"I wish I’d been chosen, and I wish I’d been a traitor."
Amol Rajan has admitted he played “the wrong game” on The Celebrity Traitors after becoming the first contestant to be ‘murdered’ in the BBC reality series.
The 43-year-old was targeted by secret traitors Richard E Grant and Maya Jama during Friday’s episode, ending his time on the show shortly after the competition began.
Comedian James Acaster was also recruited as the third traitor, following Thursday’s premiere in which he and Amol met Richard and Maya to explain why they should be recruited rather than eliminated.
Appearing on the spin-off show The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, Amol reflected on his early exit and admitted he would have approached the game differently with hindsight.
He said: “It’s hard not to watch it and think I, obviously, with 20/20 hindsight, I played the wrong game.
“That was a crazy, crazy once-in-a-lifetime (opportunity).”
Amol also suggested he could have been effective as a traitor, having already experienced the game from a faithful contestant’s perspective.
He continued: “Obviously, I wish I’d been chosen, and I wish I’d been a traitor.
“I can say, hand on heart, that if I’d been chosen as a traitor in the first, when Maya and Richard were, if I got the nod or the tap at the roundtable, I think it would have thrown me a bit.
“I’d be like, ‘what am I doing? what’s going on?’, having genuinely spent a day as a faithful, if I’d then been recruited, I think I would have been quite a good traitor because I’d actually known what it was like to be a faithful.”
Despite his departure, Amol shared his thoughts on James’ recruitment, predicting the comedian would be “brilliant” in the role.
Amol Rajan also explained that his reputation as a journalist who asks difficult questions influenced how he approached the competition.
Conscious that his questioning could draw attention to him, he tried to hold back to avoid an early murder or banishment.
Friday’s episode ended with Richard facing significant suspicion at the roundtable, following an earlier slip-up that had revealed his traitor identity to several contestants shortly after he discovered his role.
Amol Rajan questioned the actor’s decision to expose himself so early in the game, pointing out how unusual the move was.
He said: “What was that about? I mean no one’s ever done that. I mean who knows?
“I think the one tactic that you should try to abide by is to keep a little bit, you know, fly under the radar a little bit for the first few days. Just shut up for the first few shows.”
