If you think you’ve had a bad break-up, James Acaster’s own tale of being foiled by Rowan Atkinson might give you a run for your money.
Acaster is set to descend into the world of skullduggery and deceit as one of the many comedians entering the Traitors castle tonight.
The atmosphere will no doubt turn tense at points, but the 41-year-old has already proved he can have a sense of humour about the most unlikely things.
Namely, his ex-girlfriend Louise Ford striking up a romance with Mr Bean icon Atkinson shortly after their split.
The Off Menu podcast host was dating the actress until 2013, which was the same year she co-starred with Atkinson in the play Quartermaine’s Terms. The co-stars-turned-couple are still going strong.
At the time, Atkinson was married to his wife Sunetra Sastry, who he married in 1990. They separated in 2014 and then divorced the following year.
Ever one for gallows humour, Acaster made light of the end of his relationship during a stand-up gig back in 2019, when he cracked the gag: ‘I got left for Mr Bean.’
He told the crowd: ‘I found out a year after we split up. I opened the newspaper and there was a full-page story.
‘No one else in the history of time has ever been left for Mr Bean. I’m a goddamn saint to have kept this in the back pocket so long.
‘It’s my job to say things that are funny and the funniest thing that’s ever happened to anyone, happened to me and I put it on the back burner out of respect.’
‘Until you get left for Mr Bean, you don’t realise how frequently he pops up,’ he added, which is a quote social media users often refer to online whenever Atkinson or his iconic non-verbal character pop up in the cultural conversation once again.
Acaster added: ‘There’s a shop two streets from my house that sells masks of his face. There’s nowhere where I’m going to go that he’s not there.’
Fortunately for Acaster, Atkinson was not cast on this season of Celebrity Traitors alongside him, even if I now sort of wish he had been as a social experiment of sorts.
But Acaster reportedly found the experience of being in Ardross Castle a bit of an ordeal regardless.
Ahead of the show launch this evening, a source revealed that at one point during filming Acaster became ‘visibly stressed’, which resulted in shooting being halted.
A source told The Sun that his Ardross Castle castmates – which include Maya Jama, Richard E Grant and Amol Rajan – reportedly raised concerns with the Studio Lambert production team, who paused the game to check on him.
Who is in the Celebrity Traitors season 2 cast?
- Amol Rajan – Journalist
- Bella Ramsey – Actor
- Hannah Fry – Mathematician
- James Acaster – Comedian
- James Blunt – Musician
- Jerry Hall – Model
- Joanne McNally – Comedian
- Joe Lycett – Comedian
- Julie Hesmondhalgh – Actor
- King Kenny – Social media personality
- Leigh-Anne Pinnock – Singer
- Maya Jama – Presenter
- Michael Sheen – Actor
- Miranda Hart – Actor
- Myha’la – Actor
- Richard E. Grant – Actor
- Rob Beckett – Comedian
- Romesh Ranganathan – Comedian
- Ross Kemp – Actor/Presenter
- Sebastian Croft – Actor/Singer-songwriter
- Sharon Rooney – Actor
‘The show is incredibly intense, and during one particular scene at the castle, James became very anxious and panicked,’ the insider told the publication.
‘Some of the other celebrities on the show spoke up and said cameras should stop rolling so he could calm down, and production were in agreement as well.’
They added that ‘everyone looks out for each other’, so there’s a ‘proper sense of camaraderie’, despite the treacherous nature of the game.
‘It was good for James to have a breather, as everyone felt it was for the best,’ they added, claiming it did not impact the game once filming resumed.
Celebrity Traitors returns tonight at 8pm on BBC One.