Photo via BBC News

'It's been killing me!' Celebrity Traitors winners relieved the secret is out

Read the original at BBC News ↗
Cite

Yasin, A. B., & Murphy, I. (2026, October 31). 'It's been killing me!' Celebrity Traitors winners relieved the secret is out. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm4g18l8l4wgo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

BBC News · collected 2026-10-31 · by Abu Bakar Yasin, Ian Murphy

Quick Summary

Sebastian Croft and Romesh Ranganathan, winners of the second series of BBC One's reality show "The Celebrity Traitors," expressed relief at being able to discuss their victory after the finale aired on Friday. The two celebrities split an £83,000 prize pot between their chosen charities and appeared together on Ranganathan’s BBC Radio 2 show to celebrate. The final episode was watched by an average of 11.2 million live viewers, with catch-up viewing likely increasing that number.
Written by AI on 2026-10-31, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The penultimate episode of The Celebrity Traitors saw actress Sharon Rooney being murdered and comedian Joanne McNally being banished. The final episode aired on October 29, where comedian Romesh Ranganathan and actor Sebastian Croft emerged victorious as faithfuls after successfully eliminating traitors Maya Jama and King Kenny. The finale attracted a record-breaking average audience of 11.2 million viewers, making it the most-watched episode in the show's history. Both winners expressed relief at finally revealing their secret roles, with Croft admitting he initially wanted to be a traitor but strategically voted out Kenny to secure victory.

Written for “Celebrity Traitors Finale Winners Relieved” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 21 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Celebrity Traitors Finale Winners Relieved
Entertainment · 22 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 3% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
Hedges 2 of 30 claims Outlet record 68/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 18 claims Outlet record 65/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 18 claims Outlet record 65/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 2 of 27 claims Outlet record 65/100
BBC News
Hedges 0 of 4 claims Outlet record 68/100
BBC News
Hedges 11 of 48 claims Outlet record 68/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 13 claims Outlet record 65/100
“Article A discusses the impending finale and reveal of who will be banished between Sharon Rooney and Joanne McNally, while Article B reports on the winners Sebastian Croft and Romesh Ranganathan celebrating after the final has aired.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 24 claims Outlet record 65/100
“The articles describe different stages of the Celebrity Traitors show - one during filming and another after the final episode where winners are revealed.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 5 of 13 claims Outlet record 65/100
“Article A discusses an upcoming episode of Celebrity Traitors on October 29th, while Article B reports on the aftermath and winners after the final episode, which aired later.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 2 of 35 claims Outlet record 65/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
34
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
3%
1 of 34 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
BBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
22
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-31 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

BBC News · 4788 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Abu Bakar Yasin
3 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 He said he was "delighted to win" but admitted he probably wouldn't have done so without Croft convincing him to banish the last remaining traitor, King Kenny.
🔮 The pair tell BBC Newsbeat they will be "crying together" as they watch the finale later.
🔮 I think we could feel it when we first read the script." Critics, though, haven't been convinced. The Guardian called it a "garish and incoherent mess",, external but praised Liang as "formidable" and complimented her "genuinely impressive" fight scenes.
Also by Abu Bakar Yasin
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
Ian Murphy
1 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 He said he was "delighted to win" but admitted he probably wouldn't have done so without Croft convincing him to banish the last remaining traitor, King Kenny.
The only article under this byline in the corpus.

Topics

BBC Newsbeat BBC One BBC Radio 2 British iPlayer

Subjects

Croft PERSON · 9× Kenny PERSON · 6× Ranganathan PERSON · 3× BBC Newsbeat ORG · 1× BBC One ORG · 1× BBC Radio 2 ORG · 1× Bash PERSON · 1× British NORP · 1× Romesh Ranganathan PERSON · 1× Sebastian Croft PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Croft said he "really wanted to be a traitor", but he turned out to be one of the strongest faithfuls after voting out Kenny - a tactical decision on how to play the show's famous endgame. "The truth is, I didn't know for sure, but what you're trying to do isn't find a traitor, it's trying to get rid of everyone who isn't the most faithful," he explained.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-31
🔮 He said he was "delighted to win" but admitted he probably wouldn't have done so without Croft convincing him to banish the last remaining traitor, King Kenny.

