Richard Osman Blasts 'Pathetic' Trolls Over Celebrity Traitors Final

Richard Osman has lashed out at online critics of the Celebrity Traitors final, calling them "idiots" and describing their complaints as "genuinely so pathetic."

The author and presenter made the remarks on the Rest Is Entertainment podcast, where he co-hosts with Marina Hyde.

The BBC series concluded last week with faithfuls Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian "Bash" Croft declared joint winners.

Each secured £41,500 for their chosen charities: Choose Love and the Refugee Council.

Choose Love supports gay and trans refugees.

The Refugee Council helps people who have been forced to flee their homes and are seeking safety in the UK.

Choose Love recently accused Israel of "genocide" in its war on Hamas in Gaza.

The winners' choice of charities prompted backlash online.

One X user wrote: "With so many overlooked and deserving charities desperately needing support, why does the BBC keep pushing the same agenda?"

Another posted: "Fixed from the beginning."

On the podcast, Marina Hyde relayed how some critics had labelled the outcome a "stitch-up" or accused the BBC of bias.

Osman responded strongly.

"It turns out a lot of those people are idiots," he said.

"Or it's possible that they're very clever and they have an agenda, because they ain't right."

He added: "To accuse the BBC of bias in this shows, first of all, a fundamental misunderstanding of how you make a television programme."

"Even in a conspiracist culture, this is one too far."

Osman described the reaction as: "It's pathetic. Do you know what? I'm done with it. It's genuinely so pathetic."

He stressed the scale of the show's audience.

"15 million people watched" the latest season, he said, while only around "a thousand people are being t***s about it."

He illustrated his frustration with a metaphor.

"That's like being in a championship football game with 15,000 people [where] 14,999 [are] cheering, and [there's] just one idiot who's not happy."

Osman argued that winners should be free to direct their prize money as they choose.

"Be incredibly popular and successful, then go on a hugely successful game show and then be the smartest player on that entire show, and show empathy and gameplay and intelligence," he said.

"Then you can give money to whoever it is that you want to."

"And you don't have to be telling other people who to give money to. You don't know who Romesh and [Sebastian] give money to all year round."

He pointed to Romesh Ranganathan's long history of benefit appearances as evidence of good intentions.

Osman also pushed back on complaints about licence fee money being used.

"Stop wetting your pants about everything," he said.

"Stop saying, 'it all comes out of licence fee money' — you cannot be that stupid."

He added: "You cannot be that stupid to not know that The Traitors makes a fortune for the BBC."

The show has become a major hit for the broadcaster.

The Celebrity Traitors final aired on BBC One and drew a large audience.

The format sees contestants try to identify the "Traitors" among them while the Traitors secretly eliminate players each night.

In the celebrity version, all contestants are well-known figures from entertainment, sports and comedy.

Romesh Ranganathan is a comedian and TV presenter.

Sebastian "Bash" Croft is an actor known for roles in Game of Thrones and the film The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

James Acaster, another comedian on the show, also faced backlash after revealing he was a Traitor during the roundtable.

Osman addressed that too.

He said Acaster was likely feeling "destabilised" by the reaction.