Some of The Traitors contestants are hiding more than just their role in the gameWhile 1 January marked the beginning of the new year, it meant the start of something else for a lot of people.
The Traitors, obviously.
Series three kicked off on New Year’s Day and I’ll be honest, I’m already hooked and it has once again become my personality. So, as we come up with our own theories and obsess over Claudia Winkleman’s iconic fringe and fits, there’s the backstory of all of the contestants to dig into.
And with some of them choosing to lie about their careers or just adopt a whole new accent (you can’t convince me that’s a smart move), there is plenty to learn.
Like how one contestant became a successful millionaire after spending six months homeless in their life outside of the BBC show.
Although, spoiler alert, he has already been booted off by his fellow Faithfuls.
Yep, banished contestant Nathan Khider lived in a car before turning his life around and raking in the cash.
The Londoner left school at 15 with no GCSEs but apparently hit the jackpot with a property deal where he made an ‘enormous amount’ of money.
Nathan’s apparently a millionaire (BBC)
But the now 39-year-old lost it all living the party life and ended up living in his car for six months.
He told The Sun: “People say six months is nothing, but at the time it felt like an eternity. It felt like I was there forever. Every day, ‘What food do I eat? What clothes do I wear?’”
Eventually Nathan landed a job in real estate before going over to the Middle East where he says ‘taking safe risks’ got him back on his feet.
The contestant added: “I told myself, ‘What’s the worst that can happen? I’ve already been homeless’.”
Now, he owns several successful businesses and is described as a millionaire.
But, like I said, we didn’t even get a chance to see if he’d discuss this on The Traitors seeing as he was the first one to be banished at the roundtable.
Anyone else excited just thinking about another ep? (BBC)
The contestants then banished yet another Faithful last night (2 January) when they suspected Elen of being a Traitor.
As for murders, two contestants have been killed off so far – the unlucky Yin and Keith.
However, right at the beginning of the series, three contestants chose to ‘leave’ the game as they sacrificed themselves for the team – Alexander, Fozia and Jack.
Although, viewers may remember a similar situation in the first series when the contestants were eventually brought back as Claudia explained the only way to leave The Traitors is through banishment or murder.
Oh, strap in lads, this is going to be a SERIES.
The Traitors airs tonight (3 January) at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Today (1 January) marks a big beginning, and sorry to quote Troy and Gabriella, but the start of something new.
And no, I’m not talking about it being the first day of 2025 and the introduction of Generation Beta but a new drop on TV tonight.
The Traitors, obviously. Marking the third series of the popular BBC show, some of us are already hooked before it’s kicked off properly.
Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the BAFTA-winning programme sees 25 strangers (but are they all strangers?) in a game of ‘social deception’ as they try to hunt out the Traitors while working to a cash pot of up to £120,000.
But as we watch them lying to and figuring out each other in the whopper castle in Scotland, fans have been left shocked after it was revealed where they actually stay while filming.
As fans know, The Traitors seems to make it look as though each contestant has their own fancy room in the Highland spot – I mean, who can forget Diane doing those lunges next to the bed in her clip last year?
However, while all of the drama might be filmed there, it’s not really where the players get some shuteye at night. Instead, they’re hitting the hay in a £70-a-night airport hotel.
There’s only a few hours to go until the new series begins (BBC)
This was confirmed by Alan Cumming who hosts the US version of the show which is filmed in the same location as the UK’s version – the Ardross Castle.
Speaking to The Daily Beast, he said: “They [the contestants] all stayed in the airport hotel in the Inverness airport. How glamorous – you come to Scotland, and you stay in the Inverness airport hotel!
“I stayed in a little house in Inverness. But I had a room in the castle where I would get made up and dressed. It had a huge bed in it. So I did actually sleep quite often, but not overnight.”
They’re actually just in a hotel down the road apparently (BBC)
After each day of filming, the contestants reportedly rest up at the Courtyard by Marriott, a 40-minute drive away from the castle.
Fans took to social media to comment on Cumming’s admission, with one writing: “OMG! I always imagined they all stayed in individual little cottages on the castle estate somewhere – this is way less romantic than what I thought.”
And Winkleman also confirmed on the Dish podcast that the cast are kept apart so they can’t chat off-camera.
She continued: “So everybody is man-marked, they have somebody who is looking after them, and when they leave the castle, they don’t see each other until they arrive at breakfast.”
Winkleman revealed that contestants have their phones taken away, and stay up ‘really late’ due to filming and the Traitors, who obviously have to plot their murders before everyone ‘wakes up’, stay even later for filming though ‘there is no way they can bump into anyone’.
The Traitors begins tonight at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Following the first episode of the third season of The Traitors, many viewers will all be wondering what happens to the three contestants who left the game before it even started.
The show has been finding ways to keep things fresh with the new season, and it began almost immediately when the train taking them to the Traitors mansion stopped and turned around.
The contestants were then told that, of the three carriages, one member from each would have to step off.
While their fate was not explicitly revealed, they were told they would not be heading to the mansion with the rest of the contestants.
Each minute that passed before a decision was made cost the group £1,000 from a £10,000 prize pot.
Fozia, Jack and Alexander all stepped off, with Fozia saying: “I kind of thought to myself, ‘Do you know what? I’m happy to get off, I’m happy to take this one for the team.
“I don’t know what came over me but I’ve done it for the team and I’ve done it for all the people who know me, that’s something I would do for others.
“It was only after I got off I thought, ‘Oh my God, what have I just done’.”
Thankfully for Fozia, Jack and Alexander though, some viewers think that the trio are set to come back.
