Meet this year’s players01 January 2025
It’s that time of year again – The Traitors is back on the box for a brand new series, as a group of players head to the Scottish Highlands for high camp hi-jinks in a castle with host Claudia Winkleman.
This year’s 25 contestants will be taking part in missions to try and secure a prize pot of up to £120,000. Of course, there will be some players who are designated Traitors on the first night, whose job is to eliminate as many Faithful as possible to secure the prize pot for themselves.
Ultimately, as Harry Clark demonstrated in series two, any Traitor who remains at the end of the game takes all the cash.
Here’s your first look at this year’s hopefuls – plus their thoughts on topics including previous series, their approach to the game, and what they’d spend the money on if they won…
Alex
Alex is 29 years old, from Whitby, and is a care manager.
“Overall, I don’t think you can go in with a game plan and stick to it rigidly. I think my broad game plan is to play it a bit stupid and be the nice guy,” says Alex.
“[I’ll] try and have a laugh when people get their barriers down and just kind of see what I can pick up, even in subtle conversation. That’s what I hope to do. Now watch me go in there and do none of that!”
Alex has rewatched previous series to prepare, and remembers thinking at the time that Paul “did such a good job, being a larger-than-life character” in season two.
However, on a rewatch, Alex reckons Paul “set himself up to fail a little bit”, whereas eventual winner Harry “just played an absolute blinder, and he was thinking on his feet as well”.
“In my work, no two days are ever the same, plans go out the window at the drop of a hat and you need to be ready to drop the expectation of how the day was going to go and pick something else up and run with that instead,” Alex adds.
“So, I’m hoping that being able to be a bit resilient and being able to think quickly on my feet will put me in good stead.”
If Alex wins, he said he and his wife plan to start their IVF journey together – “I’m just a big kid and just always wanted to be a dad. So that will be first on the list,” he says.
He’d also plan to use some of the cash to “pay off debt, take my family on a holiday, all that sort of stuff”.
Alexander
Alexander is 38 years old, from London, and is a former British diplomat.
“I’m meant to build relationships for a living, so I’d like to think I have a good radar for who I can trust!” says Alexander. “Either way, I’m looking forward to meeting some people with interesting backgrounds in the castle.
“I’m quite resilient – I worked on human rights and negotiations in conflict zones and used to lead fast-response teams to crises overseas. So, I’m hopeful I’ll be relatively calm in quite a pressurised environment.”
Does Alexander have a game plan? Here’s the answer to that: “Watch and wait. If there’s one thing my job teaches me it’s to listen and watch more than you talk, at least initially. Take a genuine interest in others and do your processing inside your head.”
He’s also looked back at previous series, saying: “Have I taken notes from both series? Yes. Do I think I know what the tells are? Yes. Would I keep notes at the end of every day and run them? Yes. Would I tell people? No, that would be weird, it also makes me look a bit strange.
“What you can do is sift the evidence and I suspect if you keep it on enough people, over time I bet people slip up.”
If Alexander wins, he’ll spend some of the money on a charitable donation to the Royal Mencap Society, an organisation which means a lot to his family, and put some towards buying a flat.
Anna
Anna is 28 years old, from County Wicklow in Ireland, and is a swimming teacher.
“I’m a big talker. Sometimes if someone asks me a question, I will go on such a tangent that I have forgotten what the question was, but so will they!” says Anna.
“I think I have the gift of the gab. I might talk myself into a situation, then hopefully out of a situation and then everyone’s going to forget what the situation was in the first place!”
Anna discovered the show by accident when her housemates had it on, and adds: “I applied on a whim while my boyfriend was watching football. I just filled in the form, didn’t think anything of it. I cannot believe that I got chosen.”
Anna is another admirer of Harry’s series two gameplay, but adds: “I’m thinking of Andrea from series one, not that we have super similar personalities, but I really admired her reaction when she was brought up at the Round Table. I think she was really good at containing emotions.”
And what would Anna do with the prize pot? “I’m passionate about sustainable fashion and would love to set up a sustainable fashion line that’s slightly more affordable for young women.
“I really admire some UK brands but they’re harder to get in Ireland, so I’d love to do an Irish line.”
Armani
Armani is 27 years old, from London, and is a financial investigator.
