You would think a world renowned actor would have the ability to switch into character quickly. But in the case of Richard E. Grant, who was named one of Claudia Winkleman’s Traitors for Celebrity Traitors Series 2, his excitement led to the kind of mistake that should have ended his Celebrity Traitors game almost immediately.
Shortly after Claudia Winkleman selected him as one of the first Traitors, Grant returned to the group and openly said that he was a Traitor completely unprovoked or unphased. For a moment, it looked like the shortest Traitor career in the history of the show.
Then something much more absurd happened. Instead of treating the confession as the answer, the Faithfuls started trying to explain it away.
James Blunt immediately picked up on what Grant had said, Joe Lycett certainly did not forget it, but others were more willing to believe that this was simply Richard being Richard. Jerry Hall, who has known him for decades, seemed prepared to file it under the same theatrical eccentricity that has followed Grant throughout his career.
And suddenly, the biggest mistake a Traitor could possibly make became strangely survivable, and that is where Celebrity Traitors becomes especially interesting. The contestants are not trying to read complete strangers. They already think they understand one another.
Grant comes into the castle with years of public personality attached to him. He is theatrical, expressive and unpredictable enough that openly saying “I’m a Traitor” can somehow be filed under normal Richard behaviour instead of immediate evidence.
That is an advantage no civilian contestant could manufacture overnight.
The problem is that the Faithfuls are also arriving with years of Traitors knowledge behind them. They know about double bluffs. They know recruits can appear at any moment. They know the producers love a twist and that Claudia could emerge from behind a decorative suit of armour at any second to announce a completely new rule.
Everyone is prepared to be fooled, so they start looking for the more complicated explanation even when the simple one is standing directly in front of them.
By the first Round Table, Grant was finally facing serious scrutiny, particularly from Joe Lycett and Julie Hesmondhalgh. But even then, the conversation had shifted away from the incredibly straightforward fact that Richard had told everybody he was a Traitor. Instead, the question became whether Richard would really tell everybody he was a Traitor if he actually was one.
This programme can turn absolutely anything into a philosophy seminar.
The funny thing is, The Traitors has always rewarded overthinking. The Faithfuls have almost no concrete information, so tiny behavioural changes suddenly become evidence. Someone eats breakfast differently. Someone looks too calm after a murder. Someone seems too interested in who has a shield. A completely normal interaction can become the foundation of a five minute Round Table speech.
Meanwhile, Richard E. Grant literally said he was a Traitor.
It is hard not to wonder whether the show has reached a point where being unbelievably obvious can actually be safer than being slightly suspicious. If Grant had behaved more subtly, somebody might have picked apart a change in his tone or noticed that he suddenly seemed more guarded. Instead, he effectively walked into the castle waving a giant sign and half the group started wondering whether the sign itself was part of a bluff.
The celebrity version makes that problem even worse because public personas give everyone an extra layer of excuses to rely upon.
Ross Kemp can treat an innocent touch on the arm like the beginning of an elaborate murder plot and nobody immediately thinks that behaviour must be suspicious because, well, it is Ross Kemp. James Acaster can look awkward and uncomfortable without anybody assuming something has dramatically changed because that already fits the version of James people think they know.
Grant benefits from the same thing.
His mistake is so huge and so perfectly in keeping with his larger-than-life personality that it almost stops looking like a mistake at all. However, that does not mean he is safe.
The suspicion around him is very real, and there is only so much anybody can explain away when the original evidence is a direct confession. He could still find himself out of the castle far sooner than he would like.
But whether he survives one more Round Table or somehow drags this disaster out for several episodes, the opening of Celebrity Traitors has already exposed something very funny about the modern game.
The Faithfuls are so prepared for an intelligent lie that they are struggling with an incredibly stupid truth.
Celebrity Traitors continues on BBC One on Thursday 8th October.
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