Sky-high ratings – for a lacklustre series: The Celebrity Traitors has become too nice for its own good

Too many recruitments, frustrating confessions and an underwhelming murder in plain sight … this series has failed to take off

This article contains spoilers for the episode of The Celebrity Traitors on 29 October. Do not read on if you have not seen it.

What happens when a game that revolves around secrets and lies gets derailed by the truth? That’s what played out last night in the penultimate episode of The Celebrity Traitors, when – spoilers ahead! – James Acaster was dramatically confronted at the round table about his role in murdering Ross Kemp. After being grilled by Michael Sheen in a soliloquy that felt borderline Shakespearean, Acaster did something we have never seen before on this show: he fessed up to the entire thing, falling on his sword…