The Traitors, a show in which contestants must deceive and manipulate to win a £120,000 cash prize, has the nation gripped once again.
Now in its third series, it divides participants into ‘Faithfuls’ and ‘Traitors’, with their identities kept secret. It’s then up to the Faithfuls to sniff out the Traitors and boot them off the show.
If any Traitor is left standing at the end, they take home the prize money – so it’s vital the Faithful unmask them all before the final.
Tonight the series reaches its halfway point, with nine million viewers expected to watch live and on iPlayer, making it one of the BBC‘s biggest shows.
One of the reasons the series, presented by Claudia Winkleman and filmed in the Scottish Highlands, is so popular is that it is full of twists and surprises – sprung on the contestants and audience alike.
The biggest shock came in series two when it was revealed players Diane and Ross Carson were actually mother and son, while in the first series couple Alex Gray and Tom Elderfield initially kept their relationship secret.
Little wonder that social media and online forums are teeming with conspiracy theories – some plausible, others totally bonkers –about this year’s crop of contestants.
Superfan Claudia Connell puts some of the online theories under the microscope…
The Traitors, a show in which contestants must deceive and manipulate to win a £120,000 cash prize, has the nation gripped once again
Now in its third series, it divides participants into ‘Faithfuls’ and ‘Traitors’, with their identities kept secret. It’s then up to the Faithfuls to sniff out the Traitors and boot them off the show
CHARLOTTE AND ALEXANDER ARE A COUPLE
Business director Charlotte Berman, from London, is a Faithful. In the first episode she revealed she was pretending to be from Wales because research showed people with a Welsh accent were seen as being more trustworthy.
The strange thing is that Charlotte, 33, seems to have quietly dropped her fake ‘from the Valleys’ accent and none of her fellow competitors have even noticed!
Well-spoken former diplomat Alexander Dragonetti, 38, also a Faithful, was ‘evicted’ in the first episode when he and two other contestants volunteered to get off a train taking everyone else to the castle. But he returned in episode four when the other contestants chose to save him during a mission.
Evidence: Both live in London and have posh accents. Charlotte fought tooth and nail in the mission to save Alexander, and they seem to be flirty and familiar with each other.
Verdict: Charlotte is indeed with Alexander… just not that one. She’s been married for two years to her husband Alexander and they have a black Labrador called Bobbie. The pair were happily together at Christmas (The Traitors was filmed last summer) ruling out the theory she is coupled up with anyone else.
Business director Charlotte Berman, from London, is a Faithful. In the first episode she revealed she was pretending to be from Wales because research showed people with a Welsh accent were seen as being more trustworthy
Well-spoken former diplomat Alexander Dragonetti, 38, also a Faithful, was ‘evicted’ in the first episode when he and two other contestants volunteered to get off a train taking everyone else to the castle
DAN AND JOE ARE BROTHERS
Dan Bird, a risk manager from Liverpool, was banished last week despite being a Faithful. Outspoken and direct, Dan, 33, was vocal about who he suspected (and usually got it wrong). His self-serving behaviour led to him being wrongly accused of being a Traitor.
Joe Scott, an English teacher from Yorkshire now living in Southampton, is a Faithful and similarly outspoken – with a tendency to wrongly identify Faithfuls as Traitors.
He believed Faithful Kasim Ahmed, a doctor, was a Traitor, telling him: ‘There’s no substance, I just don’t believe you.’ It came after fellow Faithful Jake Brown accused Kasim of ‘saving lives by day and killing during the night’.
Evidence: They look alike, both gunned for Kasim, and both have a combative approach at the round-table which some have interpreted as sibling rivalry.
Verdict: Unlikely. They have different accents and we’ve already had one sibling couple (Armani Gouveia, a banished Traitor, and her Faithful sister Maia, who was ‘murdered’). Dan’s Instagram is full of pictures of him with his long-term partner Matt, meaning any alternative theory about Dan and Joe, 37, being a couple is also wrong.
Dan Bird, a risk manager from Liverpool, was banished last week despite being a Faithful
FRANCESCA IS FREDDIE’S MOTHER
Francesca Rowan-Plowden, known as Frankie, is a posh interior designer from East Sussex with a quirky fashion sense.
A Faithful who was quiet in the early episodes, she became emotional at Dan’s banishment last week, after he lied about tipping pongy treacle over her on a mission.
Super-fit Freddie Fraser, 20, has female fans swooning, especially after producers showed footage of him in the shower. A politics student from Peterborough, his Instagram is full of shirtless pictures that show off his gym-honed body. Very much under suspicion by fellow Faithfuls, his days seem numbered.
Evidence: Frankie, 44, and Freddie have formed a close bond. He says she is like his ‘mum’ in the castle, while Frankie says he reminds her of her sons. When Frankie named Freddie as a Traitor at the round-table he became distraught and said it was like a ‘knife to the heart’.
Verdict: False. It’s highly likely any secret relationship would have been revealed to viewers by now. Frankie has four sons and Freddie is an only child. Although she’s now set her Instagram to private, Frankie previously uploaded pictures of her boys when they were young showing them to be blond… But, could they be auntie and nephew?
Frankie, 44, and Freddie have formed a close bond. He says she is like his ‘mum’ in the castle, while Frankie says he reminds her of her sons
UNLUCKY JACK WILL BE BACK
Landscape gardener Jack Marriner-Brown, from Yorkshire, must be the unluckiest contestant so far this year. Together with Fozia Fazil and Alexander, he ‘took one for the team’ and volunteered to leave the train heading for the castle.
