Richard E Grant has been accused of telling his fellow Celebrity Traitors contestants he was a traitor so he could leave the castle early.

Contestants, both previous and current, have spoken about the huge emotional and physical toll of the hit BBC reality show, of deceiving or feeling manipulated by the cast and of being isolated from their friends and family for up to three weeks.

When asked by Joe Lycett, “What are you, Richard?” the Withnail And I star declared, “A traitor!” and added: “What's the point in being in the game if you're not?”, before eventually backtracking and claiming he had just “really wanted to be one”.

While the BBC has insisted it was an innocent mistake, sources have now revealed there are suspicions backstage that Grant “staged” the moment because he wanted to make an impact on the show while avoiding weeks of tough filming.

Richard E Grant was the first to be banished from The Celebrity Traitors

PA Media

“Watching how it played out on the set, we’re all convinced he staged it. He was there for a good time, not a long time and what a way to go,” a source told The Sun.

“Obviously he kept talking about his love of the show and had a brilliant time but Richard E Grant is not a stupid man.”

Grant had entered the castle after five weeks of filming, travelling Europe for Channel 4’s Very Modern Odyssey in April and spending time on set in Liverpool for The Man Who Stole Portugal.

He had just two days off work before he arrived in Scotland for the Traitors, which began filming on May 5, according to the outlet.

Stars get their full fee of a reported £40,000 regardless of when they leave the competition. The Standard has contacted Grant’s representative for comment.

After telling the cast he was a traitor, Grant admitted: “That may be the biggest mistake I have ever made in my life. I clearly need to diffuse all of the heat that is coming in my direction.”

He was voted off in the first banishment, confessing the group as he left: “I am… an unfaithful traitor.”

Speaking to the camera, he added: “I have been annihilated. I have managed to checkmate myself, which, as far as I’m aware, has never been done.”

His traitor confession left Joe Lycett shocked

BBC

He later said there was "no tactic" behind telling Lycett he was a traitor, noting he was simply excited to be selected.

“When I walked into the bar, I was in such a state of genuine shock that I had no memory it was Joe Lycett who asked me that question. There was no tactic, it was my 69th birthday present. When Claudia tapped me on the shoulder, I went, yes!” he explained.

He said: “The roundtable bit, by the time Claudia has walked round four times, you think by that point, there’s no chance now. When she tapped me on the shoulder, I thought ‘Don’t show any emotion whatsoever and you try your best not to.’

“Of course, Miranda Hart, sitting right next to me, I think she said she could immediately feel the vibrations of joy coming out.”

"Poor Maya [Jama], she had to contend with [me],” he said on the Uncloaked aftershow.

“And of course, she stabbed me right in the... you know, hung, drawn and quartered. I thought Maya would definitely stab me because I put her in an untenable position so I perfectly understood.”

He went on: "I was so convinced by James Acaster’s determination not to kill me off when he gave his big plea in the church after Amol, I naively thought, ‘Oh well, maybe James, because he’s so trustworthy, he would come through for me,’” he said.

"Not one word came out of James’s mouth to support me."