“What I’ve been doing for the past five years involves being analytical,” says Armani. “Day to day and in my job, I try to see whether someone has done something wrong, and I try to investigate it and discover what needs to be put right.”
Armani also rewatched the previous series to prepare and highlights Harry’s gameplay, particularly how he “eased and schemed his way through” to the win – and adds: “I think Faithfuls need to be a little bit more strategic and I think that’s something I could probably bring into it.”
As for what Armani would do with the winnings: “I’m going to be an adult and realistic, I’ve got debts to pay off. Number one, law school was not free, and my family is not rich, so that’s got to get paid off.
“I’m in a long-distance relationship with my boyfriend right now and we’re coming up to the two-year mark. We want to get married and want to have the whole shebang. He’s from France so he’d have to get a visa which is so expensive, so that’s on the list.
“Hopefully a wedding and a down payment on a house, that will be fantastic. It’s very much the basics of life and everything else, I would really like to try to put some into savings because I want to think forward, be smart, and then treat my family to something somehow.”
Charlotte
Charlotte is 33 years old (although was 32 at the time of filming). Charlotte recently moved from London to Hampshire, and is a business director.
Having applied for series two but not having heard anything back, Charlotte – who has loved the show “since the very start” – describes getting to actually play the game third time out as “a real ‘money can’t buy’ experience”.
“I will be friendly and chatty, and hopefully bring people together and be great on missions,” she adds. “But I am not afraid to go against someone and vote for them. Just because they are a friend, doesn’t mean they are not a Traitor.”
Charlotte names Amanda from series one as a standout player who “flew under the radar for so long” – and says: “What I love is not only the main game, which is amazing, but all the undercurrents of secrets – I gasped when the Diane/Ross connection was revealed!”
Charlotte has some plans for the prize fund too, sharing: “There are a few things [I’m considering]. We’re looking at going through fertility treatment soon, so money towards that would be great.
“A safari holiday would be incredible, because why not celebrate if I win! And we’ve recently moved, so I would love to redecorate and bring all my saved inspo pictures to life.”
Dan
Dan is 33 years old, from Liverpool, and is a bank risk manager.
As someone who’s always loved strategy games, Dan applied for the show because “I just really wanted an opportunity to do something that you don’t do in your everyday life; throw myself into a game like this and see how I do.
“The first two seasons were really engaging, and I wanted to be a part of the next part of the story.”
Dan isn’t holding back when it comes to the previous series, saying: “I thought the Traitors, for example, were very predictable in how they behaved in the last season. It’s time to throw another one of them under the bus and they all did it consistently.
“If I were in that team, I would do something completely different to make myself stand out from that type of behaviour.”
Dan shares a plan to “attack the game in a very cerebral way… and think how can I get myself another step further”. He names Jasmine from season two as a standout player for approaching things “in quite a logical, pragmatic way”, and for being “confident and articulate in her opinions”.
However, Dan adds that while his approach will depend on whether he’s a Faithful or Traitor to some extent, “my ultimate game plan is to make sure I’ve got enough people in the game that have my best interests at heart, no matter what side of the fence they’re on.
“I can have allies if they’re Traitors, but I can also have allies who are Faithfuls too.”
In the event of a prize pot win, Dan has plans to “go travelling a lot more”.
Elen
Elen is 24 years old, from Cardiff, and is a translator – but is also training to be an opera singer.
“I’ve been performing since I was a child. So, I’m used to putting on that mask and just getting in the zone,” she says when asked about maintaining a good ‘poker face’ during the game. “I’m not in the Royal Opera House in London yet, but that’s the dream.”
Elen applied for the show because “it’s not scripted and it’s full of ordinary people”. When asked about previous contestants, Elen mentions Amanda’s approach to being a Traitor in series one and admires her because “she embraced her background, where she came from”.
“Then, as a Faithful, I liked Andrew in series two. He was such an emotional man,” Elen adds. “I loved him. I’m pretty sure all he did was cry in the last episode and that would be me, as in, cry because I’m stressed, cry because I’m happy, crying because I’m sad. That’s me!”
Elen shared that if she wins the prize pot, she would like to raise awareness for those with endometriosis and fund some treatment privately.
