Claudia Winkleman speaks out after Richard E Grant makes biggest-ever BBC Celebrity Traitors blunder

Ms Winkleman had secretly selected both Mr Grant and Love Island presenter Maya Jama as her Traitors during the initial roundtable.

Shortly afterwards, when comedian Joe Lycett directly asked Mr Grant whether he was a Traitor, the Withnail and I star gleefully replied: “Traitor!”

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An awkward silence descended upon the room as stunned contestants tried to process what had just occurred and figure out if the actor was joking.

Ms Winkleman has now publicly addressed the moment, explaining why Mr Grant had become the first-ever contestant to have slipped up in such a drastic way.

“He was just so happy, he just couldn’t believe it,” she said during a screening of the first episode with press.

“You just couldn’t not give it to him because he wanted it so much, and he was compelling, and he’s Richard E Grant,” she said.

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Ms Winkleman went on: “He was so giddy. The genius of the game is everybody plays it completely differently, and he took that to the next level.”

Executive producer Sarah Fay also described her real-time reaction to Mr Grant’s revelation. “It was a mixture of a little bit of sick coming up in my mouth and an air punch at the same time,” she said.

“Within five minutes of being out of the roundtable, he’d already mucked up. I still can’t believe it now,” she said, adding: “Richard E Grant, how iconic.”

The producer also admitted that none of the production team had ever predicted a Traitor would knowingly expose their concealed identity to their castmates.

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She conceded: “Never in our wildest dreams did we think that we’d have a Traitor admit they were a Traitor five minutes after the roundtable.”

While fans at home were left in hysterics by the blunder, Mr Grant’s fellow contestants were divided in their reactions.

Rob Beckett expressed disbelief, telling Mr Grant he had done something unprecedented in the game.

Jerry Hall, however, refused to accept the confession at face value, insisting her neighbour of three decades was merely “acting out because he’s not been chosen.”

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Meanwhile, singer James Blunt drily observed: “It’s an interesting angle.”

In the confessional room, a visibly Mr Grant put to bed any suggestion that the reveal was part of some well-thought-out game plan.

“That may be the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life,” he admitted with a chuckle. “I was so thrilled to have been chosen as a Traitor that in my unguarded excitement, I said, ‘Of course I’m a Traitor.’

“I clearly need to defuse all the heat that’s coming in my direction.”

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The episode’s cliffhanger saw the Traitors forced to pick two contestants. One of the chosen duo would be recruited as a new Traitor, and the second would be murdered.

Mr Grant and Ms Jama opted for the two Faithfuls who had pinpointed the actor as their number one contender to be a Traitor: comedian James Acaster and University Challenge host Amol Rajan.

Both were taken back to the church and made to argue their case for survival before lying in coffins to learn their fate.

Who ever had the lid shut on the coffin would be eliminated, which will be revealed in Friday’s instalment.