‘The Celebrity Traitors’ Star Jonathan Ross Found Series “Wearing”

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first two episodes of BBC series The Celebrity Traitors

Jonathan Ross appeared to be reveling in his role as a traitor on The Celebrity Traitors, but it turns out that heavy is the head that wears the cloak.

Ross was selected as a murderous game player in the opening episode of the BBC series, working alongside fellow traitors Cat Burns and Alan Carr to hunt down faithfuls.

Speaking on his Reel Talk with Honey & Jonathan Ross podcast, Ross said he found the game a struggle as the series went deeper.

“I found it really wearing on me; the lying made me genuinely increasingly uncomfortable,” he explained. “We were lying all the time, because you’re sharing a car with people in the morning, and even though we’re not meant to be talking about the game, obviously sometimes people do.”

Ross went as far as saying he did not enjoy the experience, and had given an honest appraisal of his time in the Traitors‘ castle to two celebrity friends who had been approached to appear in Season 2.

In a post on X/Twitter later clarifying his remarks, Ross said: “Despite rather misleading reports, I am NOT discouraging anyone from taking part in future series of Traitors.

“I am pleased I did it – an extraordinary experience- but I did not enjoy the duplicity as the game progressed. It’s a tougher psychological challenge than I expected is all. But I would never try to talk anyone out of it – just trying to give them a sense of what to expect.”

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, The Celebrity Traitors premiered last week on BBC One, attracting an audience of 6.5M, making it the most-watched season premiere in the UK.

Produced by Studio Lambert, The Traitors has run to three civilian seasons in the UK. The format was first produced for RTL4 in the Netherlands by IDTV, an All3Media company, as De Verraders. IDTV and Posvideo developed it, in cooperation with RTL Creative Unit.