An anonymous British artist known as Mr Phantom managed to evade security at the Scottish hotel where Celebrity Traitors contestants are staying, carrying out a covert art installation across two successive nights.
The audacious takeover took place at the Courtyard by Marriott situated close to Inverness Airport, with the BBC show's celebrity cast reportedly sleeping inside as the works appeared.
Security personnel were said to be left confused as artwork after artwork materialised throughout the premises during the overnight operation.
The intervention saw dozens of pieces positioned around the building, culminating in a massive image being projected onto the hotel's exterior that remained visible from above for several hours.
takeover took place at the Courtyard by Marriott situated close to Inverness Airport, with the BBC show's celebrity cast reportedly sleeping inside as the works appeared
|Mr Phantom
The collection of Mr Phantom works distributed across the hotel carries a combined value of half a million pounds, having originally been sold for £555,000, though the pieces installed were prints rather than the original artworks.
Guests and hotel staff discovered the confrontational pieces scattered throughout corridors and communal areas upon waking.
The overnight projection dominated the front facade of the building, casting a striking image that could be seen from the air throughout the night.
By using the Celebrity Traitors production as a backdrop, the installation deliberately conflates the boundaries separating entertainment, political discourse and reality.
Claudia Winkleman on set of BBC The Traitors | BBCThe entire operation reportedly left security guards bewildered as new pieces continued to surface across the site over the course of two consecutive evenings.
In a statement attributed to the artist, Mr Phantom declared: "Millions watch who the Celebrity Traitors are on TV. That's the point of the show.
"But the real traitors are decided elsewhere, in Westminster, in the media, and in the institutions that shape public belief."
The statement continued: "Everyone plays a role. Everyone performs loyalty. The game never stops. It just changes location."
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Artwork appeared at the Celebrity Traitors hotel
|Mr Phantom
For Mr Phantom, the absence of any official link to the television programme appears entirely intentional.
It appears the guerrilla installation designed to draw parallels between the performative betrayals depicted on screen and those the artist perceives within British institutions.
Mr Phantom's true identity continues to remain a mystery, with the artist having built a reputation through bold public interventions that challenge power structures, image culture and figures of authority.
The 'takeover' took place at the hotel near Inverness Airport
| BBCThe installation has no official connection whatsoever to the BBC, Studio Lambert or the Celebrity Traitors production team.
For the anonymous artist, this separation from the programme's official apparatus appears to be precisely the intention behind the guerrilla operation.
The stunt represents the latest in a series of provocative actions from Mr Phantom, who has carved out a distinctive position within British contemporary art through works that confront institutional authority and question the nature of public perception and belief.
GB News has approached the BBC for a comment on the stunt.