Richard Osman unleashes foul-mouthed rant at Celebrity Traitors critics

Richard Osman has lashed out at online critics of the Celebrity Traitors final in a foul-mouthed rant, calling them “idiots” and their complaints “pathetic.”

The outburst came during the Rest Is Entertainment podcast, which Osman co-hosts with journalist Marina Hyde.

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

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

On the podcast, Hyde relayed how some viewers had accused the final of being a “stitch-up” or an example of “some form of BBC bias.”

Osman responded forcefully.

“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 went on to dismiss the conspiracy theories as baseless.

“To accuse the BBC of bias in this shows, first of all, a fundamental misunderstanding of how you make a television programme,” Osman said.

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

He described the backlash as “pathetic.”

“Do you know what? I’m done with it,” he added.

“It’s genuinely so pathetic.”

Osman pointed to the show’s massive audience as context for the criticism.

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

He illustrated the ratio with a sports 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 said.

The controversy centers on the winners’ charity choices.

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

Choose Love, which supports gay and trans refugees, recently accused Israel of “genocide” in its war on Hamas in Gaza.

Some viewers posted objections 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.”

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

“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.”

He added: “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.”

Osman pointed to Romesh’s long history of benefit appearances as evidence of good intentions.

He also pushed back on complaints about licence fee money being used for the show.

“Stop wetting your pants about everything,” Osman 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 podcast also touched on the reaction to contestant James Acaster.

The comedian started the show as a Faithful but was recruited as a Traitor, despite making it clear he was unhappy about it.

During the roundtable, Acaster dramatically revealed to his co-stars that he was a Traitor, leaving everybody stunned.

He was subsequently banished from the castle.