A brand-new reality TV concept, BBC’s The Traitors has quickly become a pop culture talking point. Combining an Agatha Christie-style murder mystery with a competition pinned in mind games and psychological manipulation, Claudia Winkleman welcomes 22 ordinary British contestants to an eerie Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands.
The premise? A handful of these seemingly innocent bunch are selected as “traitors”, the sly individuals responsible for strategically killing off – metaphorically – an unfortunate member of the group each night. Competing in challenges akin to an adult version of CBBC’s Raven, the contestants need to build the pot of money – the maximum final amount resting at £120,000 – for the winner to take home.
But that’s not all. Each night, the group come together at the "round table" to discuss who they think should be banished as a “traitor,” and as expected, these nightly sessions have made for intense drama. Immensely captivating, this unique set-up has been a hit amongst TV audiences. Though the first episode welcomed an initial 2.9 million views, subsequent instalments have gathered a cult following: the first episode now boasts an immense 5 million streams on iPlayer.
Psychologically, it makes for exciting viewing. There’s an odd joy in watching those who we know to be “faithfuls” accused of being a “traitor.” All it takes is one slightly off comment for suspicions to be roused: just one person voicing these concerns can be enough to trigger a bandwagon-type chain reaction, as we saw in the first ousting of 45-year-old accounts supervisor Nicky. If we didn’t know who the traitors were, perhaps we as an audience would fall for this, too. This alone goes some way towards explaining the show’s success.
As a plus-size woman, I cried watching Jayde Adams dance around the stage without being covered up by a wrap dress.
Importantly, The Traitors feels fresh. These days, reality TV concepts are overdone, rehashed and reformatted for us to consume vapidly. But in this, we’ve got an exciting premise based on the Dutch series De Verraders. As a host, Claudia Winkleman seems genuinely excited, performing her role with the essence of campery we’ve come to expect.
As anticipated, audiences have taken to social media to profess their love for this beguiling cast. 54-year-old estate agent Amanda has borne the forefront of this adoration. Despite her soothing Welsh accent and seemingly innocent manner, she was destined to be one of Winkleman’s traitors. Speaking candidly to the camera in her confessionals, she’s managed to curate a totally split personality: unsuspecting for the best part of three weeks, her peers lapped up her morally virtuous image as she schemed each demise by night. Dressed in long, black cloaks - akin to the wraiths in What We Do In The Shadows or the death eaters in the Harry Potter franchise - this amusing embellishment only adds to the drama.
It comes as no surprise that beloved Amanda has been claimed as a “gay icon” by the LGBTQ+ community. Spoiler: after she was ousted by Wilfred, she gushed over her newfound icon-hood on Lorraine. “I’m enjoying it, and to be called an icon of the gay community is just absolutely fantastic. I am loving the love!”
Likewise, 29-year-old receptionist and secret actor Maddy has been gathering love for her iconic one-liners. “Because I suppose in life you can be a massive criminal and still be funny” and “I’m going for Will cause I’ve thought that for years” remain her most referenced quotes.
Elsewhere, hearts have been warmed by retired 72-year-old Andrea’s backstory. Revealing that she worked for the British Government before retiring, remarking that she was a fantastic liar as a result, she initially built up a hardy image. Later on, she opened up about her relationship with her late female partner of 26 years to open arms from her fellow contestants. “I really love these people. It’s lovely to be able to feel that at my age”, she smiled. Evidently, though this show is about deceiving peers rather than forming friendships, some true connections have been made here. And that love is felt by the show’s viewers, too.
In an age of airbrushed reality TV, The Traitors is a welcome tonic. In casting a range of regular, everyday contestants of various ages who aren’t dressed to the nines and made up to Instagram levels of perfection, it breaks from norms we’ve seen consolidated in recent years. In the early days of British reality TV, shows like Big Brother cast members of the public that looked much like the everyday person. They weren’t models in the making, and these were the days before the “influencer.”
However, as reality TV has progressed and changed, so too has the calibre of contestants. Nowadays, shows like Love Island, Made In Chelsea and even The Apprentice rely heavily on welcoming those deemed conventionally “attractive.” In an age of Instagram filters and self-editing, these characters grace our TV screens with perfectly curated outfits, hair and makeup and suchlike. They’re thin, young and beautiful.
Of course, we’ve grown to expect this of shows like Love Island: we understand that these contestants represent a microcosm of society, and that it’s intentionally superficial and heteronormative. In many ways, there-in lies the appeal: we know we needn’t live up to these unrealistic standards, but it makes for entertaining television to watch these ethereal beings live a life so vastly different from the average human.
The Traitors breaks from all of this. Returning to the origins of British reality TV, audiences across the country are resonating with these contestants. And it’s a welcome break from the precedents set in the last 20 years: we’re not viewing these characters as a shiny, fascinating experiment but as genuinely relatable beings. From 21-year-old business student Alyssa to 72-year-old Andrea, this programme doesn’t discriminate when it comes to age, and that’s refreshing to see.
Above all, these contestants didn’t come for fame: they came to play the game. Though fan favourites Amanda, Maddy and Andrea have sadly been ousted en-masse ahead of tonight’s finale, one thing’s for sure: The Traitors is the most innovative reality TV concept to arrive on British screens in a while. And oh, how we’ve lapped it up.
