Romesh Ranganathan breaks his silence on 'incredible' Celebrity Traitors victory as he reflects on his 'full-on' castle stint and confesses he 'walked a thin line between a great game and a terrible one'

Romesh Ranganathan has revealed he 'walked a thin line between a great game and a terrible one' on Celebrity Traitors, while speaking for the first time about his 'incredible' victory on the show.

The comedian was crowned champion in Friday's final alongside actor Sebastian Croft, after they successfully banished Maya Jama and King Kenny from the castle.

Speaking on his BBC Radio 2 show hours after the final had aired, Romesh admitted his time on the show was 'full-on,' and admitted there were times when he thought he was about to be murdered.

The final drew in a huge 11.2 million viewers, making it the most-watched show of 2026 so far. 

Opening his show, Romesh was greeted with huge cheers from members of his crew as he announced himself as the 'winner of Celebrity Traitors.'

Sharing insight into his time in the famous castle, he said: 'I knew it was going to be immersive, but honestly I cannot explain to you how full-on it is.

'You are basically, the whole time, you're living that game, and imagine the situation where, obvs you're on camera, but you can't trust anyone you're talking to, fully.

'And that is your kind of existence it's such a weird thing, and equally I've known what's happened for a while, but there were so many moments in that game where I thought I was done for. 

'When Rob, Leigh-Anne, Ross Kemp and myself were in the crypt, and they were deciding which one of us to murder, I just literally to me, I felt like I'd stuck my head above the parapet in the round table. 

'I was joking around because obviously I wanted Leigh-Anne to have the key, but similarly I thought 'have I just exposed myself here?' Is this me done? And so that moment, when I hugged Claudia that was real, I genuinely thought I'm going home.

'Similarly I had no idea how much I'd been spoken about in terms of murder, that was weird to watch back.

'The shield challenge, where my pieces got moved, and I didn't complete the shield. I thought I'm definitely gonna get murdered tonight because obvs targeting me they've signalled that.

'And then, I know this sounds like faux humility, it's such a thin line between a great game and a terrible game as a faithful. 

'When we, [Sebastian] and I won. I just cannot, it was just incredible, and there was a moment where I knew we'd won and Bash didn't. 

'And I thought ''let's keep this going for about three minutes,'' but I didn't. 

'And you know the other thing? The same night that Bash and I won The Traitors, Arsenal were confirmed as Premier League champions. I'm gonna tell you, it was a hell of a night!'

Viewers applauded Romesh and Sebastian for beating Traitors Maya Jama and King Kenny, who went under the radar until Thursday's episode, when their fellow Traitor James Acaster revealed his identity in a moment of stress.

They scooped £41,500 each for their chosen charities – Choose Love for Sebastian and the Refugee Council for Ranganathan. 

They shared an embrace as host Claudia Winkleman congratulated them on their big win.

'I trusted Bash and I was right to. I cannot believe it! I just really hope my mum is proud,' the comedian said.

In his exit interview, he added: 'I think my biggest highlight is making a friend in Bash - relying on the fact that I thought he was a friend in that end game and that paying off, that is something I feel really good about.

Sebastian broke down in tears and said: 'That was just incredible. This might actually be the best day of my life.'

Adding what the highlight of his experience was, the actor shared: 'It was the moment that Rom said the word Faithful, and the hug that we had was just wild, it was crazy.'

The duo then joined the host and celebrity finalists outside the picturesque Ardross Castle, where they raised a glass around the fire pit.