Fozia was one of the three to step off the train by choice (BBC)
The topic was one of discussion on the Reddit thread r/TheTraitors.
One fan said: “Personally I think it’s engineered to give them an excuse to balance the game to last an appropriate number of episodes and that both teams are represented until the end.
“There are some aspects of the game which the showrunners don’t control which can impact how long it lasts.
“The faithful could have flubbed the gunpowder boxes in the challenge and not got immunity from murder, the traitors could waste a murder on someone who secretly has the shield, the faithful could get lucky and keep on banishing traitors, etc.
“Despite this, they need to make sure they reach the number of episodes they’ve had commissioned. They can bring these three back if needed and they could come.”
The Traitors season three has officially kicked off (BBC)
Another fan responded to this theory saying: “This is probably the best take I’ve seen in this. Makes sense for the producers to have a contingency to fall back on.”
This not the only theory though of what they could be.
Another fan commented: “They haven’t officially been ‘banished’ and they didn’t appear on [the after show talkback] Uncloacked. 100% will be back in some form. I think we might have a guardians concept in play.”
The show’s first episode aired on BBC last night, with the second immediately being put up on iPlayer.
At of the end of episode two they hadn’t come back, but who knows, as with The Traitors… anything can happen.
The Traitors is the TV series on everyone’s lips right now, and for good reason. Between Diane and her bob, Miles becoming an instant meme at that breakfast and Claudia Winkleman’s iconic knitwear, the internet can’t get enough of the BBC game show.
And as is the way with most popular shows, fans want to know everything and anything about what goes both on and off camera.
Now, one former contestant has revealed all, including how much alcohol they’re allowed to drink… and the answer might surprise you.
For those who have been living under a rock and don’t know what The Traitors is, in a nutshell the competition show pits 22 contestants against one another to compete for a grand prize of £120,000, while three traitors are among them, trying to get other contestants eliminated.
Hosted by (almost) royal family member Claudia Winkleman, series two has had viewers on the edge of their seats this month, as episodes continue to drop each week.
While everyone is gripped by the constant twists and turns, many of us have been left wondering exactly what goes on when the cameras are off.
Well, season one winner Meryl Williams has revealed all in her latest TikTok, conducting a Q&A and answering some of the viewers’ burning questions.
BBC
Meryl answered a few hot questions in the TikTok Q&A, such as who she was closest to on the show: “I’d probably say Alyssa, me and Alyssa from the moment we met we were literally besties, like we were so close”
She also revealed her closeness to Hannah, saying she ‘followed her around everywhere like a lost puppy’.
But the answer that received the most scrutiny was when she was asked if she drank alcohol every night.
@merylwilliamsx/TikTok
She replied: “No we didn’t, we didn’t get to drink alcohol every night.
“We only got it every couple of nights, and it was rationed, not rationed but we got like one glass or two glasses each.
“We couldn’t literally have a whole bottle to ourselves.”
A bit of a shock there, as the psychological game definitely takes its toll on contestants, and only being allowed a drink every other day to wind down might not cut it for some of us.
Fans of the show asked more questions in the comments, while some gave their opinions on life in the castle.
One user said: “I was surprised they gave you alcohol, it could’ve ruined the game.”
Another wrote: “Were you shocked when it was revealed that Alyssa was the traitor?” Following up on the best friend comment she made.
Others showed a lot of support for Meryl and expressed happiness over her performance in season one.
Alcohol or not, it seemed to work in Meryl’s favour, as she and two others got the traitors out and took home the prize.
LADbible has reached out to the BBC for comment.
Warning: mild spoilers for season two of The Traitors.
Here we are again at the beginning of another season of The Traitors, which if you haven’t watched it is basically like playing the social deception game Werewolf but it occasionally gets interrupted by Taskmaster.
Of course the fun comes from us knowing who the dastardly traitors are while we watch everyone convince themselves that their random accusations are based on some sort of logic.
The show has proven to be so popular among audiences that while the second season is releasing now a third one has already been confirmed.
Even better, the window of time to apply to be on The Traitors is still open, as you’ve got until 11 February to throw your hat into the ring.
As for what’s going on in season two, the only complaint viewers have thus far is that they’re not able to binge it all in one go as it’s that gripping.
BBC
We’ve only had three episodes of season two and it’s already been packed full of drama, and some viewers have spotted a familiar face among the contestants.
One of the first duties on The Traitors is to pick the actual traitors, done here by Claudia Winkleman and her iconic fringe tapping contestants on the shoulder while they’re all blindfolded.
Our conspiring cabal for season two ended up being Ash, Harry and Paul, and on their first night they were allowed to recruit one more person to their ranks and chose to bring Miles onboard.
From there they’ve been able to plot the murders of a couple of faithful folk while also attempting to rig the daily vote to banish one of the cast, but to find out exactly how they do on that front you’ll just have to watch the show.
ITV
As for familiar faces, some viewers of The Traitors have realised that they’ve seen Paul on a different game show before.
Casting your minds back to the days of 2010, a 22-year-old fellow ended up going on Channel 4’s (it’s since hopped to ITV) Deal or No Deal and it turns out that guy was Paul off The Traitors.
He’ll be hoping his appearance on a popular game show goes a little better the second time around as he stuck with his box until the end, refused the Banker’s diminishing offers which ended in a final offer of £2.50 and then chose to swap his box, only to realise he’d given away one with £10 in it for one containing 10p.
All in all it was not a successful run on Deal or No Deal, and with the benefit of hindsight if he’d taken the Banker’s first offer of £15,000 he’d have done much better.
The first three episodes of The Traitors season two are available to stream
now on BBC iPlayer, with more to follow.
