The Traitors's Alex on filming secrets, betrayals and show regrets
We cannot get enough of The Traitors on BBC. We've been finding the cast on social media, speculating about a season two and wishing there was a Big Brother-style live stream, so we could keep an eye on the Faithfuls at all times.
The new 12-part competition show is hosted by Claudia Winkleman, and set in the Scottish Highlands. In the ultimate game of truth, lies and deception, 22 contestants are challenged with discovering who are the Faithfuls and who are the Traitors among them, with a prize fund of up to £120k at stake.
*SPOILERS* If you've been watching the series religiously every week, you'll know that Alex, a Faithful, was 'murdered' by the Traitors last night, after they had attempted to recruit her to join them and she said no. Cosmopolitan UK caught up with the 26-year-old following her exit, to talk NDAs, betrayals and regrets.
Hi Alex, your time on the show came to an end in the last episode. Were you watching it live?
Yeah, it was my RIP moment. We filmed for three weeks in the Scottish Highlands back in May, and watching it back did make me dance with regret a little bit, but at the time I didn't feel like I'd made a mistake or like kicking myself. I ended up sealing my own fait by declining being a Traitor, but it felt like the right decision at the time.
Wilfred and Amanda essentially said you decided your own future by declining their offer. Do you wish you'd played it differently?
I have no regrets. The only thing I wish I'd maybe done a bit differently was not told anyone at the roundtable [about them approaching me]. It set the stage for the Traitors to murder me. I also wish I'd voted for Will because I was going to vote for him.
What was being part of the show actually like?
It was a very intense process - it felt like we were running off 10% brain capacity and not thinking in the most coherent manner, because you're bloody exhausted. You're literally getting no sleep. You're terrified and switched on 24/7, living it [as your reality] for three weeks. It's not a heated game of Scrabble - it's real emotion and real people. Nothing could prepare you for something like that.
You're constantly second guessing yourself. You think you have it figured out and then something happens - you'd think someone was a Traitor and then they would do something to prove that they're not. With Will, seeing his emotional reactions.. He and Amanda played such a blinder [as Traitors] - none of us really caught on. But you're suspicious of everyone, and constantly changing your mind all the time.
Watching it back, did you feel betrayed finding out Wilfred and Amanda were the Traitors?
Not at all. I knew it was a game of betrayal. Everyone's ultimately doing what they need to do to survive and make it to the end. Every morning on the shower glass I would write, 'It's just a game.' You have to keep drilling it into your mind.
It's crazy watching it back because we obviously didn't get to see Amanda's diary room interviews, and we're not there at their meeting. The Amanda that I knew in the game was so different to the Amanda who was giving the calm and collected Traitor's perspective. She absolutely smashed it - hats off to her because she did such a good job.
Do you know who's going to win? And if not, who would you like to win?
No, everyone's under strict NDA [non-disclosure agreements.] There are so many twists and turns in this game - it could literally be anyone. I would like to see a Faithful win, purely for the reason I'm Team Faithful.
We have to talk about [your boyfriend] Tom, and the moment he revealed you two were in a relationship to the rest of the group..
It wasn't really shown in the edit, but he did it because everyone was quite confused about what being 'on trial' meant. He panicked because he wanted to protect me, but I know it doesn't make sense when you watch it in the episode.
I was very shocked, as you could tell by my face. But in the long run, he saved me, because I would've been murdered that night. I don't have any memory of what was going on around me [when it happened], I had tunnel vision trying to make a mitigation plan in my head. 'What am I going to say? How am I going to fix this? Oh my god, there's Matt crying next to me... What is what should I do now?'
When Tom was eliminated, were you able to say goodbye?
No, you don't get to say goodbye to people when they leave. That's it, they're gone and you don't see them. There's not like off-camera giving them big hug or a 'see on the outside'.
How long were you filming for each day?
When I say all day, I mean all day. You get up and are transported to the castle, and then it's game on There's no breaks - even when you're eating your lunch, you're talking about Traitor tactics. The breakfast and the round tables lasted a good two hours each time. It's a lot when 20 people are trying to get different perspectives and different conversations across. At the end of three weeks, I was knackered. I loved the challenges because it was a break fro debating and hypothesising.
What's the main lesson you've learned from The Traitors?
I'm so grateful for the opportunity, and I'm so proud of myself and the other contestants for doing it, because it was tough. We had no idea what we were going into - we were essentially the guinea pigs for this show. I would love to go back and play it again, with different Traitors.
The Traitors continues on BBC One and iPlayer.
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