McNally admits to Traitors gaffe
The comedian described her mistake in the BBC game show as a major source of embarrassment.
By James Anderson ·
Comedian Joanne McNally described her misidentification of actor Richard E Grant during The Celebrity Traitors as a deeply embarrassing error. McNally, 43, was banished from the castle during the penultimate episode of the BBC reality gameshow, which aired on Thursday. The final episode is scheduled for Friday.
McNally believed Grant was a faithful for most of the series. Grant, however, declared himself a traitor shortly after being chosen earlier in the competition. That early confession eventually led to his own banishment. McNally said she was convinced Grant was a faithful because he told her he was one.
“The Richard thing was very embarrassing for me, it was a very early boo boo on my part,” McNally said after leaving the show. She added that the experience was confronting because she realized she believes men’s lies. “I was absolutely convinced he was a faithful, but you know why? Because he told me he was, and apparently that’s all it takes for me.”
McNally connected that trait to her personal life. “I just blindly accept it as truth, and that is why I am still single. I’m 43 with a string of failed, toxic relationships in my wake,” she said. She expressed a desire for TV presenter Maya Jama, a traitor, and faithfuls Michael Sheen and James Blunt to win the final.
The comedian characterized the show as more hardcore than she had imagined. She noted that the speed at which players are sucked into the game is frightening. “You go in, everyone’s holding hands and laughing, and within 24 hours you’re living in a palace of paranoia accusing your own mother of killing people, and she’s not even in the show,” McNally said.
Comedian James Acaster was also banished in the same episode. Acaster, 41, admitted he was a traitor during a roundtable discussion. He faced scrutiny over the plain-sight murder of former EastEnders star Ross Kemp. Acaster said he was made a traitor without wanting to be and that he had wanted to be a faithful the entire time.
Acaster told the other contestants, “I just want to explain my situation. I was made a traitor without wanting to be, I’ve had a unique experience on this that no-one’s had before, where I wanted to be a faithful and that’s all I’ve wanted to be.” He pointed to the perfume bottles that killed Kemp as evidence of his strategy. The Celebrity Traitors final airs at 8pm on Friday on BBC One.
McNally said she underestimated the intensity of the feelings involved. “And you can tell your nervous system over and over and over again it’s a game but at the end of the day when an entire table is turning on you, holding your name up, or somebody else’s, whatever way you want to phrase it, it doesn’t bring out the best in you,” she said.
