Seeing Claudia in my suit was ridiculously exciting

A tailor described seeing Claudia Winkleman and singer James Blunt both wearing his bespoke three-piece tweed suits on Celebrity Traitors as "ridiculously exciting".

Claudia's stylist contacted Gloucestershire tailor and shirtmaker, Tom Wharton, after he posted some outfit ideas for the presenter on social media in 2024.

Last Thursday, his brown Cotswold country tweed suit was worn by Claudia in episode seven of the hit BBC series, while James Blunt also sported one of his suits in the opening episode.

Wharton said: "No-one tells you. We had James wearing it in the first episode, which was pretty epic and then it's, 'Is it this episode' and suddenly it was."

Cut and tailored by Barrington Ayre in their showrooms in Cirencester, Claudia's brown, herringbone tweed suit made its debut in The Traitors' castle last Thursday.

Wharton said they have "always loved The Traitors" and the clothing Claudia wears, so seeing her wearing one of their creations was "huge".

"It's ridiculously exciting," he said.

"It's something we've been working on for going on two years.

"So, actually when you finally get to see it on TV and you're finally allowed to talk about it, it's brilliant."

He was contacted by Claudia's stylist after posting outfit ideas for the host's headline-making wardrobe on Instagram.

"We tried to have a chat and get everything sorted for the last series but with timings and with Claudia's diary we couldn't meet up, so I thought the moment had gone," he said.

"But [her stylist] got in contact again late last year and so, we were making it from there and it popped up on this series."

Not knowing which episode their creation would appear on, Wharton said he and his staff were glued to every episode of the show watching and waiting.

"You keep an eye on Instagram for them to pop out those little teasers of what she's wearing and suddenly it was like, 'this is it, this is it. We're on, we're on'.

"The worst thing is, you're not allowed to talk about it. There was a complete embargo. So yeah, it's lovely to be able to finally talk about it."

Stalwart faithful, James Blunt also chose the Gloucestershire tailor to kit him out in a suit for the show.

Wharton said he did become a bit suspicious about where his new "rather dashing bespoke three-piece" was going to be worn by the local singer and ex-military man.

"He wanted some clothes made and wanted to keep it local, [in the] Cotswolds," he said.

"And as we were making them, he [dropped some] hints, 'Oh, this would be lovely for me to wear up in Scotland', and I was like, 'who goes to Scotland in June, when you're a popstar?'."

Unsure if the singer was going to be a contestant or not, Wharton decided he could not tell him he had also "made stuff for Claudia".

"I didn't say anything and suddenly I was like, 'hold on, that's my suit', as he popped up on the first episode of Traitors," he said.

"Seeing something you have made being worn on television by some of the most influential celebrities is an epic buzz."

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