“Since I’ve been diagnosed, I’ve been referred to an endometriosis specialist, and that waiting list is six to twelve months. Once I see that specialist, I will be on another three-year plus waiting list for surgery,” Elen adds.
“It is a condition so under-researched, underdeveloped and underfunded, despite one in ten women having the condition.”
Fozia
Fozia is 50 years old, from Birmingham, and is a community development manager.
Applying for The Traitors was on Fozia’s bucket list. She recalls: “I used to get on the phone to my sister after watching and we’d chat all about it. 100% loved it. Whoever was behind the concept and idea was bloody amazing!”
“I have always been a people person,” Fozia adds. “So, when I saw the show, I saw that it is about building friendships, building trust, building allies, even though you then maybe might throw them under the bus.
“I’ll get on with people on different levels as well and I feel I’ve got quite a bit of life experience and things that I might share culturally. I think I’m quite a strategic thinker, too. And I’m a planner, I’m pretty organised.”
In addition to enjoying Paul and Harry’s game plans last time, Fozia “really liked how Jaz approached things, although I felt he held back too much… I think he and Mollie could have quite easily won, he just had to win her over.
“He was true to his game and he was true to himself and he got so close. But I thought, ‘Jaz, you could have won this’.”
As for what Fozia would do with the prize money, she says: “I could do with a new set of veneers. My niece is calling me Nanny McPhee. That’s how bad it looks!”
She also adds that the winnings “would help with paying for my kids’ weddings, paying the mortgage off and I’m 50, so I want to retire early”.
Francesca
Francesca is 44 years old, from East Sussex, and is an interior designer.
“I feel like I have a lot of life experience. I trained as an actress and then I started my own interior design business without any training whatsoever. I’ve had to learn to be a very good judge of character,” says Francesca.
“I’ve developed these skills through times of being a single mum, as well as having to work with large groups of people and deal with clients across the commercial, private and residential sector who vary quite a lot.
“You can always suss out a fibber. If I think someone’s really telling lies, then I will call them out and say, that’s not the case.”
Francesca found the previous series “fascinating” and was compelled by Harry’s betrayal of Mollie. “Paul was brilliant because he put on this villain character, and it turned out he was, in fact, really nice and inside he was laughing,” she adds.
What would Francesca do with the prize pot? “I would put it towards my boys, who are the motivations of my life,” she says.
“When I was a single mum, I had a difficult time, and then people started to say, ‘Oh, I like the way you’ve done your house. Can you come and do my house?’ The requests kept coming and soon I was designing for stately homes and hotels.
“So it was a strange experience, but I was able to build a business and provide for my kids, and that’s always been my motivation. Although, I would quite like a nice handbag!”
Freddie
Freddie is 20 years old, from Peterborough, and is currently studying politics at university.
“I used to be UK number one in the athletic sprint hurdles from the ages of 14 to 17. So just from that, I’ve got a very competitive, driven mindset,” says Freddie.
“I don’t do sport anymore because I tore my hamstring in 2020, so I’ve sort of shifted that mindset into everyday life. If I’m doing a job, if I’m studying, I want to do it to the best of my ability and bring that drive and passion.”
In addition to noting Harry’s gameplay, Freddie also acknowledges Sam from The Traitors Australia‘s second season, saying: “The way he just got away with it, time after time is crazy, he was such a character.”
Freddie says he’d “definitely help my mum” if he wins the show. “My mum has been a single parent since I was about five years old,” he explains.
“She has three jobs and has always worked and hustled to make sure we’ve got a roof over our head and dinner on the table.
“She always puts me first, so I think it’s time for me to give back, pay off a bit of her debt, maybe take her on a holiday.”
Freddie adds that he’s thinking of a postgraduate law conversion course and would like to put some money aside for that – and if there’s anything left over, he wants to start saving for a house deposit.
Jack
Jack is 25 years old (24 at the time of filming), from Yorkshire, and is a market trader and landscaper.
Being “obsessed” with the show, Jack’s mum encouraged him to apply as he said he felt “jealous of everyone who was having the
experience” on the previous seasons and so “wanted it for myself”.
Having secretly trained as an actor after moving to London at 18, Jack thinks he can use the skills to his advantage.
“I think I can kind of play it a little bit dumb, maybe act like the ditzy gardener and landscaper who secretly has his own agenda, and hopefully a couple of acting skills to back that up,” he says.
