Celebrity Traitors episode ends mid round table with Richard E Grant under suspicion
The second episode of the BBC's Celebrity Traitors ended on Friday night before the first round table vote, leaving Richard E Grant's fate unresolved until next week. Viewers complained about the cliffhanger.
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The story, neutrally told
Right · 2The second episode of the BBC's Celebrity Traitors, shown on Friday night, ended abruptly in the middle of the first round table, before the players wrote their votes on chalk boards. Daily MailR “Celebrity Traitors fans were left furious over the 'ridiculous' cliffhanger ending on Friday night as the hit BBC show abruptly ended mid round table.” Read at Daily Mail ↗ Irish IndependentRC “Celebrity Traitors ends on cliffhanger after first murder and one new traitor” Read at Irish Independent ↗ Right · 1The players were debating whether actor Richard E Grant is a Faithful after, in the launch episode, Grant told fellow contestant Joe Lycett that they were a Traitor. The Daily Mail called this the biggest slip-up in the show's history. Daily MailR “As Richard mingled with Faithful Joe Lycett in the lounge area, the comedian jumped straight in with the question: 'What are you?'”“'A Traitor,' Richard responded with a huge grin on his face.” Read at Daily Mail ↗ Right · 1Host Claudia Winkleman cut the debate short with the line 'Players the time for talk is over'. Viewers must wait six days for the next episode to see the outcome. Daily MailR “Claudia announced: 'Players the time for talk is over,' and the second episode surprisingly ended.”“will now have to wait six days for the next episode” Read at Daily Mail ↗
Right · 2Earlier in the episode, former Today programme host Amol Rajan was murdered by Grant and Maya Jama and became the first player eliminated. Podcaster James Acaster had been the other candidate to be recruited as the third Traitor, and was chosen. Daily MailR “Viewers were left waiting for 24 hours to see if he or podcaster James Acaster would win the battle to be chosen by Richard and Maya to be the third traitor, but on Friday, fans saw that it was Amol who lost out.” Read at Daily Mail ↗ Irish IndependentRC “Celebrity Traitors ends on cliffhanger after first murder and one new traitor” Read at Irish Independent ↗ Right · 1Rajan said afterwards that they were 'grieving' being out so early, calling it 'gutting to be the first out'. Daily MailR “Amol admitted that he is ‘grieving’ being kicked off so early.”“'It's game over,' he told the camera. 'It is gutting to be the first out” Read at Daily Mail ↗ Right · 1At the round table, Julie Hesmondhalgh said the Faithfuls risked being 'the most idiotic group of Faithfuls in the world' if they voted for someone else. Romesh Ranganathan said Grant had 'forced our hand'. Daily MailR “We are at risk of being the most idiotic group of Faithfuls in the world if we go for someone else tonight based on nothing at all”“I feel like you have forced our hand by the honest truth of it,’ Romesh Ranganathan added.” Read at Daily Mail ↗
Right · 1Viewers criticised the format change on X, with one saying the show had never before ended ahead of a round table vote. Others said they feared losing Grant, who they found entertaining. Daily MailR “Since when did they end the show before a round table vote? Ridiculous. #traitors”“'We can't have Richard E Grant going this early. He's too entertaining'” Read at Daily Mail ↗ Right · 1The Daily Mail reported that the series opener on Thursday drew a record nine million peak viewers, averaging 8.9 million overnight, before iPlayer viewing is counted. It said the premiere beat last year's celebrity series opener, which peaked at 6.5 million. Daily MailR “The second series launch episode attracted a record-breaking nine million viewers on Thursday, surpassing all previous premieres for The Traitors UK.”“Last year's star-studded celebrity series, featuring the likes of winner Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross, Stephen Fry, Kate Garraway and Paloma Faith, launched with a peak audience of 6.5 million viewers” Read at Daily Mail ↗ Right · 1The series is filmed at Ardross Castle in the Highlands, with up to £100,000 for the winner's chosen charity. Daily MailR “The celebrities are playing the game in Ardross Castle in the Highlands, with a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice up for grabs.” Read at Daily Mail ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left0 outlets
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right2 outlets
- Framing
- Both outlets lead on the cliffhanger ending. The Daily Mail stresses viewer anger and Grant's exposure, while the Irish Independent headline summarises the episode's events.
- Emphasis
- Viewer reaction on X, Grant's slip-up, Rajan's elimination and record ratings.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Neither outlet reports comment from the BBC or the production on the decision to end the episode there.
- Charged language
- “fume”“'ridiculous'”“poised to be the earliest traitor caught in history”
- For example
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“Celebrity Traitors fans fume over 'ridiculous' cliffhanger ending as hit BBC show abruptly ends mid round table” — Daily Mail
“Celebrity Traitors ends on cliffhanger after first murder and one new traitor” — Irish Independent
What every side reports
- The episode ended on a cliffhanger partway through the first round table.
- The episode included the first murder, and a new Traitor was recruited.
Richard E. Grant person
Grant laughed off the slip-up, according to a viewer quoted by the Daily Mail. The Mail says Grant acknowledged facing 'the heat' at the first round table.
“Massive respect to Richard who made one of the worst errors of all time on The Traitors and has just laughed his way through all of it” — Daily Mail
“the actor acknowledging he will face the heat at the first round table” — Daily Mail
BBC organisation
The BBC is presented as having left viewers on another cliffhanger. No BBC comment is reported.
“But, with BBC leaving us on another cliffhanger, viewers will have to wait until next week to discover Richard's fate.” — Daily Mail
Left0 articles
No coverage yet.
Centre0 articles
No coverage yet.
Right2 articles
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Mixed Leads on viewer fury at the ending, then recaps the episode and ratings with an entertainment-gossip tone.
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Celebrity Traitors ends on cliffhanger after first murder and one new traitor
Neutral The headline reports the cliffhanger, first murder and new traitor as plain episode recap.
- 3 Oct 09:45 First Daily MailR Celebrity Traitors fans fume over 'ridiculous' cliffhanger ending as hit BBC show abruptly ends mid round table with Richard E Grant poised to be the earliest traitor caught in history
- 3 Oct 10:09 +24m Irish IndependentRC Celebrity Traitors ends on cliffhanger after first murder and one new traitor
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.