Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Traitors.
Forget the Sopranos ending, move over Ross and Rachel’s “break” … there’s a new all-time iconic TV moment in town and that’s the murder of everyone’s favourite Faithful, Diane Carson from the Traitors. And not just murdered! Slowly poisoned in such a depraved way that she was forced to join a funeral procession, unaware that she was marching towards her own grave.
Last night’s episode was TV gold of the 24 carat variety – high camp, unimaginable tension and a sad farewell to a contestant who, over the course of just seven episodes, has become a reality show hall of famer. The 63-year-old retired teacher may have seemed intimidating when she first came on our screens, but the nation’s hearts soon softened as we saw her mother hen instinct, her exceptional floral-print blouse work, and the bombshell moment where she revealed: “Paul’s not my son … but Ross is!”
She was a walking meme factory. A bona fide gay icon. And now she’s gone. How could they murder her? It’s time to ask the woman herself …
How are you, Diane?
How do you expect I am? I’ve just been murdered, so really poorly!
On the other hand, you’ve also just been part of one of the iconic moments on British television – did it feel like that at the time?
Um, no! I was just there having a laugh. This is all a bit mad.
I’m guessing you didn’t expect to become an overnight gay icon?
I’m very flattered. All the reasons that keep coming up as to why I might be a gay icon seem to be the qualities that really annoy my family, which is the funniest thing ever. One of them would be that I’m very direct and give my opinion when it’s not wanted, but really that is just me being me. I didn’t go in with any strategy. Surviving was my only strategy.
When you walked out of the castle, unwittingly leading your own funeral procession, did you suspect you might be about to die?
At the time Zack was a bit worried so I was more trying to calm him down. And then my next thing was, God, I hope Ross is OK. Once Ross was fine, I relaxed. When they put me up as the person Tracey would have left all her worldly belongings to, and it was wrong … that’s when I knew it was me.
How dramatic was it on set?
Oh God, it felt dramatic! When you come to all the coffins and there’s this mist in the air, and I could feel people beside me taking deep breaths … and of course with everyone in black. Actually, the outfit I brought was navy so they had to go out and sort something else for me last minute. That outfit would not have been my choice, I have to say!
You applied for The Traitors on a whim, didn’t you?
Absolutely. The kids made me watch the programme last year. I said, “I think I could do this,” and they said, “No, you couldn’t! You’re far too opinionated. The best gameplan is to be quiet and merge into the background and you would never do that.” Then my daughter flippantly sent me an application form. I did it just to say “You’ll never guess what I applied for”. Never in a month of Sundays did I think I’d get in.
When did you tell them?
My daughter only found out while I was there. And my other son didn’t get told until the day before it went on air. His sister-in-law sent him a photograph and said: “I’ve seen the lineup for this year’s Traitors and there’s a woman on it who looks like your mum.” He went, “Oh god, that is my mum … and that’s my brother as well!” They were in complete shock.
Did you have a gameplan as to whether you would tell anyone Ross was your son?
We were never going to tell anybody. It would have just put a target on our backs.
What if you’d been rumbled?
I thought, if it gets to the point where we absolutely can’t deny it, then we’ll be totally honest. But once Paul had been mentioned as potentially being my son, we were away because that would have given me so much ammunition. “Paul’s my son, Ross is my son, Jasmine’s my …” You know? I’d have gone on like that and they would have been too embarrassed to say anything. Funnily enough, Paul did tell me right at the start that I looked like his mum.
Do you think that’s wishful thinking?
Obviously!
I must admit that, watching the show last night, I turned to my wife and said: ‘I wish Diane was my mum.’
That’s very sweet of you. I’m not sure my kids would totally agree with that!
Outside the Traitors, how would you describe your relationship with Ross?
What you see on TV is us. We’re a close-knit family and we love all sorts of games. For my 60th birthday a few years ago, they set up a treasure hunt for me in York. Everybody was in costume and I had to go around all the members and chat to them in character. My husband doesn’t do anything like this, he’s quiet and a lot more grounded, but even he was dressed up as a hotdog. It was the best time ever. They got me a bouncy castle!
