Romesh Ranganathan Celebrity Traitors charity donation, Digi Mart USA News (United Kingdom): Romesh Ranganathan has defended his choice of charity after donating his winnings from The Celebrity Traitors to an organisation supporting refugees. The 48-year-old comedian was one of two winners of the second series of the hit BBC reality show, alongside actor and musician Sebastian “Bash” Croft.
Unlike the regular edition of The Traitors, the celebrity version sees the winners donate prize money to a charity of their choosing. Ranganathan chose the Refugee Council, while Croft picked Choose Love, both humanitarian charities that support refugees.
Each winner was allotted £41,500, half of the total prize pot.
Some of the other losing contestants also chose to make donations to their own charities from their own pockets.
Appearing on Croft’s Sunday Scaries podcast, Ranganathan addressed some of the “anger” over their choice of charities and thanked the people who had shown support. He explained that it was a “coincidence” that both charities worked in the same sphere.
“I know that you volunteered for Choose Love when you were younger,” Ranganathan told his fellow winner. “And I had got involved with Refugee Council because I got so fed up of the rhetoric against refugees and how these people are being demonised.
“I feel like… Look, people have different opinions, but I feel like [refugees are] a distraction tactic, and people are being pointed in that direction for something to blame, is my personal opinion.”
He added that the “voices that are angry” about their donations had been “amplified” because “that’s the fun angle.” “But loads of people have come out in support,” he continued. “And actually, the people kicking off about it has kind of galvanised the people who think it’s a lovely thing.”
Croft said the specifics of each contestant’s chosen charity were not discussed until the conclusion of the series. “It was so funny when we got to the end, and we both realised, because no one really discussed [charities],” he said.
“It wasn’t like we assumed we were gonna win.”
Croft added that the response showed how the public viewed a game show donating money to people who are vulnerable. “Imagine how difficult it is for those people navigating that system,” he said.
Meanwhile, Love Island host Maya Jama, who nearly walked away as the victor of this Celebrity Traitors series, matched the winners’ donation in a pledge to her chosen cause, children’s charity Action for Children.
The civilian version of The Traitors will return for its fifth series in January 2027.
