If, like me, you’ve been addicted to The Celebrity Traitors and are a keen fan of the franchise, you may have noticed that a certain charming chat show host, Jonathan Ross, is following a path pioneered by an infamous contestant from season 2 of the show’s regular version. That’s the self-proclaimed villain of that year: Paul Gorton.
I found out that this parallel isn’t lost on Paul either, who sat down to speak with me about the current season of The Celebrity Traitors and his time on the show: “I think his last statement in the most recent episode was, ‘This is getting easy’… I don’t know if it made the edit or not, but I said the same thing.”
I almost want to formally apologise to the UK public, because I realised how infuriating it is to watch someone revelling in just such deceit without being caught
If you cast your mind back to January 2024, you may remember that Paul had good reason to feel this way. After all, he’d managed to bat away accusations (predominantly from the Faithful’s resident detective Jaz Singh AKA Jazatha Christie) seemingly without effort. However, in The Traitors Uncloaked podcast, we learned that his skill at manipulation was hard-earned: each night, he scripted potential responses to any number of Round Table scenarios or accusations.
He then went on to ruthlessly betray not one, but two Traitors: Ash and Miles. As a larger-than-life personality, he naturally took on the leadership role in the turret… completely unaware that the eventual winner of the show, Harry, had his own game afoot, and would eventually double-cross him – leading to that bow.
And now, we’re seeing a very similar scenario happening again.
The parallels between Traitors Paul Gorton and Jonathan Ross
Despite opting for a bold double-bluff by murdering his biggest threat, Ruth Codd, Jonathan Ross somehow evaded suspicion from his fellow Faithfuls with well-practised arguments in the latest episode of the show.
Not everyone was fooled (shout out to Joe Marler), but Ross still seems to be pretty confident. It doesn’t even seem to have crossed his mind that his fellow Traitors, Alan Carr and Cat Burns, have discussed throwing him under the bus if needed, and it’s no wonder, given his ‘big dog’ status alongside Stephen Fry.
Paul completely empathises with how Ross must be feeling: “I think Jonathan is a man after my own heart… And now I almost want to formally apologise to the UK public, because I realised how infuriating it is to watch someone revelling in just such deceit without being caught when it also looks so obvious to the people at home.”
Of course, nobody knows better than Paul about the risks of getting too comfortable in that Machiavellian persona: “I think Jonathan is gonna see his downfall, purely because I did. And he’s playing exactly the same way.
“He’s got loads of attention on him, loads of heat. He’s incredible at deflecting and moving it away. But you can only do that a certain amount of times before it just builds up and builds up.”
BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry
Why former Traitor Paul thinks Jonathan has no choice but to backstab
As we can see by Claudia’s scoldings after every Faithful banishment and the sour mood that ensues over drinks afterwards, the fact that the Traitors remain one step ahead will now be getting to the contestants. Paul reveals that the atmosphere is ten times worse in the castle: “It’s almost like the oxygen in the air is heavier, you know? Like the gravity is stronger. It is remarkable when you’re in there and there’s that desperation to find people. So, I think we’re going to see a few people crack.
“We’ve already seen Mark Bonner show a lot more emotion than maybe most people. And you know, Kate Garraway is… flabbergasted.”
That sentiment is only more intense because The Celebrity Traitors has four fewer episodes than the main series. Therefore, the fact that the group hasn’t caught a single Traitor yet puts more tension on the becloaked bad guys, as everyone is going to be more closely examined as a result.
Reflecting on his own experience, Paul is adamant that Ross’s chance of survival hinges on one big move: “I think the only thing he could possibly do is to backstab Alan because Cat Burns is just completely untouchable. She’s an absolute Harry Clark.”
“When you normally do that, you paint yourself as the hero… I think a good Traitor’s trait is being a Traitor Hunter. My God. Try saying that after a few pints.”
Paul believes that Ross can fall back on logic and intelligence to orchestrate Alan’s downfall, something that won’t work on Cat, as she’s flying so far under the radar. “You have to use actual facts. Like, for example, the man who was profusely sweating after a Round Table and couldn’t control himself, which is Alan Carr. Like, why are you so stressed? Why are you so sweaty?”
BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry
Paul’s favourite times were scheming with the winner, Harry Clark
While Paul is clearly aware of how his own game came crashing down at the hands of fellow Traitor Harry, their shared secrecy of stirring the pot is something he looks back on as a true highlight of the show. “…You would have brought up a theory… and you see someone else bring it up as if it’s their theory. And you see all of the Faithfuls kind of arguing and fighting between each other, and you’re sat there going, oh my gosh, I’ve caused this… you’re all idiots.
“…every now and again me and Harry would make eye contact together and like, we formed that. Harry’s one of my favourite parts of that experience because we formed a bond in there so quickly.”
In fact, the pair were teamed up together again for The Traitors Live Experience in London and won again, so the sneaky alliance is still strong, even after all this time. They’ve also hosted a podcast together and have appeared on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip.
So, Cat Burns is clearly one to watch from Paul’s perspective, which is something I wholeheartedly agree with. But what about the Faithful? Does he see someone in there who could take on even the craftiest deceiver?
“Celia Emrie. I think she is magnificent. I think she knows exactly what she’s doing… I think she will either go through and win the show, or she’ll be murdered quite quickly for being so strong.”
Emrie has been forthcoming about her snooping (much to Alan’s amusement) and put Cat in the spotlight for the first time at the Round Table. Plus, she’s firmly cemented her British TV legend status with her iconically timed fart and banshee wail imitations.
Paul on the future of The Traitors and his own career
While we’re just over halfway through The Celebrity Traitors and have a series 4 of the regular version on the way early next year, I have a feeling that the BBC will be considering other formats, given its runaway success. One of those could be an ‘all-star’ edition, where we’d see former contestants go head-to-head.
I mentioned my conspiracy theory to Paul, who spookily read my mind about taking the concept a step further: “I would love to go back in… with all the other Traitors that have existed. If you brought back me, Harry, Mina, Wilf, Amanda… then also throw in Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross, Cat Burns.”
Certainly, having former Traitors all pitted against one another would be playing the game on an entirely different level. Everyone would be aware of the tells of each player – the paranoia would be unmatched. Of course, this is just a wish.
BBC / Studio Lambert
As for right now, Paul gave Tech Advisor a little information on something he’s working on that could be revealed in the coming weeks: “I am making a top secret show for next year, which might be announced sooner or later. I’m actually about to go back away filming it next week. I can’t tell you more than that, I’m afraid.”
I admitted at the start of the interview that, while I knew Paul was a nice guy in real life, his American Psycho-inspired role on the show truly made me despise him at the time. As such, he couldn’t help but mess with my head: “I might just be putting on an act in the interviews to repair my character.”
I’m willing to bet that his celeb counterpart, Jonathan Ross, will also have his dastardly alter-ego come under question once his time on the show is over. But when will that be? Paul clearly doesn’t think it will take long based on his own journey, and you’ll find out soon.
The Celebrity Traitors continues this Wednesday and Thursday at 9pm BST. You can watch new and old episodes, including Paul’s season, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer, and international viewers can find out how to watch here.
Tech Advisor’s interview with Paul Gorton was made possible by WhichBingo.
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