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Romesh Ranganathan has revealed where he and James Blunt stand following that Celebrity Traitors final.
On Friday night, over 11 million people tuned in, gripped to their TV screens, as the comedian, 48, and Heartstopper actor Sebastian ‘Bash’ Croft, 24, secured an £83,000 win for their charities.
But, in true Traitors style, the final was not without drama, as the endgame led to an intense showdown between Romesh and musician James when the stand-up star expressed doubts about the You’re Beautiful singer, 52.
Admitting he believed he could be a Traitor, Romesh knocked James ‘for six’ and only changed his tune when fellow Faithful Bash managed to convince him King Kenny was actually who they needed to banish.
The damage was already done, though, as James suddenly began questioning Romesh, leading him to vote for one last banishment when the remaining two wanted to end the game – essentially, he shot himself in the foot and cost himself the win.
In the aftermath, there have been plenty of rumours of a feud between Romesh and James, after the comic’s seeds of doubt essentially prevented James from getting his share of the prize pot.
Thankfully, though, that all seems to be water under the bridge now.
Appearing on tonight’s One Show, the Last One Laughing star was grilled by host Roman Kemp on whether he and James are ‘on speaking terms’, likening their heated exchange to something out of a Bond film.
‘I feel really bad about that, and it’s gonna stay with me for a long time, what happened,’ Romesh admitted.
Addressing speculation that he and James had genuinely fallen out, he added: ‘I just wanna get this out in the open, James Blunt and I are friends, OK? It’s all good.
‘Although he did text me the other day saying, “I know where you live.”
‘But I felt so bad because, in that moment, Bash convinced me; he said, “Listen, I think he’s a Faithful.” And I trusted Bash, and we were like, “Let’s end the game,” and when (James) decided to go again, I was like, “Oh no!”‘
Romesh said he was ‘100% sure Bash was a Faithful’, which he said was good to have ‘in his locker’ going into the last firepit, as it gave him confidence knowing he could at least trust one person.
The duo were then probed on their own friendship, having struck up an unlikely bond thanks to their experience in Ardross Castle.
‘I feel like we have a friendship that lives outside of… maybe for the next few weeks, and then…’, Bash joked initially, with Romesh adding: ‘Yeah, while it feels like we can get some juice out of it, we’ll keep in touch.’
With more sincerity, he then shared that there is a WhatsApp group featuring all the cast members.
‘I think we’re all gonna meet up at some point,’ he insisted.
But James Blunt isn’t the only fellow player Romesh was accused of having beef with this season, as rumours suggested that he and Rob Beckett actually ‘bullied’ James Acaster.
The recruited Traitor has since completely rubbished allegations of a ‘toxic’ environment, telling past winner Alan Carr on his Life’s A Beach podcast: ‘I’ve never had stuff made up about me before.
‘You’d think, just going and playing Traitors, surely, who cares? But I think there was something in the papers that said I’d complained because Rob and Romesh had been teasing me.
‘And I was like… I’ve been friends with those guys for over 10 years! They were lovely the entire show. I didn’t complain about any of my fellow players.’
He branded the reports ‘completely fabricated’, baffled that ‘people really care that much’ about the behind-the-scenes of the programme.
‘I guess it’s not just a game, is the thing,’ he reasoned. ‘It’s a game, it’s a reality show, it’s a talking point… It’s so much.’
James was sensationally banished after the burden of being a Traitor became too heavy, and he shockingly confessed at the roundtable that he’d been reluctantly recruited.
Many fans assumed this was the moment producers were forced to intervene, as reports prior to the series launch claimed filming had to be halted after a player grew ‘visibly stressed’.
While James has not spoken publicly about the rumoured welfare check, he did address his decision to out himself as a Traitor.
Following his banishment, he said there could be a ‘proper final’ because, with three Traitors still in the mix, ‘it would have been a foregone conclusion’ that they’d win.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was hilarious at one point that we were just going to walk our way to the final and win the whole thing, but this is much better, isn’t it?’
Adding that he was ‘surprised’ when Michael Sheen turned suspicions onto him, he declared: ‘I was glad that they caught me.’
The One Show airs weekdays at 7pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.