Despite this, Jack admits that he’s a “bit of a winger” and so isn’t too sure if his game plan will work out.
During his time at the castle, Jack says he wants to embody a mixture of two previous contestants – Paul and Andrew.
“I absolutely loved everything that Paul was doing, and I was watching him thinking, I want to emulate this type of behaviour,” Jack notes. “However, I think my favourite contestant was Andrew… I just thought he was such a genuine guy, everything that he did made me smile. So, I think I’d like to play it like Paul but come across as more of an Andrew type character.”
As to how he’d spend the prize money? Well, he says there’s “more reasons than I can shake a stick at” as he wants to give back to lots of his family and friends.
In particular, he would like to buy a plot of land so that he and his parents can “live the dream, go off and live off the fat of the land”.
Jake
Jake is 28 years old, from Barrow-in-Furness, and works as a project manager.
Being an avid viewer of previous seasons and telling his wife he thinks he “could do a better job”, Jake has his eyes on the prize.
“If I’m doing something I’m in it to win it! There’s no point in playing a game for second place. Go in to win it, or you may as well not bother,” he says.
“Living with cerebral palsy isn’t always easy but I’ve always found a way and I’ve never let it stop me from achieving my goals; this would be no different.”
Admitting he’s “highly opinionated”, Jake teases that it may get him into trouble with his fellow contestants as he thinks “you’ve got to ruffle a few feathers in the game”.
Especially if he’s a Traitor, Jake suggests he will be ruthless to secure a win: “I would leave no stone unturned. Everyone’s your friend until they’re not.
“I always think of it as being a puppeteer, being able to pull the strings of the other players. I’d relish having that level of control and power.”
If he makes it to the end, Jake hopes to use the money to support house renovations, as well as treating his wife and parents to thank them for their support.
Joe
Joe is 37 years old, originally form Yorkshire but now lives in Southampton, and works as an English teacher.
Being drawn to the “real life Cluedo” element of the show, Joe will use his planning background as a teacher to be tactical and “read between the lines” of each player.
“I won’t listen to just what’s being said, I’ll think about what’s not being said,” he notes.
If he’s marked as a Traitor, Joe says he’d “feel guilty” and “paranoid” but will go “as far as possible” to secure the prize money.
And on that note, Joe has quite the eclectic mix of ideas to spend it on should he win.
He would like to learn to drive and buy a Mini Cooper to relive one of his “earliest childhood memories” with his grandma, go travelling and buy a pub.
“I’ve always said I’d quite fancy being a landlord like Peggy Mitchell, but I don’t know anything about pubs other than ordering a pint in them.”
Kasim
Kasim is 33 years old, from Cambridge, and a doctor.
Having missed out on a place in season 2, Kasim is hoping this time round will go in his favour as he’s learnt tricks from previous contestants.
As a “happy-go-lucky, bubbly person”, he thinks he will be able to get on well with his contestants but warns that a very different side comes out in competitive situations, stating he can be “quite ruthless, cunning and tactical”.
In particular, he would be “so hyped” to be a Traitor.
“Firstly at least then I don’t need to think about being murdered, that’s nice,” he says. “But secondly, let’s create some chaos!”
Kasim thinks Jaz is a great contestant to emulate as he “laid low and pretended he was unobservant” but that “he was clearly smarter than he was letting on”.
However, his main game plan is to manipulate people’s thoughts to his advantage as he’s “learnt to make people think that my ideas are their ideas”.
And if this plan succeeds, he hopes to use the prize money to secure financial stability for his family after having to work extra shifts which has meant missing out on time with his daughter.
Keith
Keith is 65 years old, from Bournemouth, and a window cleaner.
Games like this “excite” Keith after growing up with eight other siblings who used to “play tricks on each other and wind each other up” growing up.
As someone who doesn’t take things too seriously, Keith is hoping his chatty, friendly personality will get him far in the competition.
“I get on with people from every walk of life, all ages, all religions, it just comes naturally to me!” he says.
Having a black belt in Taekwondo, Keith says his age won’t hold him back from Missions and he’ll “give it all a good go”, including turning on the dramatics if he turns out to be a Faithful.
