RICHARD E GRANT APOLOGISED TO AMOL RAJAN OVER ‘MURDER’ — THE AWKWARD LUNCH WHERE HE FINALLY EXPLAINED HIMSELF

Richard E Grant may have “murdered” Amol Rajan on The Celebrity Traitors — but the pair eventually sat down together over lunch, giving the actor a chance to explain exactly why he had targeted the journalist.

Rajan became the first contestant to be eliminated from the new series after Grant and fellow Traitor Maya Jama chose to “murder” him rather than recruit him.

But away from the cameras, there was no lingering feud.

Rajan revealed that he and Grant had lunch a few weeks after filming, where he directly asked the actor about the decision that brought his short-lived Traitors journey to an end.

According to Rajan, Grant’s answer was unexpectedly blunt.

‘I’M SO SORRY, I WENT COMPLETELY MAD’

Speaking about their meeting, Rajan said Grant apologised and admitted he had believed the journalist posed a serious threat.

“He said, ‘I’m so sorry, I went completely mad, and I thought you were a threat’,” Rajan revealed.

The explanation came after Rajan and comedian James Acaster had both been given the chance to plead their case to Grant and Jama.

The Traitors ultimately chose Acaster, who became the third secret Traitor, while Rajan was sent to his fate.

Rajan admitted there was a certain irony to the decision because he believed he could have been a valuable recruit.

“I would say in my defence, there were other people asking hard questions as well,” he said, while reflecting on the strategy that had brought him so close to becoming a Traitor himself.

THE MOMENT GRANT BLEW HIS OWN COVER

Grant’s decision to eliminate Rajan came after one of the most extraordinary moments of the new series.

Shortly after discovering he had been chosen as a Traitor, the actor accidentally told other contestants that he was one.

It was a spectacular blunder in a game built around deception, leaving his fellow contestants struggling to work out whether Grant had genuinely let the secret slip or was attempting an elaborate piece of psychological misdirection.

Grant later explained that he had been so thrilled to receive the role that his excitement got the better of him.

He described it as “unguarded excitement” and admitted he had essentially given away the very secret he was supposed to protect.

The show’s executive producer Sarah Fay said the programme had never seen anything quite like it, calling the moment “iconic.”

‘I PLAYED THE WRONG GAME’

Rajan’s own time in the castle was dramatically shorter than he had hoped.

Looking back after his elimination, the 43-year-old admitted that he had played “the wrong game” with the benefit of hindsight.

He had entered the castle aware that his natural instinct as a journalist was to ask difficult questions — but deliberately tried to suppress that side of himself in order to avoid becoming an early target.

“I think the one tactic that you should try to abide by is to keep a little bit, you know, fly under the radar a little bit for the first few days,” Rajan said.

“Just shut up for the first few shows.”

Yet Rajan also believed he might have thrived had he been chosen as a Traitor.

Having spent time genuinely believing he was a Faithful, he felt he would have understood the mindset of the other players — something he thought could have made him particularly effective on the other side.

‘TO PROTECT MYSELF’

The lunch with Grant also gave Rajan an opportunity to revisit the crucial decision.

Rajan said he had asked Grant why he had chosen to eliminate him.

Grant’s response was simple: “To protect myself.”

Rajan joked that if Grant really wanted protection, he should have recruited him instead.

Grant apparently conceded the point — before admitting that he had simply “gone mad.”

It was a remarkably candid explanation for a decision that had helped shape the opening drama of the series.

For Rajan, however, there appeared to be little bitterness. Despite becoming the first casualty, he described the experience as a “crazy, crazy once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity.

And with Grant now under increasing suspicion from the remaining Faithfuls, Rajan may yet have the last laugh.

The journalist had already warned that, had he survived to the Round Table, he intended to keep a close eye on the actor.

After all, having seen Grant’s first spectacular mistake from the inside, Rajan knows better than most just how dangerous — and unpredictable — the actor can be.