Every time Celebrity Traitors’ James Acaster has spoken out about his mental health battles

Support is flooding social media for James Acaster after he had a breakdown while filming Celebrity Traitors, which forced production to stop filming and do a welfare check. The comedian has spoken out about his struggles with mental health many times over the years. 

Acaster became “very anxious and panicked” after Michael Sheen correctly identified him as a Traitor with his spot on perfume theory, working out that he murdered Ross Kemp in plain sight with the perfume bottle. When he laid out his theory at the roundtable, James became really upset and told everyone he was a Traitor.

The comedian has bravely shared his experiences with anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts in the past.

In an interview with the BBC, he said he didn’t use to take care of his mental health when he was younger, but has learnt how to deal with it better as he’s got older. He first started noticing his anxiety during his relationship with actress Louise Ford, who famously left him for Rowan Atkinson in 2013.

Credit: BBC

“I didn’t label things properly. I didn’t think [my] anxiety was anxiety, or depression was depression. I knew people who had severe versions of those things, and I didn’t see it as a spectrum…I didn’t see that almost everyone experiences these things to some degree,” he said. 

“In 2013, I was in a relationship where I was extremely anxious all the time, for about five months. It was unbearable. But because the relationship was going badly, I thought, ‘Well, the relationship’s bad and that’s why I feel like this. It’s not a puzzle. I haven’t got anxiety or depression’.”

He experienced suicidal thoughts for the first time in 2017 after he split from his girlfriend, New Zealand comedian Rose Matafeo, and it made him realise he needed to reach out for help. 

“I started having serious suicidal thoughts for the first time. I didn’t attempt it. I was in New York, the first time I’d ever been, which should have been really exciting. Instead, I’d find myself thinking about ways I could kill myself… That scared me,” he shared. “I’m very lucky, personality-wise, that as soon as I recognise something needs doing, I’ll do it. So as soon as I got back to England I booked a therapy session.”

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In March 2019, the comedian went on The Great British Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer and went viral after serving underbaked cherry Bakewell flapjacks to Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith and saying his now-famous line: “I started making it, had a breakdown, bon appétit!”

Credit: BBC

At that time, Acaster was in the middle of a mental health crisis and hadn’t slept for over 40 hours. After the episode, he reached out to the Samaritans. Speaking to TalkSport a few months later, Acaster said he was not sleeping, drinking a lot and normalising his everyday stress and anxiety. Acaster opened up about this period of his life more in his book, Perfect Sound Whatever.

The comedian told the BBC in 2020 that he was going to therapy every other week, and was in a much better place. 

“There have been three points in my life where things have fallen apart. At 35, I’d be pretty naïve to think it won’t happen again. What I’d like is to understand why those three times happened, so if it happens again I can be more on top of it,” he said. 

“Right now, a lot of things are good. I’m enjoying my career and my relationship… I’m not crippled by anxiety or waking up depressed. While I’m lucky enough to be in this happy period in my life, I’d like to understand those periods of my life when I wasn’t happy, so I’m more prepared if it happens again.”

If you are struggling, help is there. You can speak to the Samaritans for free, confidential support 24/7 by calling 116 123 (UK and ROI).

For all the latest news about The Celebrity Traitors, like The Holy Church of The Traitors on Facebook.

Featured image credit: BBC