There was one moment during last night’s episode of The Celebrity Traitors where those rooting for the Faithfuls were, for once, left punching the air. No, it wasn’t during Richard E Grant’s banishment in the opening scenes – which we all saw coming after he outed himself as a Traitor – instead, it was something that happened right at the end.
High on the adrenaline rush of catching their very first Traitor, the loudest of the Faithful had spent most of episode three peddling far-fetched, incorrect theories as to who was left in the turret. Julie Hesmondhalgh (lovely, but in this case foolish) led the charge against Industry’s Myha’la for having previously backed Grant, resulting in her wrongful banishment. Joanne McNally turned on Jerry Hall at the round table for not attempting to get a shield in the challenge. Even James Blunt was at it with a madcap theory, arguing that Hesmondhalgh had become a Traitor when the group had voted her most trustworthy at the start of the show, Grant and Bella Ramsey had then been picked at the roundtable and Ramsey had recruited the paranoid Ross Kemp by placing a cap on his head during a challenge. Still with me?
While these misguided celebs were off chasing leads that ranged from somewhat believable to downright ridiculous, there was one Faithful speaking sense: Miranda Hart. In the closing moments of last night’s episode, Hart stopped Blunt – who was giving less Poirot, more your classic conspiracy theorist in a tin foil hat – to correctly declare that Hannah Fry was a Traitor.
Hart pointed out that maths professor Fry, who had recently been recruited as a Traitor by remaining stars James Acaster and Maya Jama, had been economical with the truth about her tussle with Myha’la for a shield during the last challenge. After Myha’la was first to the shield, she told Fry to keep schtum about her having it so that the Traitors didn’t know which of the two were immune from being murdered (little did Myha’la know that Fry was one of them). Unsurprisingly, Fry had been reluctant to share the full details of their clandestine discussion (and what was ultimately a fairly Faithful act by Myha’la) at the roundtable, seemingly worried that it would take suspicion off of the actor.
“The key actual tangible evidence is that Hannah did not declare what Myha’la had said in the crypt,” Hart told the cameras. “Of course, if Hannah was a Traitor, she wouldn’t reveal that because it makes Myha’la sound more Faithful. I’m so into this.”
In the words of Hart, “Miss Marple is so on” – and that’s mainly down to Mirandatha Christie (is this too much of a mouthful to catch on?!). It’s not the first time in the competition that Hart has been incredibly astute with her observations. Earlier in the episode, the former sitcom star commented on how Fry had seemed more anxious than usual at breakfast, leading her to wonder whether she been recruited by the Traitors the night before. “Something new has happened to her,” Hart said. “I definitely clocked a nervousness in her.”
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She also correctly dismissed McNally’s suspicions about Hall, whose survival the previous night (when she had a 50 per cent chance of being murdered by the Traitors) and eccentricity had raised some eyebrows. “I say this with the greatest respect,” Hart told McNally. “She’s hard to read because she’s in Jerry world.”
While Jama and Acaster are truly flying under the radar as Traitors and receiving praise for doing so, Hart is currently the Faithful’s best hope at unmasking them. Hesmondhalgh, Blunt, Ramsey and Sebastian Croft may have established themselves as the castle’s miscast version of Mystery Inc, and the Traitors are already set on splitting them up – with both Ramsey and Blunt at risk of being murdered in tonight’s episode.
Meanwhile, Hart – with her Miranda-esque blunders (see last week’s accidental Hitler moustache) and quieter disposition – isn’t seen as a threat to those in the turret just yet. That could all change after tonight’s episode but so far, Hart is proving herself to be the best contestant of the series. Get your bets on now – Mirandatha Christie might just make it all the way to that final firepit!