Claims (34 extracted, 1 hedged)

- Published Spoiler warning: This story reveals details of The Celebrity Traitors final asserted
story → publish → Traitors
The winners of Celebrity Traitors have said they are relieved that they no longer need to keep the biggest secret in British TV, as they reunited to celebrate their victory. asserted
they → say → victory
Actor Sebastian Croft and comedian Romesh Ranganathan were the last ones standing, with the two faithfuls splitting the £83,000 prize pot between their chosen charities. "I am feeling good, it's so nice to finally be able to talk about it properly," Croft, known to pals as Bash, told BBC Newsbeat. asserted
Croft → stand → Newsbeat
The second series of the hit BBC One show finished on Friday, after the original 21 celebs were whittled down to seven finalists. asserted
celebs → finish → finalists
Reuniting with Ranganathan on the comedian's BBC Radio 2 show on Saturday morning, Croft said they had been worried about being seen together in public before the final. asserted
they → reunite → final
"We were having dinner and we're not exactly a likely duo and the whole restaurant was like, 'we like you on Traitors and hope you win'," he said. asserted
he → have → Traitors
Croft added that he had woken up on Saturday "with a light sense that I don't have to keep the secret anymore. asserted
I → add → secret
It's been killing me". asserted
It → kill → me
Ranganathan, 48, started his show by saying: "Last night, I don't know if you're aware, was the finale of The Celebrity Traitors and I won." asserted
I → start → Traitors
He said he was "delighted to win" but admitted he probably wouldn't have done so without Croft convincing him to banish the last remaining traitor, King Kenny. asserted
Croft → say → traitor
"It's taken the gloss off it slightly that everybody's saying, 'you better thank [Croft] every day for the rest of your life'," he added, with his typical deadpan-humour. asserted
he → take → humour
But 24-year-old Croft said he thought Ranganathan had played the game in a "lovely" way. asserted
Ranganathan → say → way
"People are seeing how smart you are and how you're actually so on it, and you're such a good judge of character," he praised. asserted
he → see → character
The finale drew an average audience of 11.2 million live viewers, and that number will rise when fans catch up on iPlayer. asserted
fans → draw → iPlayer
Other recent episodes have been watched by more than 15 million, including catch-up. "It's been a wild thing to be part of. asserted
It → watch → up
To be on Uncloaked and sat with Romesh talking about winning was so surreal," Croft said, referencing the BBC's spin-off chat show. asserted
Croft → sit → show
"It's an out of body experience," he added. asserted
he → add → body
Croft said he "really wanted to be a traitor", but he turned out to be one of the strongest faithfuls after voting out Kenny - a tactical decision on how to play the show's famous endgame. "The truth is, I didn't know for sure, but what you're trying to do isn't find a traitor, it's trying to get rid of everyone who isn't the most faithful," he explained. asserted
he → say → everyone
"I think for both Maya [Jama] and Kenny there was no big thing where I was like 'they're obviously a traitor', but when you boil it down they haven't done anything that's really stuck out enough to make them obviously faithful." asserted
them → think → anything
Croft told Newsbeat that he gets why "people are obsessed with the show" and even his family had their own theories about how the game would go. " asserted
game → tell → theories
So many people get so invested and it's lovely because it becomes so much bigger." asserted
it → get → ?
The final saw the celebs successfully banish the remaining traitors - Love Island host Maya Jama and YouTuber King Kenny. asserted
celebs → see → traitors
But Kenny shocked viewers when he turned on his fellow traitor Jama at the final round table. asserted
he → shock → table
Asked if he's spoken to her since then, Kenny joked that "she's blocked me on everything", and then admitted that he had pre-warned her. asserted
he → ask → her
"I already told her that I was going to vote for her and she knew potentially that could be coming," he said. "It was just too obvious, if I didn't go for her at that point, I think my time would've been coming even quicker than when I went out." uncertain
I → tell → point
Kenny said he "experienced everything possible in the game" after starting out as a faithful, getting a shield to protect him from murder and then being recruited as a traitor. asserted
he → say → traitor
But he said he "should have had a better plan for the final" and wasn't prepared for how hard it would be. asserted
it → say → final
"There were so many times when I felt bad pinning stuff on people," he said. asserted
he → be → people
"It's a very draining thing to do as a traitor. asserted
It → do → traitor
"There's moments when there is fun but lying to people for that long is insane, you build friendships as well and feel bad." asserted
you → be → friendships
On his show, Ranganathan also asked fellow finalist, Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, about taking part in challenges while pregnant. asserted
Ranganathan → ask → challenges
In the final episode, Pinnock was seen hanging off the side of a helicopter and lowering herself to the ground with a rope. asserted
Pinnock → see → rope
"I'm just super proud of myself," she said. asserted
she → say → myself
"It's kind of just shown me that I really can do anything I put my mind to." asserted
I → show → mind
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support