Romesh and Bash hit back at backlash over their Celebrity Traitors charity donations

Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian ‘Bash’ Croft have had their say after their Celebrity Traitors charity choices sparked backlash, and they’ve got a pretty clear message.

The pair walked away with £83,000 after winning the show, with both deciding to give their £41,500 shares to charities supporting refugees.

Via BBC

Romesh picked the Refugee Council, while Bash went with Choose Love, an organisation he had actually volunteered with when he was younger. A pretty lovely ending to the series, you’d think.

Except some people weren’t impressed. The donations attracted criticism online, with comments suggesting refugees ‘do not need the money’ and arguing that smaller, struggling charities should have received the cash instead.

Now, the two winners have reflected on the reaction during an appearance on Bash’s podcast Sunday Scaries, where they also looked back on their time filming.

Romesh explained that his decision to support the Refugee Council was partly driven by how frustrated he’d become with the way refugees were being spoken about.

“I know that you volunteered for Choose Love when you were younger,’ he said to Bash. ‘And I had got involved with Refugee Council because I got so fed up of the rhetoric against refugees and how these people are being demonised.

“I feel like… Look, people have different opinions, but I feel like they’re (refugees) a distraction tactic, and people are being pointed in that direction for something to blame, is my personal opinion.”

Most Read

Where Joran van der Sloot’s parents Paul and Anita are now, 21 years after Natalee disappeared

Three huge bombshells that are set to come out at the Love Is Blind season 11 reunion

Natalee Holloway: What happened to brothers Satish and Deepak Kalpoe after their arrest

Via YouTube

He was also keen to point out that the two of them hadn’t secretly coordinated their charity choices. Their decisions were simply a coincidence.

As for the criticism, Romesh reckoned the angrier voices had ended up getting the most attention, despite plenty of people being supportive.

“The voices that are angry about it have been amplified because that’s the fun angle, right? But loads of people have come out in support, and actually, the people kicking off about it has kind of galvanised the people who think it’s a lovely thing.”

Bash agreed that the reaction had put things into perspective, particularly when he considered what the charities’ work means for the people relying on them.

“It was so funny when we got to the end, and we both realised, because no one really discussed (charities). It wasn’t like we assumed we were gonna win,’ Bash said.

“And so it felt like such a nice moment at the time, but then to see the response, what it made me realise is that’s people’s response to a game show donating money to people who are really vulnerable. Imagine how difficult it is for those people navigating that system.”

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

Featured image via BBC