Jeremy Clarkson has declared his love for The Traitors, but has quibbles about its authenticity.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, the Clarkson’s Farm presenter congratulated the BBC on a “belter” of a hit, but said his TV experience leaves him with questions about how The Traitors is produced.
“Come on, I’ve worked in television for 30 years. You’re not going to spend that much money on a programme where there’s a risk it all falls to pieces,” he said. “So, I’ve no idea how they’re doing it, but I bow down to them.”
Asked if Studio Lambert producers are meddling behind the scenes, Clarkson responded: “They must be — and I’m not just being a cynic, I know how television is made. You can’t actually say to a contestant, ‘Say this’ and ‘say that’, you can’t but …”
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He added: “I just don’t believe it’s all for real, because nothing in television is. I’m sitting there going, how are they doing this? It could just be unbelievably painstaking editing.”
Studio Lambert has repeatedly made clear that, once The Traitors game is established and traitors are chosen, they allow contestants on the UK and U.S. versions to get on with the competition.
“We’ve created the game and the format’s there, and we let them play it. We’re very hands-off producer-wise. We don’t tell people to go and talk to certain people. We don’t tell them because we don’t want to impact on the game,” said Sam Rees-Jones, who oversees The Traitors U.S.
Although Clarkson is a fan of the Claudia Winkleman show, the former Top Gear presenter said he is not interested in appearing on the celebrity version. “I wouldn’t in a million years. I’ve got ten jobs already why would I want 11?” he joked.
The BBC announced on Tuesday that The Traitors Season 4 will premiere on New Year’s Day. The return of the civilian version comes weeks after The Celebrity Traitors broke viewing records for the BBC. The show’s finale episode, in which traitor Alan Carr was crowned champion, was watched by nearly 15M viewers