“I think I’ll need to put my stage shoes and hat on. I’ll need to perform! I think that’s what I’ll do, I’ll act with as much drama as possible.”
If that works in his favour and he’s the last one standing, then Keith will use the money to pay off his mortgage, take his wife on holiday and buy a new car.
Leanne
Leanne is 28 years old, from Holywell in North Wales, and an army veteran.
She is planning to keep her 12-year army career a secret and tell the other contestants she is a nail technician. She thinks it might put her at a disadvantage otherwise “because people are automatically going to assume anyone in the military is smart and strategic”.
Beyond admiring Harry’s tactics as a fellow soldier, Leanne says Mollie is her inspiration as she was “down to earth and lovely” and so Leanne is “going to go in and be myself”.
Having welcomed twin boys in recent years with her partner Sophie, Leanne hopes to win in order to fund more IVF to expand their family and to experience it all again as she was “very poorly” during her pregnancy.
“Because I was so poorly at the time I feel I missed out on enjoying that newborn stage. I’m so grateful to have them, and I’m so lucky that they’re alive. I would love the opportunity to have another
baby, hopefully have a bit of a better experience.”
Leon
Leon is 40 years old, from the East Midlands, and a retail store manager.
“I always joke around at work about the good versus evil,” Leon says about how the similarity attracted him to apply for The Traitors.
“Someone comes in and tries to get the cheapest deal but I’m on the other side trying to make them spend as much money as possible!”
Teasing that he’s a “smiling assassin”, his charismatic personality he hopes means he’ll be able to get on with all of the other contestants well, especially if he’s a Traitor, which he hopes to be.
“I will probably have to make sure I nail myself down to the ground so I don’t levitate or get a surge of power or something!”
And to prove he’s got what it takes, he’s been lying successfully to people about his whereabouts whilst filming the show, telling everyone he’s been enjoying a trip to Barbados.
“I think the fact that I’ve had this big secret inside of me and I’ve been able to keep it to myself shows I have a good poker face,” Leon says.
Should this poker face see him win season 3, then Leon wants to use the money to buy a new garden shed and give some to his mum for “all the sacrifices she made when I was growing up”.
Linda
Linda is 70 years old, from Hertfordshire, and a retired opera singer.
After a “mad moment” in which Linda applied to the show, she’s looking forward to the “psychological game” of it all.
As the oldest contestant this series, Linda is hoping her life experience will work to her advantage, as well as her “funny personality”.
“I do have a game plan, and that’s to be a little bit airheaded and to play on being older, and also to be a mother figure,” she says.
However, she warns that this will be deceiving as she can be “ruthless”, especially if there’s money involved.
And if she wins? Well, Linda wants to celebrate in style. After paying off her sister’s mortgage, she would hire a “mansion house for a weekend… with a private chef” and take all her friends on a “really great holiday”.
Lisa
Lisa is 62 years old, from Cornwall, and an Anglican Priest.
Being “completely obsessed with murder mysteries”, Lisa was keen to be in the thick of it by joining The Traitors.
However, she’s already concerned about if her career may cause people to make assumptions from the outset.
“Going in, if I say I’m a priest, I think I’m going to have a target on my back straight away,” she says.
“I’ve had to reflect quite a lot about going on a programme like The Traitors where deception and lying is part of the game and how does that sit with being a priest? It doesn’t exactly speak of the values that we uphold as a priest. But this is a game.”
Reflecting on the previous series, Lisa admired two characters in particular: “You’ve got a Traitor (Harry) who played it brilliantly and you’ve got a Faithful (Jaz) who equally played a masterful game, and he was just unlucky”.
She too is wanting to emulate Jaz for being “the person who’s there but doesn’t get noticed much”.
Hoping this approach will see her through to the end, Lisa says “it would be lovely to win the money because I know that I could do some really positive things with it… if I won the money, I wouldn’t keep it”.
Instead, she would give some to her three sons, a friend who runs an animal charity, as well as funding the conversion of her parish church vestry into a community hall to host “lunches for people who have been widowed, who are bereaved and want to come together”.
Olivia (Livi)
Livi is 26 years old, from Horsham, and is a model and beautician.
