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I will admit it: The Traitors brings out a very weird side of me. Very quickly, I turn into an intense amateur detective who could easily have been pulled straight out of the pages of an Agatha Christie novel. I start imagining how, as a Traitor, I would bluff and double bluff and triple bluff my way through the castle. Or, as a Faithful, how I would craft the perfect, guileless character to carry me through to the finale. I imagine myself noting down who enters the breakfast room last. I envision myself conning not only my fellow contestants, but also the production team into believing I wasn't a threat until — twist — at the last moment I would reveal I had been playing them all! (Cue the evil cackling and cat-stroking.)
I tell you all of this because the following theory comes from a mind that is essentially the meme of a manic Charlie explaining his conspiracy theory with his makeshift detective string wall from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: I believe I have already figured out how Celebrity Traitors ends. Please bear with me.
First of all, some context. The UK's first-ever Celebrity Traitors is coming this autumn. It started filming some time after April 25 when some of the cast were pictured arriving in Inverness en route to the famous Andross Castle.
Give that casting director a raise.
In season 1, Alex was murdered in the eight episode — and she later claimed that she had filmed for a total of two weeks.
Host Claudia Winkleman also suggested in season 1 that filming took at least three weeks. Speaking of seeing double rainbows in Scotland, she said, “I mean, by the end of the three weeks where we had seen 50, it was like, 'don’t care'. But it’s just the most beautiful landscape.”
Seasons 1, 2 and 3 were each 12 episodes long.
Now, why is this at all interesting? Well, apparently, filming has “just” wrapped on the series, per a May 14 The Telegraph. And April 25 to May 14 does not three weeks make! This leads me to believe that the first season of Celebrity Traitors will be shorter. And, what do you know, the BBC has confirmed that it will be shorter, featuring just nine episodes.
What can this mean? While the shorter season could be an artistic choice on behalf of the BBC, there is a chance that something unexpected could happen in this season of the show. Perhaps the Faithful will actually catch all of the Traitors early?? Could be, although I'm sure the production team would try their hardest to ensure that didn't happen. In fact, in season 3, we were reminded of the rule that, if only one Traitor remained, they would have to recruit as well as murder — essentially, this is production's way of ensuring an early Faithful victory couldn't happen. If they change the rule, there is a chance that the game could end abruptly.
There is also a simpler explanation — there are simply fewer players than usual. The celebrity version sees a significantly smaller number of players — 19 — battling it out in the castle, while the last season featured 25 players. In other words, the season will probably follow the same basic format as previous seasons even though it's a little shorter.
Watch the trailer now.
Ok, so it doesn't seem like the Faithful will succeed in catching all of the Traitors before the finale, but we can make a few educated guesses about what might go down. In most episodes of the show we see between one and two players leaving the game, either through murder or banishment. By this logic, it's likely that around 13 to 16 players will be booted from the castle before the final ninth episode. This means that we're looking at a finale that will probably see between three and five players competing for the win.
One thing is certain — the next season of The Traitors is bound to be filled with some new twists and turns that even my string-filled brain cannot begin to predict.
