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It is the ultimate game of deception, treachery and betrayal and, with a £100,000 prize pot at stake, The Traitors never fails to bring out its contestants’ ugly side.
This time, however, the stakes are far higher. For this is the first celebrity edition of the reality show - and many carefully-honed reputations are on the line.
The format - which sees a group of contestants playing games to win a prize pot and ‘traitors’ secretly sabotaging them while trying to avoid being exposed and ‘killed’ - is notorious for provoking blazing rows between contestants and encouraging even the closest of friends to backstab each other. So it is little wonder that, I can reveal, many PR managers have been getting jittery ahead of their clients’ appearances on the show, which is airing twice a week on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
I’m told that they have been ‘readying’ themselves, and have crisis communications teams ‘on standby’ to save reputations in case the stars come across badly in the final edits. Some management teams are so concerned that they have begged the BBC for access to previews ahead of each episode.
But, I’m told, corporation bosses are standing firm against the barrage of requests from uptight teams who are used to carefully guarding their clients’ images.
One insider told me: ‘The team behind the show were shocked at the number of people asking to see early edits. They were inundated with requests.’
‘Clearly the celebrities got back home after filming and have expressed concern to their teams about how they will come across during the more combative moments.’
‘Things often get very tense at the roundtable [when innocent ‘faithfuls’ try to identify the traitors] and the celebrity version is no exception. Filming takes hours and the contestants are exhausted. These are people with big egos and none of them wanted to be one of the first few to go home. There are definitely fireworks.’
Of course, those explosive moments are the reason The Traitors has become one of the nation’s best-loved shows. Producers encourage them by deliberately cranking up the air-conditioning during important discussions, making sure everyone is cold, uncomfortable and tense.
Instead of allowing contestants to see previews of the show, I’m told the Beeb will provide each contestant with a briefing about what that night’s episode contains.
One over-zealous PR tried to anticipate the blowback and booked in interviews for their client before the first show had even been aired. BBC executives, however, put their foot down and banned interviews outside the press packs. Another female celebrity was forced to cancel a glossy magazine shoot just days before it was due to go ahead.
So, what does this starry series have in store?
The show’s presenter Claudia Winkleman remained stubbornly tight-lipped at the premiere of the first episode. But, she admitted: ‘Do the roundtables get heated? Yes. But they’re polite, you’ll see… they want to catch the traitors, and the traitors want to remain undetected. And both parties are excellent.’
Some players have already expressed concern about how they might come across on screen. Paloma Faith, 44, who is more used performing live on stage than in front of television crews, is nervous. The Only Love Can Hurt Like This singer confessed at the weekend: ‘Everyone who I have spoken to, who is on it, says they are worried about the edit, because everybody could be painted as absolutely awful or absolutely gorgeous and it is up to whoever is editing to decide.’
And before that, she admitted the filming process was ‘way more taxing and psychologically demanding’ than she expected, likening it to ‘a Scandinavian jail’.
She was ‘surprised at the psychological impact’ the show had on her, at times forgetting it was a game. She admitted she saw the BBC’s therapist on site ‘all the time’ while filming.
Of course, the contestants are all keen to bag the £100,000 cash prize at stake - which will go to the winner’s chosen charity - but are also eager to stay in the competition to show off their carefully curated wardrobes.
‘The game was very competitive, but the fashion war was even more so,’ an insider told me.
Thespian Celia Imrie, who recently starred alongside Sir Ben Kingsley and Dame Helen Mirren in Netflix hit The Thursday Murder Club, arrived at the castle in last night’s episode wearing a Catherine Walker tartan coat with silk velvet collars and cuffs costing £14,900.
Good Morning Britain presenter Kate Garraway, 58, however, opted for more ‘relatable’ attire in a £60 Boohoo tartan jacket.
My insider revealed: ‘Some of the celebrities arrived with a trunk full of expensive clothes, but were booted out early before they could show them off. They were fuming.’
Celebrity Traitors was filmed over three weeks in May and, scared of any leaks, the BBC rushed out its transmission, turning around the show at double speed. Meanwhile the normal series, which was filmed straight after the celebrity version, won’t hit screens until January next year.
Another reason for the rush, I’m told by those in the know, is because executives are convinced it is going to be a ratings hit and even director general Tim Davie is keeping a very keen eye on the viewing figures.
‘There are very high hopes for this series,’ my source said.
‘These are household names and the drama is off the scale. Nobody wants to say it out loud but while other family shows like Strictly are seeing their numbers dwindle, there is increasing confidence that Celebrity Traitors could be the most watched show of the year so far.’
Last year’s 7.6million tuned into watch the finale and producers have done everything to make sure this series lures in even more viewers.
During last night’s opening episode, audiences watched as Winkleman carefully selected her Traitors for the series.
She went for chat show heavyweights Jonathan Ross and Alan Carr, and also Gen Z singer-songwriter Cat Burns.
Celebrities were ordered to dig their own graves in the hopes of winning a shield that will leave them immune from the traitor’s first murder.
For the final twist, the trio of Traitors were told to commit their first ‘murder’ by extracting the pollen from a poison lily and rubbing it on the face of one of their fellow contestants.
Just as Alan Carr prepared to make his ‘kill’, the episode ended on a cliffhanger.
I suspect Tim Davie won’t be the only one tuning in tonight to see who his victim will be.