whatever. But... Speaker 3 (6:51) It's quite easy, I found anyway, to not speak to some people in the first couple of days because there's 20 people, Speaker 2 (6:57) you Speaker 3 (6:57) know, and you can't all be having one conversation. So if I'm just in the bar having a chat with you and I get to know you quite well and I hang out with you quite a lot, there's loads of people I don't chat with. So then when it comes to voting, you kind of don't feel too bad about banishing someone you've not yet built a bond with. But he's just sort of... put his hand up and said, banish me if you want, guys. They've Speaker 2 (7:15) got Speaker 3 (7:15) nothing Speaker 2 (7:15) else, as Julie was saying. If someone says, if someone tells you who they are. Speaker 3 (7:20) Like, they'd be foolish not to sort of test it, at Speaker 2 (7:22) least. He's been trying to cover his tracks, although I think they're right. In that round table, someone said, but you haven't really explained why it isn't you. It's as though he just, he knows he's done this unbelievably ridiculous thing. It's quite a hole to dig yourself out of. I Speaker 3 (7:39) think that's when you realise. I think that it wasn't, I don't know, it wasn't play. You know, he did sort of forget himself because I think if it was a strategy, he would have said, yeah, I'm a traitor. For God's sake, of course I'm a faithful. I'm not going to say I'm a traitor. You know, he would have just immediately, but he really knuckled down, I'm a traitor. I'm a traitor. And then tried to sort of later on sort of say, oh, I was hoping it'd be an I am Spartacus moment and other people would join me. But you could tell that was sort of post-rationalised. Yeah. And also there's like 90 Speaker 2 (8:08) % of people in that room are like, what's Spartacus? Yeah. So true. Hi, I'm 26. I don't know what you're talking about. Pick Speaker 3 (8:14) a more relevant example. Yeah. Speaker 2 (8:16) He hasn't had much success in trying to cover it at all. But when the spotlight is on you, how desperate do people get? Oh, very. And well, I Speaker 3 (8:27) think it goes two ways. I had the spotlight on me, actually, in early episodes one and two. And I was a faithful, so that's really hard, actually, because you're desperately trying to prove to strangers, in my case, that you're innocent. I found, and I think what did help me is I rallied and thought, OK, instead of just defending myself, instead of just saying, which can be said, I think, quite a lot, guys, it's not me, but, you know. vote me out and I'll stand up there and I'll show you I'm a faithful because that's not really a defence people are like okay I'll vote you out because it's better than voting for me isn't it um I actually came with an alternative so I think you've got to have a defence so obviously Richard is a traitor but he needs I think um if he's going to defend himself to just pick someone else and throw it on that you're Speaker 2 (9:10) strategic and we are thank Speaker 3 (9:12) you Speaker 2 (9:13) not dealing with Clausewitz here speaking of people who 99 % of people Don't know who it is. Anyway, I'm not sure what he could actually have done. He made Maya feel like... She's lying to herself even because she was facing the cameras and saying...