James Acaster’s original reason for joining Celebrity Traitors is painfully ironic now

James Acaster‘s time on the Celebrity Traitors has been anything but smooth, and looking back at his pre-show interview, his reasons for signing up are particularly ironic.

Via BBC

The comedian has become one of the biggest talking points of series two after an absolutely chaotic penultimate roundtable, where he finally cracked under the pressure and revealed his secret identity as a Traitor.

But considering James was so reluctant to lie, openly admitted he didn’t want to be a Traitor and even appeared to sit out some of the missions, it’s fair to wonder why he signed up for the show in the first place.

Well, it turns out he was actually a massive fan of the programme before joining the cast. And his explanation makes his eventual downfall even more entertaining.

In an interview with the BBC before entering the castle, James was asked why he’d decided to take part in The Celebrity Traitors.

Via BBC

He explained that he’d been hooked on the original series from the very beginning, saying:

“I just love it. I’m a huge fan and have been since series one. I instantly got addicted to it when I started watching. I think I started watching it halfway through the first series, so I was catching up on iPlayer. I did all of it in one night and then got really frustrated that I had to wait for all the other episodes.

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“And then I really loved the first Celebrity series and instantly became jealous that I wasn’t doing it. I had to get in here! I know some of the comics. I saw both Joe Wilkinson and Nick Mohammed after they’d done it and I said, ‘Yo, congrats! It was great!'”

So, essentially, James was desperate to get himself inside the castle. Although, perhaps he hadn’t quite thought through what being a Traitor would involve.

Via BBC

He was also pretty upfront about his questionable ability to keep a secret. When asked whether he could reveal anything about his role, he joked:

“If I tell you, I haven’t got away with it anymore. I’m not good at lying and I don’t make a habit of it. Maybe the biggest lie I’ve ever got away with was telling Ed Gamble I’m not doing The Celebrity Traitors.”

That last confession has aged rather spectacularly, given everything we’ve now watched unfold. Turns out being a massive Traitors fan and actually surviving as one are two very different things.

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

Featured image via BBC