Celebrity Traitors winners respond to backlash over refugee charity donations

Mixed · 2Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian "Bash" Croft, joint winners of the second series of BBC's Celebrity Traitors, addressed online criticism of their charity choices on the latest episode of Croft's podcast, Sunday Scaries. 1 2 Mixed · 2Each winner was allotted £41,500, half of the prize pot: Ranganathan, 48, chose the Refugee Council and Croft, 24, chose Choose Love. 1 2 Right · 1GB News reported that the final drew 11.2 million overnight viewers, the highest for any episode of the celebrity spin-off, and that Ranganathan has been a patron of the Refugee Council since September. 2

Mixed · 2Ranganathan said he got involved with the Refugee Council because he was "so fed up of the rhetoric against refugees", and gave his "personal opinion" that refugees are used as a "distraction tactic" for people to blame. 1 2 Mixed · 2Both men said the matching choice was a coincidence; Croft said charities were not discussed until the end and that they did not assume they would win. 1 2 Right · 2Ranganathan said the angry voices had been "amplified" because "that's the fun angle", that many people had backed them, and that the objectors had "galvanised" those who think the donations a good thing; he called the back-and-forth "really positive". 2 3

Centre · 1Ranganathan said commenters had called his choice a "disgrace" and called him and Croft "the real Traitors all along", though he added that the comments mainly made him laugh, according to the Evening Standard. 4 Mixed · 2Croft said the reaction showed how people respond to a game show giving money to vulnerable people, adding "Imagine how difficult it is for those people navigating that system." 2 1 Right · 1According to the Daily Mail, Ranganathan joked about a troll who told him to retract the donation because his career was in trouble, and said his wife Lisa had worried about the coverage but that he felt good about it. 3

Right · 1Critics on social media called the outcome a "stitch-up" or evidence of "some form of BBC bias", according to the Daily Mail, which cited Marina Hyde on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast. 3 Right · 1GB News presenters and commentators criticised the choice: Alex Armstrong said nothing went to causes for "British people" such as homeless or veterans' charities, Julia Hartley-Brewer called it "the most BBC thing EVER", and Charlotte Gill said the Refugee Council had received £41.6 million in taxpayer funding between 2021 and 2025. Commentator Narinder Kaur called the split "the best bit" of the result. 2 Right · 2The Daily Mail said Choose Love supports gay and trans refugees and had recently accused Israel of 'genocide' in Gaza. Choose Love shared a clip of the podcast on Instagram saying both men had chosen "love over hate", according to GB News. 3 2

Right · 1Podcaster Richard Osman defended the winners, calling critics "pathetic", saying accusations of BBC bias misunderstand how television is made, and that the show makes money for the BBC rather than draining licence fee payers. 3 Mixed · 2Maya Jama, who nearly won, donated an amount matching the winners' prize to Action for Children; GB News put it at £83,500 of her own money. The civilian Traitors returns for a fifth series in January 2027. 2 1