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When BBC bosses were shown the final list of the Celebrity Traitors cast earlier this year, they did a metaphorical jig.
Signing the eclectic mix of Love Island presenter Maya Jama, thespian Richard E. Grant and model Jerry Hall was hailed a huge success even by those with the highest standards inside the Beeb.
The full line-up also ticked all-important diversity boxes following decades of criticism that the corporation’s shows featured too many white men.
With comedian Romesh Ranganathan, former Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, American actress Myha’la, YouTuber King Kenny and former Radio 4 Today show host Amol Rajan also entering the castle alongside Maya, the dramatis personae were broadly inclusive.
There is also an almost 50:50 gender split and an LGBTQ contestant in actor Bella Ramsay, who identifies as non-binary.
Myha’la, best known for starring in the BBC drama Industry, said there was ‘unconscious racial and cultural bias’ within the game after she was the second celebrity to be banished last week
Suspicions had been raised after the actress winked at Traitor Richard E. Grant as she voted him out, despite defending him at the previous roundtable
So this week, amid the tremendous success of the latest series – last Thursday’s show was watched by 10.3 million viewers – BBC chiefs were left bewildered as the show found itself subject to accusations of racism after Myha’la, best known for starring in the BBC drama Industry, said there was ‘unconscious racial and cultural bias’ within the game after she became the second star to be ‘banished’ last week.
On Friday, Myha’la posted on Instagram that she was ‘grateful’ for her time on the programme.
However, in a comment below her post, a social media user wrote: ‘Unfortunately you were banished because you are BLACK. This is a consistent thread in this racist show.’
In a lengthy response, Myha’la replied: ‘I sealed my own fate! And that early in the game there is VERY little to grasp on to and I gave them a lot. However, I do agree that unconscious racial and cultural bias exists in this game, where my authenticity or honesty or the ways in which I choose to express myself look suspicious to people who are unfamiliar with people like me.’
She conceded that, as a Faithful, she had ‘sealed her own fate’ after becoming close to Richard E. Grant, one of the Traitors.
The role of the Faithfuls – who make up the majority of the cast – is to find the Traitors among the group and get rid of them all before the end of the game. The aim of the Traitors is to stay undetected and escape banishment. Suspicions had been raised after Myha’la defended the actor at the previous episode’s ‘round table’, in which the competitors decide whom to banish.
There were six non-white faces at the start of the second series of Celebrity Traitors, which is yet to have a non-white winner
However, she then switched sides at the last minute, giving Richard a wink as she voted him out before he revealed he was a Traitor.
While Myha’la stressed that her fellow contestants ‘in no way consciously put bias’ on her, it has now put the show under unwanted scrutiny over whether its non-white stars are more likely to be banished in the earlier stages.
Indeed the first person to be sent home from Ardross Castle – the dramatic location of the show nestled in the Scottish Highlands – was Amol Rajan after he found himself pitted against comedian James Acaster in a bid to convince Traitors Maya and Richard which of the two should be recruited to their side. Acaster was chosen and Amol was murdered, although no accusations of racism arose.
‘Maya Jama was one of the two traitors who decided to send him [Amol] home,’ a show insider reminds me. ‘Yes, he [Amol] was the first to go and, yes, he is Asian but there was nothing racist about it. Nothing at all.’
Yesterday BBC insiders were quick to refute 30-year-old Myha’la’s claims of unconscious bias, insisting that their stars are ‘very much used to working with a huge variety’ of people throughout their careers and that it was ‘just not the case’ that race is an issue when decisions to eliminate fellow contestants are made.
Meanwhile, a Celebrity Traitors insider also emphatically denied that there any issues with racism on the programme.
‘Not to spoil anything, of course. But there are some very good players who are not white.’
However, an analysis by the Daily Mail into all six series, taking in both the civilian and celebrity versions, confirmed that in every series non-white competitors have been kicked off in the early stages.
In the first series, broadcast in 2022, Aisha Birley was the first to be murdered by her co-stars.
In the second series, Kyra Johnson was the third to leave the show, while in the following season, Yin Lu was the second to go.
In the fourth series, Netty Osterberg was the first to be murdered, followed by Judy Wilson, who was the first to be banished.
Ross Garshong was banished in the fourth episode, followed by Marzook Bana, who was murdered in the next show.
