The winners of Celebrity Traitors have said they are relieved that they no longer need to keep the biggest secret in British TV, as they reunited to celebrate their victory.

Actor Sebastian Croft and comedian Romesh Ranganathan were the last ones standing, with the two faithfuls splitting the £83,000 prize pot between their chosen charities.

“I am feeling good, it’s so nice to finally be able to talk about it properly,” Croft, known to pals as Bash, told BBC Newsbeat.

The second series of the hit BBC One show finished on Friday, after the original 21 celebs were whittled down to seven finalists.

Reuniting with Ranganathan on the comedian’s BBC Radio 2 show on Saturday morning, Croft said they had been worried about being seen together in public before the final.

“We were having dinner and we’re not exactly a likely duo and the whole restaurant was like, ‘we like you on Traitors and hope you win’,” he said.

Croft added that he had woken up on Saturday “with a light sense that I don’t have to keep the secret anymore. It’s been killing me”.

Ranganathan, 48, started his show by saying: “Last night, I don’t know if you’re aware, was the finale of The Celebrity Traitors and I won.”

He said he was “delighted to win” but admitted he probably wouldn’t have done so without Croft convincing him to banish the last remaining traitor, King Kenny.

“It’s taken the gloss off it slightly that everybody’s saying, ‘you better thank [Croft] every day for the rest of your life’,” he added, with his typical deadpan-humour.

But 24-year-old Croft said he thought Ranganathan had played the game in a “lovely” way.

“People are seeing how smart you are and how you’re actually so on it, and you’re such a good judge of character,” he praised.

The finale drew an average audience of 11.2 million live viewers, and that number will rise when fans catch up on iPlayer. Other recent episodes have been watched by more than 15 million, including catch-up.

“It’s been a wild thing to be part of. To be on Uncloaked and sat with Romesh talking about winning was so surreal,” Croft said, referencing the BBC’s spin-off chat show.

“It’s an out of body experience,” he added.

Croft said he “really wanted to be a traitor”, but he turned out to be one of the strongest faithfuls after voting out Kenny – a tactical decision on how to play the show’s famous endgame.

“The truth is, I didn’t know for sure, but what you’re trying to do isn’t find a traitor, it’s trying to get rid of everyone who isn’t the most faithful,” he explained.

“I think for both Maya [Jama] and Kenny there was no big thing where I was like ‘they’re obviously a traitor’, but when you boil it down they haven’t done anything that’s really stuck out enough to make them obviously faithful.”

Croft told Newsbeat that he gets why “people are obsessed with the show” and even his family had their own theories about how the game would go.

“So many people get so invested and it’s lovely because it becomes so much bigger.”

The final saw the celebs successfully banish the remaining traitors – Love Island host Maya Jama and YouTuber King Kenny.

But Kenny shocked viewers when he turned on his fellow traitor Jama at the final round table.

Asked if he’s spoken to her since then, Kenny joked that “she’s blocked me on everything”, and then admitted that he had pre-warned her.

“I already told her that I was going to vote for her and she knew potentially that could be coming,” he said.

“It was just too obvious, if I didn’t go for her at that point, I think my time would’ve been coming even quicker than when I went out.”

Kenny said he “experienced everything possible in the game” after starting out as a faithful, getting a shield to protect him from murder and then being recruited as a traitor.

But he said he “should have had a better plan for the final” and wasn’t prepared for how hard it would be.

“There were so many times when I felt bad pinning stuff on people,” he said. “It’s a very draining thing to do as a traitor.

“There’s moments when there is fun but lying to people for that long is insane, you build friendships as well and feel bad.”

On his show, Ranganathan also asked fellow finalist, Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, about taking part in challenges while pregnant.

In the final episode, Pinnock was seen hanging off the side of a helicopter and lowering herself to the ground with a rope.

“I’m just super proud of myself,” she said. “It’s kind of just shown me that I really can do anything I put my mind to.”

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