“I’m always an easy talker, I have a lot of laughs, and I think I can adjust myself to different personalities,” says Livi. “I won’t be getting involved in any dramas, I definitely won’t be a ringleader. “If I suspect anybody, I will not be throwing their names out there… I think when players suspect things or people and start telling everybody, they’re murdered in the next few days.”
While Livi also admires Harry’s gameplay, she adds: “I don’t think I could hold my nerve if I was in his position. He’s got a very good poker face; he just held it together so well. I think I would do well until I was questioned, then I might crumble a little bit.”
Livi says that if she wins, she would first of all “cry my eyes out… I cry at happy things because I just know how much it means to people”.
As for the prize fund, she’d take her family on a group holiday and wants to donate some money to the Childhood Eye Cancer Trust, which has particular personal significance for her.
“They’ve done so much for me, they helped me when I lost my hair, they helped me get a wig,” says Livi. “They’ve helped me with getting my perfect prosthetic eye which I’m so happy with. I’ve been so unhappy with previous prosthetic eyes and people wouldn’t even notice now.
“I’m so grateful for them and I want to help the other children going through it. It’s from the ages of zero to five and they go through so much at such a young age, it would mean everything for me to just give something back.”
Livi would plan to “do something smart” with any money left by investing, adding: “I’m thinking of my future ahead with my baby and my boyfriend.”
Maia
Maia is 25 years old, from Essex, and is a full-time mum.
“I think I’m a very happy, positive, bubbly person. And I get along with most people that I meet,” Maia says. “I feel like I’d be able to really make some good connections and good friends with everyone. I also say everything that is on my mind.”
On reflection, she felt last season’s players were often “too emotional”, adding: “They were getting rid of people that they didn’t like, and I was thinking, ‘Guys, it’s okay to not get along with people’.
“I think that’s why I’ll be better because even though I might not 100% gravitate towards you, if you’re getting money in for the Missions then you’ve got to stay. We’ve got to be focused on trying to get the prize pot as high as we possibly can, so we get the full 120 grand.”
Maia is another player who complemented Harry’s approach, saying: “Harry reminded me of me, because he’s very friendly. He didn’t do too much, which I liked because you don’t have to be the centre of attention, which was great.
“Everyone underestimated him, and I feel like a lot of people underestimate me as well.”
If she wins, Maia will spend the winnings on putting down a deposit for a house, adding: “My plan, just in general with life is that I kind of want to disappear off the face of the earth. I want to live in the countryside, I want to have a very quiet life.”
Maia adds that she’d use any leftover money to put towards outstanding debts “and then I would go on a nice little holiday” – she has Bali in mind as a destination.
Minah
Minah is 29 years old, from Liverpool, and is a call centre manager.
Minah previously applied to take part on season two of The Traitors, but unfortunately, schedules didn’t work out. However, she applied again for season three “and here I am!”. Her husband Liam and her mother-in-law are also fans of the series – they’ve watched the Australian and US versions too.
“I feel like I have a very similar personality to Harry,” Minah says. “In this game, I will cheer everyone on in the Missions to get them done and to get the money. Secretly you’re thinking, ‘I need this lot to work hard to earn my money that I’m going to take at the end!'”
Minah hails Harry’s gameplay because “he would get everyone involved in the challenges, he wouldn’t always be obsessing over shields, but then he’d also go for shields, which obviously makes sense if you’re Faithful.
“I think the way he managed to grow a friendship with Mollie was perfect, because, if you’re a Faithful you need somebody who is blind to your lies and who will always back you.”
Minah also intends “to be observant and be like the mother of the group” and look out for fellow contestants, adding: “If people are struggling, if they’re homesick or they just want to have a cousin and coach or someone to help tell them that it’s going to be okay, I’m probably that person.”
What would Minah do with the prize money? “The first thing I’d do is book me and my husband a honeymoon.
“We got married in December 2020, in the height of Covid, and we had a really small wedding, which was lovely, but it wouldn’t have been my choice and we didn’t get a honeymoon. I’d love for us to go travelling around America for three weeks.
“I’d also use the money for a house deposit, which would be amazing.”
Nathan
Nathan is 39 years old, from London, and is a property consultant.
Nathan applied for The Traitors on his wife’s recommendation – “I reckon she’s manifested this whole situation,” he explains.
