Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft have defended their Celebrity Traitors charity donations, saying the backlash could help their causes.
The pair discussed the criticism on Bash’s The Sunday Scaries podcast.
Their victory secured £41,500 each for the Refugee Council and Choose Love, splitting an £83,000 prize pot.
Some critics questioned the final’s fairness or alleged BBC bias because of where the money was going.
Celebrity Traitors star Romesh Ranganathan jokes about warning over charity choice
Romesh, 48, recalled receiving a message demanding he retract his donation. The sender also warned that his career was in trouble.
The comedian dismissed that prediction with a joke: “I don’t think so. I’m on everything!”
Romesh told Bash: “You text it to me like it was such an interesting thing you said. He said, ‘If that’s how they feel about the donation, imagine how they talk to the actual people and imagine how they feel about the actual people.'”
Romesh admitted his wife had been concerned by the backlash. However, he admitted he wasn’t phased by it.
He said: “Lisa, my wife, was slightly worried about because she saw all of this kind of the articles about it and she’s going to me, are you upset about it? And I said, ‘Actually, I think it’s kind of good. You know, I actually feel good about it.”
Bash, 24, took a different point from the criticism, focusing on the people the charities help.
He said the response made him consider how difficult navigating the system must be for vulnerable refugees.
Rather than regretting their choices, both winners felt the discussion could bring more attention to the causes they supported.
“Loads of people have come out in support and actually the people kicking off about it has kind of galvanized the people that really think it’s a lovely thing. Yeah. I think that back and forth has actually been really positive,” he said.
Which charities did the winners choose?
Romesh chose the Refugee Council, which supports people forced to flee their homes and seek safety in the UK.
Bash selected Choose Love, which supports refugees and displaced people, including gay and trans refugees.
The pair won as Faithfuls in the October 30 final, after Maya Jama and King Kenny were banished.
At the fire pit, Bash persuaded Romesh that Kenny was the remaining Traitor. Both then voted out James Blunt, who had chosen to continue banishing despite all three being Faithfuls.
The final attracted an average overnight audience of 11.2 million, according to the BBC.
Celebrity Traitors donations went beyond the winners’ prize
The prize money wasn’t the only charitable contribution connected to the final.
James has said Romesh also donated to his chosen cause, the marine conservation charity Blue Marine Foundation.
Romesh previously admitted feeling embarrassed about winning after wrongly suspecting James of being a Traitor. He later apologised on his Radio 2 show and said on The One Show that they were friends.
Meanwhile, Maya said she donated £83,500 to Action for Children, despite not winning the programme.
Read more: Celebrity Traitors fans left divided after Faithfuls triumph in Series 2 final
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