In a blistering backstage clash that has rocked the set of BBC’s Celebrity Traitors, Irish actress Ruth Codd unleashed a torrent of fury on veteran presenter Jonathan Ross, branding him a “f***ing snake” after her shock early exit from the high-stakes game. The 29-year-old star, fresh off acclaimed roles in Netflix’s The Midnight Club and The Fall of the House of Usher, didn’t hold back, her raw outburst revealing the cutthroat tensions simmering beneath the show’s glamorous facade.
Sources close to the production spilled the tea to the Daily Mail, painting a picture of genuine rage from Ruth, who was the third celebrity to be “murdered” in the series. Having zeroed in on Jonathan as her prime suspect during a tense roundtable banishment, she watched in disbelief as her fellow contestants turned the tables, sending her packing. “Ruth was furious,” one insider dished. “She called Jonathan a ‘f***ing snake’ and really let rip with her anger behind the scenes. There was definitely frustration that her co-stars weren’t listening to her after she correctly identified him as a Traitor.”
Ruth’s elimination came hot on the heels of the first two high-profile departures: singer Paloma Faith, brutally taken out by her real-life pal Alan Carr and his Traitor sidekick Cat Burns, followed by Olympic diving icon Tom Daley. For Ruth, it felt like a cruel twist of fate. “She described it as a ‘f***ing joke’ that she was cast out so early,” the source added. “Ruth felt that not many of the celebrities were following their own instincts and minds, which meant the game wasn’t always played properly. It was a shame for her to go so soon when she had a lot more to give.”
The actress, who underwent a leg amputation at 23 after years of agony from a football injury, has been candid about the invisible barriers she faced on the show. In a post-filming reflection, she highlighted an “unspoken hierarchy” that sidelined relative newcomers like herself in favor of industry heavyweights such as Jonathan. “Certain people, like myself, were placed at a disadvantage because I haven’t been in the game as long,” she noted. Yet, amid the chaos, Ruth found a silver lining in her alliance with broadcaster Clare Balding. “I enjoyed competing with her because she knows her own mind,” Ruth shared, praising the presenter’s unshakeable confidence.
As the series hurtles toward its Wednesday night return, viewers are already buzzing with theories. Astonishingly, not a single Traitor has been sniffed out and banished by the Faithfuls so far—a glaring anomaly that has fueled speculation of favoritism. Many armchair detectives suspect the star-studded cast is tiptoeing around Jonathan, the 64-year-old chat show king, out of deference to his A-list aura. “It’s like they’re afraid to bite the hand that feeds the headlines,” one fan tweeted, capturing the widespread sentiment.
The drama doesn’t stop at Ruth’s meltdown. Alan Carr’s cold-blooded betrayal of Paloma has left their once-tight friendship in ruins. The comedian, reveling in his villainous role, confessed on his podcast with DJ Norman Cook (aka Fatboy Slim) that he’s developed a “real taste” for the game’s murderous mechanics. “I’m killing people willy-nilly—I’ve got Paloma Faith, Tom Daley… I can’t stop,” he boasted, before addressing the fallout. When Cook probed about their bond, Alan admitted: “She’s not happy about it. There’s been a few TikTok things where she says I’ve let her down because I killed her in plain sight.”
Paloma, who recently announced her third pregnancy, hasn’t minced words on social media, venting her heartbreak over the on-screen stab in the back. Alan, unfazed, doubled down: “I was desperate, and she went, ‘If you were a real friend, you wouldn’t have killed me.’ But I said, I’m the Traitor—the show’s called The Traitors. It’s like going on Naked Attraction and being told, ‘What, I have to take my knickers off?’ It does what it says on the tin.” Ouch.
Even Jonathan, the unflappable showman at the eye of the storm, has admitted the role took its toll. In a candid chat, he revealed the moral tightrope of deception strained him more than expected. “Lying to people’s faces was challenging to navigate,” he said, going so far as to dissuade celebrity pals from signing up for a potential second series. “I’ve had two friends call me: ‘I’ve been approached—is it good or bad?’ I’m giving them the benefit of my experience, which was: I didn’t enjoy it.”
With alliances fracturing, betrayals mounting, and Ruth’s explosive confrontation serving as a stark reminder that no one’s safe, Celebrity Traitors is proving to be as savage off-camera as on. The Daily Mail has reached out to a spokesperson for the show for further comment, but for now, the snakes are still slithering—and the Faithfuls are none the wiser. Tune in Wednesday to see if the tide finally turns.