Trending Now: This entertainment story covers the latest buzz, reactions, and updates surrounding Trending Now: The Celebrity Traitors is nowhere near as good as the civilian version’ – Fans React..
We’re only three episodes in, but I’m ready to say what everyone else is thinking: The Celebrity Traitors doesn’t hold a candle lantern-in-the-turret to the civilian version of the show.
Like everybody else, my group chats were ablaze with excitement when the celebrity spin-off series was announced, as we all licked our lips (isn’t that right, Harry?) at the prospect of treachery and deception among the A-list elite.
And yes, in some places, the show has delivered full throttle entertainment. We’ve had national treasure Celia Imrie fart in the middle of a challenge. We’ve had Alan Carr murdering his best friend in plain sight. We’ve had Joe Wilkinson being quite fit.
But where’s the jeopardy? Where’s the intensity? Where are the 10 other contestants?
For me, the underlying feeling that these 19 famous faces are just trying to get through the show without ruining their careers – or losing their invite to Jonathan Ross’s famous Halloween party (how apt) – lingers longer than the smell of Claudia Winkleman’s fake tan.
Stephen Fry is conducting the round table like an episode of QI, while every quiet allegation of Traitor is followed by ‘I love you and I think you’re great.” Existing friendships mean unspoken alliances have already been formed, and the contestants already have ideas about each other to bring to the table.
And actually, the show we’ve come to love has layers beyond this. Give us the desire for five minutes of fame! Give us the I-have-no-idea-how-to-spell-your-name! Give us some real tea.
Cast your might back to the three civilian series of the show, and that’s where the real juice lies. We’ve had Linda the baddie. Ginger-let-me-take-a-bow-Paul. Diane and her secret son, whose name I can’t quite recall. The sheer success of the show relies on these unknown characters, who (usually) don’t have pre-existing connections, or, well, anything to lose.
The celebrity version of the show has also been truncated to allow for their very busy schedules. There are 19 contestants rather than the usual 22 (season three of The Traitors had 25!), and the BBC is airing two episodes a week for four weeks – eight in total – rather than the usual 12 episodes.
In turn, this means we have less time to invest in the dynamics of the game, and the contestants themselves. Last night’s episode [15th October] saw three people leave the castle with a first class ticket back to London. Where’s the fun in that?
This isn’t to say The Celebrity Traitors is bad. It’s a fascinating insight into the psyche of people who we often only see at arm’s length – and you can take one guess at where I’ll be at 8pm this evening. The show isn’t yet half way through, so I’m holding out hope for a twist as impressive as Tom Daley’s eye roll when Kate Garraway said the word flabbergasted. I’m just saying – nothing will ever be as good as Alexander’s singing.
But hey, I’m happy to be proven wrong. Over to you, A-listers.