The Traitors returned on New Year’s Day with a mammoth new twist to the game.
In this series, there will be a Secret Traitor, whom neither the main flank of Traitors nor the BBC viewers at home will know the identity of.
The new rules of the game were laid out in the first episode, which saw host Claudia Winkleman pick three Traitors viewers were privy to – Stephen, Rachel and Hugo – as well as a fourth red-cloaked Traitor we don’t yet know.
Our well-dressed host shared the news with the conclave during their first turret meeting, in which she explained that the Secret Traitor will compile a shortlist of potential murder suspects each night, which won’t include their own name.
But this new kink in the gameplay has left several fans at home predicting the shortlists could make it all too easy for the Traitors to spot which cast member is a Secret Traitor, and quickly banish them.
Taking to X as the episode aired, Isabelle wrote: ‘Surely after time the Traitors might be able to work out who the secret one is based off the fact the secret Traitor won’t put their name on the shortlist.’
Ella agreed that could be the case, depending on how many names are put on the shortlist each night. The first iteration was a trim three.
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Siobhan echoed in her tweet: ‘I actually wish they hadn’t told the other Traitors that there’s a secret Traitor, that would’ve been more fun. They’ll be looking at the murder lists trying to figure out who it is and they’ll be able to narrow it down quite quickly.’
Meanwhile, Grace suggested it could be a route for viewers to figure out who the Secret Traitor is for themselves, writing: ‘I’m definitely going to make notes on who’s on the shortlist each night to narrow it down.’
Wendy shared that was also how she would approach the game with the new twist, writing: ‘I’m putting a whiteboard up in my hotel room at that castle and keeping detailed notes of who’s on that shortlist every single night.’
If the protracted rounds of wink-murder weren’t already described as ‘the ultimate psychological game of deception’, they certainly will be now, with the possibility that the show’s editing could impact who the viewers themselves suspect.
The 22-strong cast has also thrown up some interesting new dynamics for the roundtable, with a crime writer, a retired police detective and a psychologist among the contestants on the new series.
They’re joined by a barrister and a poker-playing gardener as a new batch of Fuithfuls try to weed out the murderous Traitors in their midst on the BBC juggernaut. Let’s get stuck in!
The Traitors continues on Friday night at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
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