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Last night, the stars of Celebrity Traitors series 2 gathered in a London studio to perform an autopsy on the grand finale.
Viewers saw the Faithful, Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft, defeat the Traitors and take home a shared £83,000 prize for their chosen charities.
Sadly, James Blunt was left out in the cold along with fellow Faithful and Little Mix singer, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, but they did successfully banish Traitors King Kenny and Maya Jama… by the skin of their teeth.
It was a real nail-biter and perfect fodder for Ed Gamble to talk about on The Traitors Uncloaked.
However, as Ed and host Claudia Winkleman spoke to Romesh, James B, Leigh Anne, and Kenny about the finale, fans couldn’t help but notice a rather conspicuous absence.
Neither the cast nor the hosts seemed to be talking about the recently fallen Traitor James Acaster.
This perplexed and worried viewers, as James had been the second longest-serving Traitor, was one of the show’s biggest personalities, and was involved in one of the show’s most dramatic moments.
‘I hope James Acaster is ok,’ wrote TV host Dan Walker on X. ‘No appearance and not even mentioned on the Uncloaked show.
Dr Andy Hershon was similarly concerned, asking: ‘[Is] James Acaster ok?
Strange not mentioned on the Uncloaked show.’
@TheVocalHero meanwhile added: ‘Really sad not to see James Acaster on Uncloaked here. Whatever you think about what he did, he’s provided one of the most memorable moments on the show.’
On Reddit, meanwhile, user u/travelprofessor asked fellow fans, ‘Why is nobody mentioning James Acaster? It’s like it never happened, bizarre.’
‘None of the celebrities are even mentioning his name,’ replied Helebell24. ‘It’s like they’ve all been briefed before the show not to speak about him.’
CoolRanchBaby noted: ‘It’s weirder they have just like erased him than if they’d just mentioned him as part of the show. They don’t need to talk about what happened that wasn’t shown or anything. Acting like he didn’t exist is making it a “thing”.’
This sparked a lot of online speculation about why James skipped the Uncloaked final, especially after earlier reports that filming had been halted during his last roundtable as he struggled with the pressure.
‘The pressure got to him, and it was clear he was finding it difficult,’ a source told the Daily Mail. ‘Everyone agreed filming should be stopped before things got too heated.
‘Everyone was aware of the pressure getting to James throughout the series; it was difficult to watch him struggling.’
In a statement, the BBC told Metro, ‘Our highest priority is always the safety and welfare of everyone taking part.
‘Players are closely monitored and supported throughout by production, which includes a dedicated and experienced welfare team.’
It’s also worth noting that James wasn’t the only star to miss the Uncloaked final.
Bella Ramsay, Michael Sheen, Joanna McNally, Rob Beckett, Sharon Rooney, Myha’la, Jerry Hall, and Maya Jama were also absent from the studio.
Other fans, rather reasonably, pointed out that Uncloaked doesn’t recap the entire series, adding that they didn’t mention other banished players by name.
‘Loads of people are missing from the live Uncloaked show – and they’re not being mentioned either: Bella, Sharon, Jerry Hall,’ wrote Cake Bake fake on Reddit.
Metro has approached James Acaster and the BBC for comment.