Amol Rajan has leapt to the defence of his Celebrity Traitors co-star Joanne McNally after a heated roundtable moment last week.
During Thursday’s roundtable (22 October), McNally appeared to become annoyed with Hart for choosing to bring up a “debunked” theory that speculated McNally was a Traitor.
The awkward interaction rubbed some viewers up the wrong way, with some labelling the comedian as “rude”, while others argued that she was just being direct.
Now, eliminated Celebrity Traitors co-star Amol Rajan has given his opinion on the matter, saying that he’s “bamboozled” at the suggestion that McNally is “anything other than a lovely, kind player”.
Writing in his column in Metro, Rajan said: “Joanne? McNally?! Come on. Aside from being the funniest woman I know, she was the absolute height of niceness on and off camera.
“I think her snapping back at Miranda after the floorboard theory, and when Miranda Hart was a Faithful, suggested to some she was a mean girl when she really isn’t.”
Rajan also reminded viewers that each episode is “a brilliant, skilful edit of countless hours of footage”.
“This is not to say there is misrepresentation; for what it’s worth, I think this has been a superbly told story,” he said.
During the roundtable, Hart told others about her theory that there must have been a Traitor stood next to her during an earlier challenge – which would have been McNally or actual Traitor Maya Jama – as the blindfolded comedian could hear the floorboards creaking when the Traitors were meant to be moving. She clarified, however, that her theory had since been “debunked”.
“Well, obviously you’ve said it now,” an annoyed-looking McNally replied. “You’ve just put in a ‘debunked’ theory and brought it to the floor again.”
Shortly after McNally and Hart’s tense discussion, Hart was murdered by the Traitors, with James Blunt bringing up their clash at the following roundtable during Friday’s episode (23 October).
McNally admitted that she was “mortified” by the exchange, adding: “I thought me and Miranda were in it together, that we were too trusty Faithfuls so I was like, ‘Woah!’ Once again, forgetting it’s a game. I just was really shocked by it. I started thinking, ‘Oh, Miranda’s a Traitor.’”
The pair also squashed any suggestion of bad blood between them, with McNally saying on social media: “Was it my finest moment? No. Did the tension of the roundtable and the general gaslighting get into my head in that moment? Yes it did.
“What can you do? It is a game about gaslighting. It's a funny game to navigate. Rest assured, me and Miranda have laughed about it since.”
Hart commented on the post, saying: “It's so funny to me that people are saying that you snapped. Never felt like that. Was never stressed. And actually we chinked glasses and laughed on the night.”
Celebrity Traitors airs its penultimate episode tonight (29 October), with just 10 celebrities left in the game. Tonight viewers will find out whether McNally or Sharon Rooney will be banished after last week’s episode ended on a roundtable cliffhanger.
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