Celebrity Traitors Winners Say Secret Was Hard to Keep

The winners of the second series of Celebrity Traitors say they are glad the secret is finally out. Of the 21 celebrities who began the BBC One contest, seven reached Friday's finale. The last two faithfuls standing were actor Sebastian Croft and comedian Romesh Ranganathan, who split an £83,000 prize pot between their chosen charities.

Keeping the secret

Croft, known to friends as Bash, spoke to BBC Newsbeat. "It's so nice to finally be able to talk about it properly," he said. On Saturday he reunited with Ranganathan on the comedian's BBC Radio 2 show. The pair had worried about being seen together before the final. At one dinner, Croft said, the whole restaurant told them it liked them on the show and hoped they would win.

He woke on Saturday feeling he no longer had to keep the secret. "It's been killing me," he said.

Croft said sitting down with Ranganathan on Uncloaked, the BBC's spin-off chat show, to talk about winning felt surreal.

The decisive vote

Ranganathan, 48, said he was delighted to win. He admitted he probably would not have done so without Croft persuading him to banish King Kenny, the last remaining traitor. Ranganathan joked that being told to thank Croft every day for the rest of his life had taken the gloss off the win slightly.

Croft, 24, said he had wanted to be a traitor. He explained his thinking: the aim in the endgame is not to find a traitor but to get rid of everyone who is not the most faithful. He had no firm proof against either Maya Jama or Kenny.

Kenny's turn on Jama

The final banished the last two traitors, Love Island host Maya Jama and YouTuber King Kenny. Kenny shocked viewers by turning on Jama at the final round table. Asked whether they had spoken since, he joked that "she's blocked me on everything". He said he had warned her he would vote for her.

Kenny started as a faithful, won a shield against murder and was later recruited as a traitor. He said he should have had a better plan for the final. Lying to people for so long, he said, is draining.

Audience and other finalists

The finale averaged 11.2 million live viewers. The BBC says that figure will rise as fans catch up on iPlayer. Other recent episodes have drawn more than 15 million including catch-up.

On his show, Ranganathan also asked Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock about doing the challenges while pregnant. She was seen in the final episode hanging off the side of a helicopter and lowering herself to the ground on a rope. "I'm just super proud of myself," she said.

Our View

The winners' accounts suggest the endgame turned on reading character rather than finding hard evidence. Kenny's admission that he had no solid plan may show how hard it is to hold a traitor's role to the end.

Source: BBC News