One half of the 'secret' couple from The Traitors has revealed she turned down Love Island - because it's more about "prancing around in a bikini".
Alex Gray, 27, and Tom Elderfield, 24, rocked BBC show when they revealed their secret relationship to fellow contestants.
They entered the show pretending they were strangers - but Tom told all in a bid to convince fellow 'faithfuls' they were legit.
Alex has said she totally "tuned out" when Tom surprised her with the admission - and they are still together.
The presenter has revealed she took part in the show after turning down the chance to appear on Love Island.
Alex, from north west London, said: "That kind of genre of reality show where it is more about prancing around in a bikini and falling in love with other contestants, that wasn't for me.
"I'd always kind of shunned it and turned away from doing reality until I saw that the BBC were doing their first ever proper reality show.
"I liked the fact that it was with the BBC and the idea that it wasn't about looks, it wasn't about falling in love - these kinds of boring formats have been done over and over again.
"This was something new - something exciting.
"Before I knew it, I sent off my application almost in vain thinking nothing was going to happen.
"Then, before I know, I'm kind of being buried alive by Claudia Winkleman in the Scottish Highlands."
Magician Tom and Alex decided to keep their relationship secret because they believed it would harm their chances of winning.
But Tom broke down and confessed all.
Recalling the scenes in the show, Alex said: "I just saw black.
"I just completely tuned out of the room at that moment in time and I was like 'ok, oh my god, this is happening.'
"I was thinking about how I could salvage this moment because all that I was getting at that time was hatred from the rest of the cast.
"I honestly just felt like I just had to kind of block out everything just to protect myself because there was a lot that was being said.
"There was a lot of energy, there was a lot of crying and lots of hysterics.
"I was shocked that everyone was reacting that way."
Alex also feared Tom's announcement would jeopardise her time in the game but said it ultimately ended up saving her.
Alex said: "Nobody would have ever clicked on to the fact we were a couple.
"I think it would have come out at some point for us to leave the game.
"In terms of my survival, I think at that moment in time, I had a one in three chance of being murdered because it was me, Ivan and John up for trial.
"On top of that, as a group, we collectively assumed as a group that one of the three must have been a traitor.
"No one was going to vote for John because he was assumed to be faithful - people were right in assuming that - so that left it at 50/50 between me and Ivan.
"If I hadn't survived the round table I would have been murdered, so the fact that I survived the round table and I had so much heat on me and suspicion on me it, therefore, meant that I survived.
"In a weird way, it did actually help me, as I think I could have been a goner that night."
Alex said that it was difficult at the round table discussions seeing people accuse Tom of being a 'traitor' and knowing he wasn't.
She said: "A lot of people had some really dumb theories and it got quite personal and mean for no reason.
"For that reason, it was really difficult to sit there and listen to people chat a lot of sh*t about Tom.
"That is why the one and only time I actually broke down and cried was when Tom got banished because it was so horrible seeing someone you love get attacked like that.
"At that round table where Tom got banished, everyone was hell-bent on voting for him.
"Also, he kind of did shoot himself in the foot by saying 'if I am wrong about Ivan then vote me out tomorrow night' it was like, well, you literally did invite everyone to vote for you - it is a game of survival."
Alex said the loved the escapism element of the show.
She said: "You cannot replicate that in real life - the fact that we would be the first original cast to get to do that and be in the Highlands.
"Yeah it was traumatic, it was stressful, and it was exhausting and you know, we all did struggle.
"When we would go off into the Highlands for our challenges, it was like 'oh my god' this is so magical' - we are all trauma bonded together.
"I loved the escapism from reality for those two to three weeks.
"It was the first time in a long time that I didn't think about everyday life.
"I didn't once think about the problems and worries that I had before going in.
"I was fully immersed and we were all so fully immersed in this Traitors world."
Since leaving the show, Alex said she is still in touch with many members of the cast.
She said: "A lot of us are really close - we'll chat every day.
"We'll have video calls here and there, but obviously, there were so many of us, it would be unrealistic to assume that we're all best buddies - especially in a show where the casting process is specifically tailored towards pitting people against each other.
"In an ideal world, we would all be best buddies and gallivanting around, visiting the Highlands again for good old times sake, but no, of course, there are some people who nobody is that close to."
