Warning, if you’re not one of the 7 million people who watched Celeb Traitor’s live last week (look at you go terrestrial telly!) you might want to scroll on.
For everyone else, here are my top five comparisons between the castle and the average workplace.
Alan and Paloma: when friendship and politics mix
Alan Carr murdering Paloma Faith early on is the perfect example of how proximity and power collide. They were friends. They laughed together. Worked together. Seemed inseparable. He killed her anyway.
Not maliciously or even strategically, she was just an easy target, and he needed to save his own skin. Because in Traitors, like work, beware the relationships that only last as long as they’re useful. Charisma isn’t integrity, and “getting on well” doesn’t mean “aligned.”
We’ve all had a ‘mate’ at work like Alan: funny, charming, likeable and the next minute torching your project to get ahead. Sh*t!
Jonathan Ross vs Ruth Codd: the calm, the storm, and the power dynamic
Jonathan Ross is now facing heat, definitely helped along by Ruth Codd going in on him! She had a point, she just didn’t land it. Ruth got angry, frustrated, emotional. Jonathan stayed calm, almost detached. And that was it: in the group’s eyes, the rational one won.
But watch it again. That wasn’t calm; it was control.
Ruth’s younger, newer, female. Jonathan’s older, famous, a man of the establishment. It was a masterclass in unspoken hierarchy and how people can manipulate the unconscious bias of everyone around them.
So many meetings have that moment: one person fighting to be heard while another takes over, with zero merit, because they have privilege and a power dynamic you can’t beat. Bums!
Stephen Fry and the lost moment of reason
Leave it to Stephen Fry to deliver an elegant antidote to chaos.
He floated a way to break the spiral of groupthink; something thoughtful, methodical and genuinely wise. Yet before he could finish, someone derailed it with an opinion about someone’s personality. And just like that, the moment was gone.
That’s how groupthink survives: not through malice, but through noise. Every team has a Fry, the quiet thinker, and every team lets the conversation drift back to gossip before they’ve finished speaking. Holy moly!
Celia Imrie and the ‘tactical’ fart
No one saw that coming – literally or metaphorically.
A room full of anxious people, the tension unbearable, and then national treasure Celia Imrie lets rip; she admits it, and says she always tells the truth. Chaos to laughter in three seconds flat. Honestly, it’s genius.
Not just comic relief, but strategy. She used humour, ownership and vulnerability to reframe the room and cement her position as a faithful.
Every good leader needs a bit of Celia energy, the ability to diffuse tension, name the thing everyone’s pretending not to notice, and turn embarrassment into connection. Fart-freely, dear readers - metaphorically only please!
The biggest truth
The Celebrity Traitors isn’t really about deceit; it’s about human nature under pressure.
It’s how quickly rational people slip into performance. How calm can be the difference between chaos and clarity. And how a well-timed bit of fun can save an entire culture.
It’s every business you’ve ever worked in, stripped of policy, dressed in velvet, and hosted by Claudia Winkleman with some exceptional fashion choices - no wonder we're all hooked. Bring on the next episode!
