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Jonathan Ross has opened up about his time on Celebrity Traitors, admitting that he disliked appearing on the hit BBC show.
The chat show host, 64, is one of the 19 famous faces that headed to Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands earlier this year for the first celebrity spin-off series.
But despite launching last week to rave reviews and high ratings, Jonathan has claimed that the filming of the show was far less enjoyable than the viewing experience, as he hated having to lie to his pals.
The broadcaster was chosen by host Claudia Winkleman to be one of the Traitors, alongside comedian Alan Carr and singer Cat Burns, with the trio tasked with taking out their fellow celebrities, while remaining undetected.
However, he admitted that he found the constant deception ‘wearing’ and ‘uncomfortable’ as it went on, and has even advised his fellow showbiz friends not to sign up for series two.
Speaking about his experience on his podcast, Reel Talk, Jonathan admitted: ‘I know they’re already planning a second celebrity version.
‘I know because I’ve had two celebrity friends of mine call me and say “I’ve been approached — is it good to do, is it bad to do?” So I’m giving them the benefit of my experience, which was I didn’t enjoy it.’
Explaining his reasoning, he went on: ‘I’m a Traitor, that’s why. I found the lying really wearing, it left me feeling increasingly uncomfortable.
‘We were lying all the time, because you’re sharing a car in with people in the morning, and even though we’re not supposed to be talking about the game but obviously some people do, so you’re lying then.
‘So you’re guarding this secret that you have and others know that someone has. You’re on the defence the whole time and you have to look people in the eye and lie.’
And the betrayals didn’t take long, with the very first murder sending shockwaves when Alan chose to kill off his closest friend in the castle, Paloma Faith.
The Traitors were tasked with murdering their first victim in plain site, by touching someone else’s face using the ‘poisoned’ pollen of a black lily.
After Alan took on the tricky task, he took his chance in the kitchen to place his thumb on Paloma’s cheek as he told her she ‘had a hair in her face’.
While Paloma survived the night, she was shockingly put into a coffin and carried away as part of a prize-building game the following day.
Her reaction to discovering the true identities of the Traitors was filmed for the spinoff show Uncloaked, where she said: ‘Jonathan? The geek. What a p****. I’m happy to lose him as a friend.’
She said of singer Cat: ‘Oh my God, so these people just killed me out of malice because I didn’t suspect any of them.’
Finding out she was killed by friend Alan, Paloma added: ‘These are three of my favourite people. I hope they never call me again, and I mean that. Bang out of order. I feel more betrayed now.’
And while the scenes made for gripping television, sources behind-the-scenes claimed the star wasn’t quite as composed off-camera.
A source told The Mirror: ‘She threw a wobbly afterwards about being the first to go. Some players just shrug it off when they leave, but Paloma was fuming when she discovered who had betrayed her.
‘She couldn’t work out what had actually happened, and when she found out the details, it only made her feel worse.
‘Paloma is loud and wears her heart on her sleeve – it’s fair to say that she wasn’t happy with going home first.’
After being murdered, Paloma called the experience ‘up and down’, admitting it was nerve-wracking knowing her larger-than-life personality made her an easy target.
She said: ‘I knew that I couldn’t fade into the background. I’m the sort of person that lets my feelings about people be known by talking a lot, so it was never an option for me to be able to quietly just simmer under the surface.’
The Only Love Can Hurt Like This singer further quipped: ‘I don’t think my technique was great in this game, but it works very well in real life.’
Saying she’d have made a great Traitor, she added: ‘I feel like it was a big fashion mistake not to see me in the cloak.’
When asked who she would like to see triumph in the game, Paloma said she’d like to see someone ‘kind and strategic’ to win – like Nick Mohammed.
Less generously, when finding out those responsible for her demise, she seethed: ‘I’m happy to lose them as friends.’
Reacting to her death and hitting out at pal Alan, Paloma told Traitors podcast Uncloaked: ‘I don’t think it was very nice, I still maintain to this day that if the shoe was on the other foot, I wouldn’t have done that.
‘I don’t think he should have done it to me and I’m surprised that he did.’
But since leaving the castle, Paloma has reacted to how she was let go and posted a hilarious video to her TikTok on Sunday night showing a montage of her feeling scared, screaming and running away every time she sees flowers in her house.
She captioned the video: ‘What seeing flowers feels like after the Traitors’ and ‘I used to really like lilies actually.’
And poking fun at his betrayal, Alan proved there were no hard feelings when he cracked a joke about killing off Paloma while out for drinks with a pal on Sunday.
In a clip shared on social media, his friend asked: ‘What kind of cocktail do you feel like, Alan?’ as Alan grinned at the camera and quipped: ‘Oh, I don’t know – I could murder a Paloma.’
He captioned the video: ‘Anyone thirsty? love you @palomafaith #forgiveme’ but Paloma got her revenge, taking to the comments to shoot back: ‘Mines too salty’.
Thursday’s episode ended on a cliffhanger, with viewers eager to see who will become the first celebrity banished from the Scottish castle and Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway potentially facing the axe.
YouTuber Niko Omilana and EastEnders actress Tameka Empson are also at risk after receiving votes from their fellow celebrities, while Traitors Jonathan, Cat, and Alan appear to be safe.