Celebrity Traitors viewers allege sexism over banishments of female contestants

Right · 2Viewers of the BBC's Celebrity Traitors have accused the show of sexism, noting that most contestants banished at the Round Table so far have been women. 1 2 Right · 2Friday's episode ended on a cliffhanger after a deadlocked vote, with either Irish comedian Joanne McNally or Scottish actress Sharon Rooney to be banished; the Daily Mail says Traitor Kenny holds a double, deciding vote. 1 2 Right · 2The women banished so far are Faithfuls Myha'la, Julie Hesmondhalgh and Jerry Hall and Traitor Professor Hannah Fry. GB News says that if McNally or Rooney goes, five of seven roundtables will have ended with a woman sent home. 1 2

Right · 2The only men banished, Richard E Grant and Joe Lycett, are described as having effectively engineered their own exits: Grant openly admitted being a Traitor and Lycett publicly asked to be recruited by the Traitors. 1 2 Right · 2A viral post on X, which GB News says had been viewed more than 180,000 times, said the show's sexism was more noticeable than in the past and cited "so many patterns of behaviour women recognise from their working life". Other posts said women were being suspected for speaking up, and that none of the men had received real suspicion. 2 1 Right · 2Some viewers also alleged class and racial bias in voting. Others rejected the sexism claim, asking whether women voting for women was also sexism, or saying people should "just enjoy the show". 1 2

Right · 2The row follows comments by Myha'la (Herrold), banished early after players grew suspicious of the wink she gave Traitor Richard E Grant. Replying to a fan who said she was banished because she is Black, she said she had "sealed my own fate" and that her co-stars "in no way consciously put bias on me because of my race". She added that "unconscious racial and cultural bias exists in this game" and called for more conversation about it. 1 2 Right · 1Former Traitors contestants Paul Gorton and Nathan Khider told GB News that race was not a factor. Gorton said one can "find a narrative" to fit anything, and Khider said "it's nothing to do with race" and that winking at a roundtable is bound to draw suspicion. 2 Right · 2The Daily Mail says Myha'la's comments are said to have left show bosses dumbfounded, given efforts to build a diverse cast: six of 21 contestants are people of colour, and the gender split is almost 50:50. It also reports that Friday's episode drew a peak audience of 9.7 million. GB News said it had contacted the BBC for comment. 1 2