When the other contestants had to choose which two of the three they wanted to re-join them in episode four, poor Jack was booted off for a second time. However, some fans are convinced he’ll make a return.
Evidence: When a very tall ‘killer clown’ appeared on screen in one of the missions, fans were convinced it was really 6ft 5in Jack in disguise.
Verdict: Not true. Jack, 25, won’t be back. Claudia made that very clear and he’s since appeared on spin-off show The Traitors: Uncloaked, which wouldn’t happen if he was still part of the game.
Landscape gardener Jack Marriner-Brown, from Yorkshire, must be the unluckiest contestant so far this year
LAST FAITHFUL TO BREAKFAST THEORY
Fans of the show are convinced they’ve uncovered a huge gaffe in The Traitors format.
Every episode opens with players filing into breakfast at Ardross Castle. If there has been a murder the night before, the victim is ‘revealed’ when they do not appear.
Evidence: Before murdering, Traitors draw up a shortlist of three potential ‘kills’ before settling on their victim. Fans have noticed that the two potentials who escape murder are typically the last through the door at breakfast.
It builds the tension for the viewer but, surely, it also spells out to the contestants that the last two to arrive were up for murder and, therefore, are most definitely Faithfuls? It’s become known as the late Faithful or ‘laithful theory’.
Verdict: Not true. There are exceptions. In series one, Traitor Amanda came in last in one episode.
In season two, the Traitors were in the last batch of arrivals on four occasions. Former contestant Ivan Brett took to social media to ‘bust the myth of the laithfuls’.
He said producers definitely do mix up the breakfast arrival order, ensuring Traitors arrive both early and late.
Every episode opens with players filing into breakfast at Ardross Castle. If there has been a murder the night before, the victim is ‘revealed’ when they do not appear
SISTERHOOD OF TRAITORS IS DELIBERATE
Producers were criticised in series two when every single Traitor was a man (the series was eventually won by former soldier Harry Clark). Even host Claudia, 52, who tries to stay neutral, couldn’t resist a dig about yet ‘another man’ being recruited as a Traitor. Are producers now trying to make amends by having an all-female Traitor sisterhood this year?
Evidence: All three Traitors so far have been female: Minah Shannon and Linda Rands, who are still in the competition, and Armani, who was banished. Minah talks constantly about ‘the sisterhood’ and when she and Linda tried to (unsuccessfully) recruit another Traitor, they went for Anna Duke.
Many feel Minah, 29, slipped up by telling Anna on the recruitment letter that she had been targeted as a ‘strong, independent woman’, as it indicated that the Traitors were likely to be female themselves. However, Anna, 28, did not seem to pick up on the clue – unless she’s keeping it to herself.
Verdict: Likely. Minah, by far the strongest Traitor, seems especially keen to stick to recruiting women.
HANDWRITING COULD HOLD THE KEY
The only time competitors usually see another person’s handwriting – whether Faithful or Traitor – is at the round-table. They use chalk to write the name of the person they want to banish on a slate. Whenever the Traitors kill a Faithful or attempt to recruit a Traitor, they must write to their target on a scroll delivered by Claudia.
Evidence: Anna, the Faithful who declined the offer of becoming a Traitor, has seen a Traitor’s handwriting. Will she correctly match it to Minah’s at the round-table?
More damning still is the handwriting of second Traitor Linda, 70. She writes the letter ‘z’ in a rather unusual way, giving it a curly tail, as we saw when she wrote Fozia’s name on her slate.
In the last episode, the Traitors were given a mission to select three Faithfuls for potential murder, and Linda was made to write their names – Fozia, Alexander and Leon Jackman, 40 – on headstones in a picture of a graveyard that hangs in the castle.
There, clear as day, is ‘Fozia’ written with that same distinctive curly ‘z’. Uh oh.
Verdict: If the Faithfuls were a little less dozy it would be very easy to uncloak both Traitors based on their handwriting, but will they twig?
MINAH WILL TURN ON LINDA
Minah has played a blinder as a Traitor so far. Armani was far too cocky and was uncloaked very early on, while Linda has been under scrutiny from the start
Minah has played a blinder as a Traitor so far. Armani was far too cocky and was uncloaked very early on, while Linda has been under scrutiny from the start.
Nobody suspects Minah, who has made it her business to be friendly with everyone and trick them into believing she is a Faithful.
Linda has slipped up many times. She looked up like a startled meerkat when Claudia addressed the ‘Traitors’ in the very first episode and has bumbled her way through ever since, going viral for her far-from-subtle behaviour.
Evidence: Minah was annoyed with Linda when she reacted too dramatically at breakfast to 26-year-old Livi Deane’s murder. She uncharacteristically sobbed hysterically, immediately arousing suspicion.
By the time the Traitors’ secret mission arrived last week, Minah seemed even more exasperated. Linda dithered, nearly got caught and failed to spot the secret quill right in front of her.
Verdict: Definitely. Minah has protected her so far, but Linda is a loose cannon. If too many of the Faithfuls have Linda in their crosshairs, Minah would be wise to hang her out to dry.
Plus, she did vote against fellow traitor Armani at the round-table when people started to turn against her – so she has form.
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