“She even said to me, ‘Nathan, you’re going to get the call that you’re going on.’ So, when I found out and I called her she said, ‘Are you calling me to say you’re going on The Traitors?’ She was like, ‘I knew, I just had a feeling.’ She’s been my rock since the process started. She’s been amazing.”
Nathan has promised to bring “chaos” to proceedings, noting: “It’s a game and you have to always remember it’s a game. I’ve got no qualms in lying to someone’s face or getting where I need to get to because I know it’s a game. You just have to play the game and I’m not going to take it personally if people want to accuse me.
“I’ve got to be quite strategic, but I think I will be planting a lot of seeds and spreading a bit of gossip because I quite enjoy it. I just think it’s fun. I’d rather go out with a bang and be the guy that was planting seeds and just causing havoc.
“We’ve all come here to win money, and I know it’s going to be so much harder than it looks on TV, but I can’t wait.”
Nathan admires Paul’s gameplay – “I just loved his calm and I see a bit of me in that” – but also complimented Harry and Jaz for their approaches.
“I had a soft spot for Mollie too because of the way she is as a person, she was so torn, she did back the wrong horse and it tore her heart out,” he adds.
In the event of a prize fund win, Nathan has expressed a desire to treat his wife “because she’s been pushing me to do this”.
He would also help his dad with the cost of private treatment for a health condition, adding: “120 grand would fix a lot of things in the short term. So, that’s a good motivation to win.”
Tyler
Tyler is 29 years old, from Leicester, and is a barber.
“Every day, I’m gaining trust as I cut people’s hair,” says Tyler. “They’re chatting to me about upcoming weddings and birthdays, if they’re going on holiday, so I feel like I can gain people’s trust quite easily. Also, I feel like I can adapt to any situation.
“Looking back to previous players, Tyler admires Jaz’s approach, saying: “He kind of had a feeling who was a Traitor, but he didn’t let it out straight away. I feel like that’s what you’ve got to be like; if you do think someone’s a Traitor, you can’t just come straight with it.
“He waited up, kind of like a bird watching from above, looking for a point when to pounce. He may not have won but he got to the end – it was a strong game plan.”
Tyler describes himself as an “old soul” and he tends to socialise more with his older friends, adding: “I go to Northern Soul nights and I’m the only young one there. I go to darts on a Thursday night, and I like bird watching. It’s all older people.
“I feel like, in there, if I’m a Faithful, I’ll be more towards the older people and getting them on side. Although one of them could be a Traitor of course!”
What would Tyler do with the prize money? “100% buy my own barbershop. I love my barbering, that’s my pride and joy.
“I wake up in the morning and where some people might dread having to go to work, I can’t wait to get there and just start talking to people, cutting people’s hair, making them look good and that makes me feel good. It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
“I’ve been doing it for five years now. It’s the best decision I’ve ever made in my life.”
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Yin
Yin is 34 years old, from Berkshire, and a Doctor of Communication Science.
Yin applied for The Traitors for two reasons – firstly, it’s a show “about rhetoric – the art and science of persuasive communication. This is my speciality, and I am so obsessed with it that I have a PhD from Oxford in the subject. Analysing how information and emotion are transmitted between individuals and social groups gets me going like nothing else.”
Secondly, Yin adds, the show’s all about storytelling, saying: “I believe that there is no such thing as a lie. It’s just a good story. It’s good fiction. And so to win this game, you just have to tell the best story… I’ve been crafting stories since I was able to physically write on paper. I would relish the opportunity to practise this craft in the high-stakes context of a game that is all about trust and sabotage!”
Yin felt underwhelmed by the season one gameplay, but loved “the relationships that formed and how genuine they were, and what an amazing family that the whole cast seemed to be”. She found the season two gameplay “richer and more developed and far more interesting” and had “a particular soft spot for Jaz, because of how scientific he was about how he was disclosing information”.
Yin already has a notebook with some “pregame thoughts”, but wants to set up a framework rather than plan meticulously, because “people are unpredictable” and “you have to adapt to what the reality is”.
If she wins the prize pot, Yin has said that she’d like to finish paying back a loan from her mum who “helped me buy my first house, which was a really amazing moment… this would allow me to finally just send her a sizeable amount”.
She also wants to invest more in her communication science work, setting up a website and social media channels to promote her research.
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