Ed Gamble has defended Celebrity Traitors’ James Acaster, after he ‘sabotaged’ challenge

James Acaster is having a bit of a nightmare as a Traitor on Celebrity Traitors, but his best mate Ed Gamble is firmly in his corner.

The comedian has been getting grief for failing to properly help fellow Traitors Maya Jama and King Kenny during a sabotage challenge, with some people deciding he needs to be banished immediately. Being a Traitor seems to be going about as well for James as you’d expect.

Via BBC

James was recruited in the second episode but has seemingly struggled to shake off his Faithful instincts. While people watching at home are questioning his loyalty to the Traitor cause, his close friend Ed Gamble has a rather different take on his performance.

Speaking to Metro, Ed, who hosts Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, revealed he wasn’t entirely convinced James would even agree to become a Traitor in the first place.

“I didn’t know whether he would actually do it, and he tried to keep it secret from me for a long, long time but, you know, I have my other sources,” he said. “There was a fun couple of months where we were dancing around each other and he was trying to avoid telling me that it was happening, but in the back of my mind, I knew. It’s the most James Acaster thing ever.”

The pair have been friends and comedy collaborators for years, having first crossed paths on the UK comedy circuit in 2010. They later launched their hugely successful food-comedy podcast in 2018, so Ed is arguably better placed than most to judge whether James is being himself on screen.

Via BBC

And, according to Ed, the show’s giving us a pretty authentic look at his mate’s personality, even if that isn’t necessarily ideal when you’re secretly supposed to be plotting everyone’s downfall.

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“He’s a hugely emotionally intelligent man and very caring. He just wants everyone to be okay,” Ed said.

“I think we’re seeing that side of him on the show. It would almost be impossible for anyone to keep up a persona in there because you’re being filmed so much.”

Ed also addressed the attention James has been getting online, particularly from people suddenly discovering that the comedian is rather easy on the eyes.

“It may not be on my algorithm, but obviously because I do a podcast with him people are sending these videos directly to my inbox, which I don’t mind,” he said.

Apparently, the internet’s latest James Acaster appreciation campaign is nothing new to Ed, who reckons the podcast’s listeners have been onto him for years.

“I’ve been party to this opinion from our listeners for a long time. It’s now just happened on a major scale and people think they’re being original by thinking James is handsome.

“He is a very conventionally handsome man, he is a very clever man, a very nice man, so it does not surprise me in the slightest. The other day I texted him saying: ‘I’m so proud of my friend for being fit.’”

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Featured image credit: BBC