Claudia Winkleman’s hit show ‘The Traitors’ has reached new heights this year. In this show, where 25 contestants come together in Scotland’s Ardross castle, highlands, and are given the label of either a faithful or a traitor, the game is simple: find the traitors before they find you. None of the contestants know the true identity of the others, and they are tasked with the challenge of finding out who is a traitor and who is a faithful. In honour of last night’s final, in which the winners took away a prize pot of £94,600 let’s take a look back on each traitor from this new season and the iconic moments they brought us.
This year saw 5 people take on the challenge of lying and manipulating their way through the game as a traitor, in an effort to steal that coveted cash prize.
Armani – sister vs sister
They say it is the brightest stars that burn out the fastest, and the same can be said of our first traitor to leave this season, Armani. The 27-year-old financial investigator made a big impact, taking control of the group and confidently announcing her theories at te round table. She even dared to call out her fellow traitors, by telling them to be “more assertive”. However, this act of standing out so significantly so soon, rather than staying under the radar, ultimately became her downfall. In a brutal banishing, Armani was thrown under the bus by her own sister, Maia, who said she was “like 60 per cent” confident in her being a traitor. When her own sister voted for Armani, everyone else quickly hopped on board, as who knows you better than your own sister? Armani quickly became the first traitor to leave this season.
Linda – our queen, our icon
Next up we have the icon herself, 70-year-old retired opera singer Linda. Due to what was dubbed online as her ‘GCSE acting’ one might say it is a wonder she got so far into the season, not getting kicked out until episode 7. However, I am glad she did as otherwise we would have missed out on so many iconic one liners.
In an instinctive move quickly caught by fellow contestant Jake, Linda gave herself away in the very firstepisode by turning her head in response to Claudia saying the word, ‘Traitors’. Oh Linda.*shakes head*
Somehow scraping through, despite the suspicion that fell upon her at the beginning, Linda provided us with some very convincing (note the sarcasm) acting, when she proclaimed at breakfast (how many days later), ‘Who the hell is not going to come back’.
Another note-worthy moment was her interaction with contestant Fozia Fazil who, upon discovering Linda’s true identity as a Traitor, told her to “Get a good night’s sleep tonight because you’re not going to last”, to which Linda sassily responded “Get over it”.
Sadly, Linda’s time as a traitor came to an end when suspicious Jake Brown finally managed to get the rest of the contestants on board with his theory about her, and so we said goodbye to Linda. Gone but never forgotten.
Minah
Perhaps the lead traitor this season, due to her ability to slip through the cracks and go pretty much unqueried, was Scouse 29-year-old Minah. Minah established herself as a well-spoken contestant, good at defending her identity, and taking the approach of staying under the radar. She maintained control over the game by managing to get 8 others banished, before her time came. She also managed to win the trust of many faithful contestants, including Dan and winner Leanne, both of whom became close friends.
However, her downfall game when recruited traitor Charlotte betrayed the ‘sisterhood’.
Charlotte
Speaking of Charlotte, who started out the game as a faithful, she provided us with some hilarious, as well as ruthless, moments. Her trickery began in episode one when she revealed that she was not actually from Wales, as she had previously declared, but was rather putting on a fake Welsh accent, in order to seem “more trustworthy”. As fellow contestant Fozia said, ‘don’t know what that’s going to get her’. Nevertheless, this act, though laughable in its futility, did garner lots of laughs from the audience – particularly when, in one of the cutaway shots, she was depicted reading a ‘Learn Welsh’ book.
Once recruited as a traitor, she became one of the most ruthless yet. From betraying Minah, by making the deciding vote that saw her banished, to recruited Nottingham student Freddie as a traitor, only to have him banished in the next episode, Charlotte did not hold back. However, her time was up when, in a shock, never-before-seen twist, she was revealed as a traitor to Frankie, who had been granted to power of a Seer, and could choose to find out the identity of one player. True to form, Claudia Winkleman is always full of surprises.
Freddie
Freddie, the final recruit, and most short-lived traitor in the show’s history, was doomed as soon as charlotte recruited him, with a plan to pin the attempted murder of fellow contestant Leanne, on him. While Freddie put in great effort in all the challenges, and tried his best to defend himself, he was unfortunately doomed when he was caught out in a lie at the final round table?
With its twists, turns, tears and treachery, season three of the traitors kept viewers entertained, with around 7.4 million people tuning into the final episode on Friday the 24th of Jan. However, now that the show has come to an end, and Jake and Leanne have claimed that prize pot of money, we’re all going to have to find something else to do with our evenings. Maybe I’ll finally get started on that summative I’ve been avoiding at all costs.
Featured image: Adrien Olichon via Pixels