Amol Rajan was the first celebrity to be sent home after he found himself pitted against comedian James Acaster in a bid to convince the Traitors who should be recruited
Across the non-celebrity series, only two non-white contestants have ever got to the final episode – Jaz Singh in the second and Faraaz Noor in the fourth.
As for the celebrity version, last year, the first of its kind, YouTuber Niko Omilana was the second to leave, while actress and comedian Tameka Empson was fourth. However Ted Lasso actor Nick Mohammed and historian David Olusoga did make it to the final round table with eventual winner comedian Alan Carr.
There is yet to be a non-white winner of the show but, if my snitches are to be believed, it’s a case of watch this space for the current cohort.
California-born Myah’la is not the first person to find themself at the centre of a Traitors ‘race row’.
Earlier this year Athena Kugblenu, a writer for the Left-wing Guardian newspaper, declared the programme racist after Judy and Ross from the fourth series were voted off by castmates who wrongly suspected they were Traitors. Ms Kugblenu argued that the result proved that ‘racial bias’ was at play and reflected the ‘reality’ of living in this country.
She wrote: ‘If there is one thing that has impacted the experience of Black people in this country, it’s the accusation of acting and looking suspicious.’
Ms Kugblenu even went so far as to compare Judy and Ross’ banishment to cases of wrongful stop and search by the police.
Despite acknowledging widespread black representation in public life, she argued, ‘we may be guilty of letting this representation conceal our everyday experiences’. She added: ‘These reality shows serve only to remind us that if our presence was up for any kind of national debate, it’s an argument we might not win.’
The article left many working on The Traitors devastated.
‘The people who work behind the scenes on the show are really, really good people who want to have a show that appeals to everyone,’ a source told me. ‘It was so hurtful for them to read that. They do their very, very best to make a brilliant programme.’
Back to Myha’la, and my sources inside the BBC were keen to explain other reasons for her banishment in the third episode – namely that she, unlike her co-stars – is from the US and therefore wasn’t as well known.
This year, unlike last, many friendship groups were established before the show began.
For example, comedians Romesh and Rob Beckett – who met more than a decade ago when they were both on the stand-up comedy circuit – have their own TV show, Rob & Romesh Vs, which has been broadcast on Sky since 2019 and regularly appear on each other’s podcasts.
Then there’s Richard E. Grant and Jerry Hall, who for more than 25 years lived a stone’s throw from each other in Richmond, south-west London.
Maya and Leigh-Ann know one another from the showbiz party circuit and Maya also knows King Kenny from starring in his YouTube videos.
Meanwhile Romesh and Julie Hesmondhalgh know each other from their roles on BBC1 quiz show The Weakest Link, while comics Joe Lycett, Joanne McNally and James Acaster have also met several times on the comedy circuit.
‘It must have been daunting for Myha’la to join Celebrity Traitors having not been part of the British celebrity circuit,’ says my source. ‘The others were all so familiar with one another, having crossed paths so many times over the years.
‘There was a familiarity between them. Perhaps that has helped them read one another. That’s a far more logical explanation than unconscious bias.’
And as for Myha’la’s implication that her co-stars are ‘unfamiliar with people’ like her, a friend of one of the contestants told me: ‘This is ridiculous. Look at the British showbiz landscape and say which of those cast members hasn’t worked with a black woman before. It’s very unfair to say that.’
The row is likely to rumble on tonight when Romesh, Leigh-Anne, Rob and Ross Kemp are all at risk of being murdered.
Leigh-Anne, protected by a shield for this one episode, cannot be eliminated.
Should Romesh be sent home, he would be the third non-white star to go out of the six in the original line-up.
Those who know the comedian say there’s ‘no way’ he would see his elimination as being a racist act and would simply put it down to how the competition plays out.
But overall, says my Celebrity Traitors insider, the reason for Myha’la’s banishment was her not very subtle wink to Richard E. Grant. ‘It’s really sad that we are debating whether a television programme is racist or not,’ they say.
‘It’s nonsense and takes the joy out of the show which is brightening up the lives of millions.
‘Myha’la made her game really, really obvious but that has been totally overshadowed now.
‘It’s very, very sad indeed. Some people really need to remember that it is just a game.’
English (US) ·