Heartbreaking true story behind James Acaster's viral Bake-Off meltdown

Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing.

James Acaster’s time on Celebrity Traitors has already been incredibly eventful, with the comedian being picked as the final traitor in just the second episode.

He joined Richard E Grant and Maya Jama in Celebrity Traitors season two as the final traitor, with Amol Rajan becoming the first to be murdered instead.

Early reports have leaked claiming that his co-stars had to step in and ask for the cameras to be shut down when he became overly stressed by the anxiety-inducing nature of the game, per The Sun.

This has led many on social media to reference his viral meltdown on a special celebrity edition of Great British Bake Off where he was helping raise money for Stand Up to Cancer.

Just as many online are taking his Traitors anxiety with a bit too much levity however, the story behind his viral quote, “Started making it, had a breakdown, bon appétit”, is actually a rather sad one, even if Acaster was able to turn it into some brilliant comedy.

Acaster was in the midst of a mental health crisis and hadn’t slept for over 40 hours

The comedian revealed in his special Cold Lasagna Hate Myself 1999 that, whilst the viral moment is funny in isolation, it was filmed during a genuine period of poor mental health.

Acaster had split up from his longtime girlfriend a few years earlier when she infamously left him for Rowan Atkinson and he had been struggling with poor relationships with his agent and therapist.

The Celebrity Traitors star recounted in his special how he had not slept for over 40 hours prior to his appearance, stating that the ‘last thing he wanted to do was Bake Off’.

He revealed that the show was far harder than he was expecting and producers actually cut out a large amount of footage of him quite clearly struggling with the task and being unable to stay fully lucid.

Acaster revealed in the special that he had 'fully processed the incident' because he wouldn't be coming to audiences first if he hadn't.

Acaster ended up calling Samaritans and has since spoken out about it

Acaster reportedly struggled with anxiety during a particularly tense Traitors scene (BBC)

The bit from Acaster’s special culminates in him revealing that the mental health crisis he was in during Bake Off eventually led him to call Samaritans, a suicide prevention charity.

This is a throwaway moment in Cold Lasagna where the crux isn’t that he called Samaritans, but that he lied and pretended to be a baker so as not to give away who he was.

Speaking to Vulture he revealed that he ‘undersold’ it in his special, adding that he purposely told the joke to try and challenge the stigma around having called Samaritans. He said: “You learn to try to flip the assumption of what’s ‘normal’ and that everyone in the audience is the ‘normal’ person, because actually, none of them are. They’ve all got something that they’ve been made to feel ashamed of.”

Acaster has bravely spoken about his mental health on multiple occasions (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic for Max)

He also spoke to the BBC about his suicidal thoughts, saying: “[In 2017, when his Bake Off appearance took place] I started having serious suicidal thoughts for the first time. I’d find myself thinking about ways I could kill myself…That scared me.

“I didn’t attempt it. I was in New York, the first time I’d ever been, which should have been really exciting. Instead I’d find myself thinking about ways I could kill myself…That scared me. I’m very lucky, personality-wise, that as soon as I recognise something needs doing, I’ll do it.

“As soon as I got back to England I booked a therapy session.

“Right now, a lot of things are good. I’m enjoying my career and my relationship…I’m not crippled by anxiety or waking up depressed. While I’m lucky enough to be in this happy period in my life, I’d like to understand those periods of my life when I wasn’t happy, so I’m more prepared if it happens again.”

If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123 or contact Harmless by visiting their website https://harmless.org.uk.