JAMES Acaster’s shock admission that he was a Celebrity Traitor on tonight’s show left him so distraught filming was halted.
Welfare staff checked on the comic before the Round Table vote.
James’ fellow Traitor appeared enraged at the twist.
Comedian crumbled as Faithful finally rumbled him — forcing producers to step in.
But tonight’s sensational One episode was edited so the Round Table session looked continuous, leaving out the bits when Acaster was at his most upset.
He had struggled with being a Traitor, alongside and later , but had managed to avoid suspicion.
Viewers watching the penultimate show of the series saw him get accused at the Round Table of being one of the “murderers”.
Acaster then immediately admitted he was — just like banished Traitor — in a shock twist which
The rest of the stars then voted to banish him before he gave an emotional farewell.
An insider said: “What you don’t see is the moment when as he crumbled when he could see he was about to be caught.
“Both the producers and the other could see how he was struggling with the pressure of keeping his true identity secret and he reached some kind of breaking point when he was confronted.
“That saw the team feel compelled to intervene, and filming was brought to a halt as they assessed the situation.
“They spoke to both James and the rest of the stars and didn’t allow filming to resume until they were sure everyone was in a fit state.
“But very little was caught on camera, and what little that was recorded did not feature in the final edit.”
James, who had both psychologically and physically, told host at the start that he wanted to only be a Faithful.
Even when he was enlisted as a Traitor he refused to tell an outright lie. That proved fatal when Sheen adopted a different approach, vowing to be “a vengeful daddy”.
It came after they had caught only two Traitors but lost 11 Faithfuls, including and at the start of tonight’s episode.
Sheen decided to focus on those who had flown under the radar — and pointed directly at Acaster.
He said: “I’ve given James a completely free pass in this game, why is that?
“You’ve done nothing suspicious, and you’ve managed to move through things and not raise any suspicions.”
He said he was one of the few people in the library with when he was , after King Kenny had sprayed it with perfume Instead of putting up a fight, Acaster immediately owned up, saying: “Erm, I just want to explain my situation . . . I was made a Traitor . . . without wanting to be.
“I’ve had a unique experience on this that no one’s had before.
“I wanted to be a Faithful so much at the beginning I made sure I pointed out the perfume bottles to everybody, so no one forgot them, and I’m so proud of you guys for catching me the way that you did.”
Talking afterwards, he claimed his exit paved the way for a better final tonight, as the odds had shifted away from a certain
He said: “I went in thinking I’ve got no heat on me whatsoever, it was a surprise, but I was glad that they caught me.
“I feel pretty good getting to episode nine, and now we’ve got a proper final on our hands.
“With three Traitors, it would have been a foregone conclusion.
“Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was hilarious at one point that we were just going to walk our way to the final and win the whole thing, but this is much better, isn’t it?”
The three Traitors had been given an easy ride before Sheen issued a warning at breakfast on tonight’s show.
He said: “I tell you what, whoever are sitting at this table, today is going to be a living hell for you.
“I’m going to push and push and push and you are going to suffer, today, OK? This is the apocalypse today!”
He added: “The one thing I do suspect is that the Traitors are nervous and so I just want to terrify the bejeebers out of them today.”
He confronted Maya in the kitchen and suggested he had Kenny in his sights too.
Sheen said: “Someone in this Traitor group, maybe all of you, are really good at staying under the radar . . . and you’re one of the best people here.”
Maya replied: “I mean, do you think I’m that good?”
He said: “Yeah, I think you could be a brilliant Traitor. And if you and Kenny paired up, amazing.”
He was particularly frustrated after Faithfuls Joanne and Sharon had departed.
He said: “After today the maths is really against the Faithfuls, so I feel like I have to shift everything up as much as I possibly can. We’ve got to pull something out of the bag.”
Maya was certainly feeling the heat. She said: “I’m looking at Michael and I’m thinking, ‘You are the biggest threat to my game right now’.
“He’s too wise, he’s too strong, but murdering Michael doesn’t save me from anything and actually kinda puts me further in it. All roads lead back to me — this is a really tough one.”
Maya and Acaster were both photographed in London ahead of the final, which airs tomorrow on BBC One at 8pm.
The seven celebs left are Traitors Maya and Kenny, plus Faithfuls , , , and Sheen.