A lot of people want to know what it’s like behind the scenes on the show. How long were you filming for?
You’re asked to be free for about three weeks.
And where do you sleep during that time?
[Suspiciously] Well, we have lodgings.
I hope it’s not just a Travelodge nearby?
All I can say is, we have lodgings. These are very naughty questions. No more questions like this if you want to be my son!
Ok! What about booze. How much do you drink when you’re there?
I would drink as much as I could get my hands on, as you’ve seen! But there’s not much. There’s a little bit at night if you want it and that’s it.
What about the little hobbies they film you doing in your rooms – we caught you doing lunges, was that your idea?
It was. I do keep fit and trail runs and half marathons, so I thought, lunges is what I would have been doing at night anyway.
How surprised were you when you found out who the Traitors were?
Not surprised about Paul, I was beginning to suspect him. Miles I was surprised about because he’s my mate. I know it’s a game but you can’t help mixing up a friendship with somebody being a Faithful. As for Harry, he wasn’t on my radar at all. What I saw was a lovely, young, polite man who pulled my chair out for me at the Round Table. But when you think back, he did cry quite a bit, which was perhaps him looking for sympathy. Oddly enough, I went for a tarot card reading just before the show started and there were warnings in it about snakes. Harry has a massive snake tattoo … and I still didn’t put two and two together!
Were you gutted to find out Miles had killed you?
I was actually worried that I’d thrown him under the bus by bringing up the drink and getting everyone to focus on the idea the poison was liquid. Of course, once I found out he was a Traitor that’s a different story. I’m, glad he’s out now!
Your appearance on the show has led to an avalanche of exceptional internet content …
Well, I’m not really on social media. I don’t do TikTok or Twitter, but my family are good at filtering it and sending the best memes to me. We did get an Instagram going which my daughter is mostly running, so we have fun posting on that.
The best thing about your Instagram is that you’ve got all this amazing Traitors content up there, but before that there are two solitary posts with results from your local 10km runs!
That’s my bit! I mean, I started an account just to follow Ross and my stepdaughter, who does skincare advice online. And then I thought, well, I’ll just post a couple of runs that I’m proud of. And then a couple of people started following me who I didn’t even know. Now apparently I’ve got thousands of followers.
Proof, if we ever needed it, that Diane is the most iconic contestant on The Traitors#TheTraitorsUK #TheTraitors pic.twitter.com/oYr9s9edhB
— Lynsey James (@LynseyJWrites) January 17, 2024
Who filmed the post of you dancing around to Murder on the Dancefloor?
My son-in-law filmed that. And Ross’s girlfriend suggested it. I think Ross’s girlfriend’s sister did the screenshot of the cast. And I think my daughter added the music. All I did was dance around and drink!
At first I thought you were a little bit stern …
Good! [Laughs]
Is that how people view you at first, outside the show?
Absolutely. I used to be a youth worker on a paramilitary estate. Then I was a teacher on the peace line in Belfast. I’ve also worked with 11-to-16-year-olds who’ve been kicked out of school. So you need a certain amount of sternness, but I don’t think you get anywhere in life being like that all the time. I use humour wherever possible and I don’t think people really got to see my humorous side on the show.
Where do you think you might go next? I could see you on Strictly …
Well I can’t dance so I’m not going to be in Strictly. I’m sort of thinking about Sunday roasts with celebs. How good would that be? My Sunday roasts are delicious and we could just discuss the issues of the world.
One last thing before you have to dash – did you really suspect Ross to be a Traitor?
Only towards the end, because I felt that I’d been in longer than I should have been. But when I had breakfast on the day of my funeral – that’s such a weird thing to say! – I could tell from our chat that he definitely wasn’t a Traitor.
How difficult was it to be ‘buried’ by your son?
I didn’t want to get too emotional because I didn’t want anybody to find out. So I decided to just say one word: “Bye.” It turns out he thought that my final word to him was “Miles”! But I didn’t want to say “I love you” or anything like that because my mouth would have moved too much. I wanted to give him the best possible chance of going on to win The Traitors for us!
• The Traitors continues tonight and Friday on BBC One at 9pm
