Monstering in plain sight How Chatty Man went from timorous traitor to gleeful killer

Looking back, there was only ever really going to be one winner of The Celebrity Traitors.

- Stuart Heritage

True, Jonathan Ross might have had all the showbiz pizazz, and Joe Marler the aggression of an unfed labrador - but when you look at the series as a whole, you have to admit that Alan Carr was the only deserving victor.

This much was evident at the heart-stopping climax of Thursday’s finale, when Carr managed to pull off a feat so brazen that it almost came off as performance art. This was a man who had spent the previous eight episodes slashing away at the contestants - gleefully murdering them behind their backs or as he looked them straight in the eye - and not only did he evade defeat, but he also convinced his fallen enemies to comfort him. That’s a level of skill only a true champion can achieve.

Carr’s victory was total. Within the confines of the castle, he managed to avoid detection almost completely. This in itself is something of a miracle, given the gibbering flopsweat of his early moments as a traitor. Of the three picked in episode one, he came off like the undisputed weak link.