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Joanne McNally has likened the eviction process on The Celebrity Traitors to a “military” operation after being voted off the BBC game show.
The 43-year-old comedian was eliminated during the semi-final episode on October 29 when her co-stars mistakenly believed she was a Traitor during the Round Table discussion.
Speaking on the latest edition of My Therapist Ghosted Me, the podcast she co-hosts alongside Vogue Williams, 41, McNally revealed she was unprepared for the strict security measures put in place once contestants leave Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands.
Asked by Williams what happens after a player is banished, McNally said: “So you get off the podium, they rush you out the side door and you’re bundled into a van like Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard.
“You have a little backpack there, it’s like an emergency backpack in the castle at all times so that if it’s the night that you do go you have your essentials. And then you’re taken to a different hotel.”
McNally explained that she was required to return to the set the following day to complete extra filming commitments.
She said: “You actually have a full day’s work to do in the castle because you have to do all your B-shots and there was a video of me in the bath, so it’s all that stuff and your final interviews.
“I always wondered why in the castle if you needed to go to the bathroom or anything it’s this big kind of production.
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“It’s because they have to make sure the castle is clear and there’s not people who’ve been banished the night before because they were in the castle doing all their extra last bits of work.
“So they were making sure no one crossed paths. It’s such a huge production and they run it so military!”
Meanwhile, fellow contestant James Acaster, 41, admitted he considered orchestrating a group walk-out after experiencing severe panic during a task where participants were buried alive underground.
The comedian, who took part in the challenge with The Last Of Us actor Bella Ramsey, told Far Out magazine: “I was lying there thinking, actually, I think I’m really scared of this. As soon as the soil was heaped on top, Bella did say, ‘Imagine if they can’t get us out.'”
Model Jerry Hall, 70, refused to undertake the task, a decision Acaster subsequently felt he should have shared.
“[Jerry] didn’t like it. She didn’t like, well, none of us liked it.
“I respect Jerry the most because Jerry just went: ‘I’m not doing this.’ Like, are you kidding me? And the rest of us were just like: ‘We want to win Traitors in our coffins, idiots.’
“We should have just done what – as soon as I heard Jerry got out, I should have said to Bella: ‘I’m getting out, forget it. If it’s a free-for-all now, we should all get out. They can’t stop us all. We could all do it.'”
Acaster was selected to become a Traitor during the second episode of the series —a role he found challenging—before actor Michael Sheen, 57, pressed him during an intense Round Table interrogation, leading to Acaster’s banishment.
Reports subsequently indicated that filming was paused briefly prior to the vote due to Acaster becoming distressed.
A source told The Sun newspaper: “What you don’t see is the moment when James got upset as he crumbled when he could see he was about to be caught.
“Both the producers and the other celebrities could see how he was struggling with the pressure of keeping his true identity secret and he reached some kind of breaking point when he was confronted.
“That saw the team feel compelled to intervene, and filming was brought to a halt as they assessed the situation. They spoke to both James and the rest of the stars and didn’t allow filming to resume until they were sure everyone was in a fit state.
“But very little was caught on camera, and what little that was recorded did not feature in the final edit.”
Acaster’s banishment left remaining Traitors Maya Jama, 32, and YouTube creator King Kenny, 29, to contend for the final on October 30.
Both were ultimately eliminated, clearing the path for Faithfuls Romesh Ranganathan, 48, and Sebastian Croft, 24, to win the £83,000 jackpot.
The comedian and the Heartstopper actor divided the money between their respective charities, with Ranganathan choosing the Refugee Council and Croft supporting Choose Love.