description: Joe Lycett was a Faithful when he left the BBC's The Celebrity Traitors on 16 October 2026. How his wish to be recruited, a round-table slip and 11 votes produced a comic exit.
Joe Lycett was banished because he had loudly advertised his wish to become a Traitor. When the group discovered that a recruitment had occurred, they suspected the obvious volunteer. On the 16 October 2026 episode of BBC One's The Celebrity Traitors, Lycett was still a Faithful. Eleven of fourteen votes went against him.
The rule that turned a wish into evidence
In this British celebrity version of The Traitors, most contestants are Faithfuls trying to identify secretly appointed Traitors. The Traitors can eliminate someone overnight, while everyone votes to banish a suspect at the Round Table. These are game mechanics, not literal crimes. Traitors can also recruit a Faithful to join their hidden team.
That final rule matters. Lycett, a comedian known for playful misdirection, had been remarkably straightforward about wanting a turn in the turret. In ordinary life, saying you want a new role might sound ambitious. In this castle, it makes every future recruitment look suspiciously like your promotion.
What happened across the two episodes?
On Thursday 15 October, Hannah Fry was exposed and banished as a Traitor. Maya Jama and James Acaster then chose a replacement: creator King Kenny, rather than the eager Lycett.
On Friday 16 October, the absence of an overnight murder signalled to the Faithfuls that somebody had been recruited. Attention swung to the man who had been campaigning for the job. Lycett argued that picking him would have been absurdly obvious. That was a plausible defence, but it could not undo his previous enthusiasm.
His Round Table explanation made matters worse. Discussing the possibility that his banishment would force the Traitors to recruit again, he briefly sounded as though he knew he occupied a Traitor's place. He clarified that he meant if he were a Traitor. By the vote, the room was unconvinced. His identity reveal proved their decision wrong.
Why is the sequence funny?
It is a recruitment comedy played with murder-mystery stakes. Lycett publicly applied for the villain's job, the villains hired somebody else, and his fellow detectives dismissed him on the assumption that he had got it. He lost a job he never held.
Viewers knew King Kenny had joined the Traitors. The Faithfuls were guessing from behaviour, and Lycett had supplied an irresistible clue against himself. Acaster, actually on the Traitors' side, benefited from the distraction.
The sting after the punchline
Miranda Hart was among those who trusted Lycett, and she became emotional after he left. Lycett later accepted responsibility, describing his desire for recruitment as greed and acknowledging that he had set his own trap. His subsequent suggestion that the rules should allow a banished Faithful to return as a Traitor was a joke, not a confirmed format change.
The answer
Joe Lycett did not secretly change sides. He wanted to so badly that his wish became the case against him. In a game built on lying, telling everybody your dream job can be a spectacularly bad idea.
References (5)
- BBC News, 18 October 2026, episode-six recap: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq70pre80gwko
- PA Media / Laura Harding, 16 October 2026, via AOL: https://www.aol.co.uk/articles/famous-faces-lose-heads-slip-204846000.html
- RTÉ, 17 October 2026, Joe Lycett's post-exit remarks: https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2026/1017/1595770-banished-celebrity-traitors-player-was-a-silly-billy/
- The Guardian, 16 October 2026, episode-six live coverage: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/live/2026/oct/16/the-celebrity-traitors-live
- Entertainment Daily, 17 October 2026, round-table account: https://www.entertainmentdaily.com/tv/celebrity-traitors-fans-gutted-joe-lycett-banished-following-roundtable-fumble/
