Richard E Grant may have faced gothic gout, aristocratic filth and on-screen “bum-licking” in Savage House, but apparently none of that compares to the terror of BBC secrecy. Speaking to The Movie Dweeb, I asked Richard what moment from The Celebrity Traitors season two he’s most scared will become a meme.

“I have no idea,” he said, explaining that with multiple cameras and a crew of around 200 people, contestants have no control over what ends up in the edit. Translation: Richard E Grant has absolutely no clue whether he’s about to become the internet’s next reaction GIF, and honestly, I cannot wait.

Naturally, I tried to get him to reveal whether he won. He didn’t crack. “It was a unique experience,” he replied, like a man who has survived psychological warfare in a castle and signed several terrifying NDAs. When pushed further, he joked: “I value my knees. I don’t want BBC henchmen to come and remove them before it transmits.” That’s Claudia Winkleman for you.

The Celebrity Traitors Season 2 Looks Absolutely Stacked

Grant joins a frankly ridiculous season two line-up, with confirmed names including Michael Sheen, Bella Ramsey, Maya Jama, Miranda Hart, James Acaster, Joe Lycett, Romesh Ranganathan, Rob Beckett, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jerry Hall, Amol Rajan, Hannah Fry, Myha’la, James Blunt, Julie Hesmondhalgh, King Kenny, Joanne McNally, Sebastian Croft and Sharon Rooney. The second celebrity series is due to air on BBC One in autumn 2026, again hosted by Claudia Winkleman. 

The first season became a full-blown TV event, with Alan Carr winning as the last remaining Traitor and taking home £87,500 for Neuroblastoma UK. He somehow giggled, lied, panicked and charmed his way through the castle, which may genuinely be the most Alan Carr sentence ever written.

The finale was huge, too. Reports said it broke major viewing records, including a massive live iPlayer audience, and the BBC quickly confirmed the celebrity version would return for a second series. 

So yes, if Richard E Grant is worried about becoming a meme… He probably should be. This is the show that turns side-eyes into national conversation, banishment votes into Shakespeare, and celebrities whispering in cloaks into appointment television.

Savage House: Gout, Class Warfare and Absolute Filth

Grant was actually promoting Savage House, a gloriously grubby period comedy that he described as an “unvarnished look at 18th century aristocratic life.” And he was very clear: this is not the polished, immaculate, Merchant Ivory version of history. This is the guts, blood, shite and sex version.

The film, he said, appealed because it showed the filthy underbelly of aristocratic life; jewels, disease, class warfare, gout, fornication and, yes, the word he dropped before I even got comfortable: “bum-licking.” Reader, he said it first. I merely reported the history.

Grant plays Sir Chauncey Savage, a character in a near-constant state of anxiety, meltdown and financial panic, which makes lines like “What the hell are you doing, big toe?” land with absolute perfection. As he explained, the trick with comedy is playing it completely truthfully, without any self-awareness that what you’re saying is ridiculous.

He also revealed that his enormous wig was less torture device and more survival tool, because filming took place in winter across country houses with no central heating. So while I was sweating to death in my own interview wig after about 20 seconds, Richard E Grant was basically wearing an 18th-century tea cosy and thriving.

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