Was it really a mere three weeks ago that 22 players arrived in the Scottish highlands to begin the game of a lifetime?
What a three weeks it’s been. This has probably been the most dramatic season yet, and certainly the meanest: we’ve had backstabbings, brutal roastings at the round table and more ‘it’s not personal but it is’ banishments than we can shake a stick at. The gentility of The Celebrity Traitors feels a long way away.
Doesn’t it make for good television though, and not just for Stephen’s impeccable reactions. This final episode, the stakes could not be higher: would an actual Traitor (Rachel) be banished, or a chaotic Faithful (James)?
Spoiler alert: Rachel wriggled free once more. The woman has more lives than a cat, and this time, the only reason she was saved was luck. “To leave it to chance like that is just unbelievable,” she told the camera, and she’d be right.
She didn’t seem fazed, though. Soon enough, Rachel was plotting once more, this time telling a gullible Faraaz that the real Traitor was Jade. At the same time, Stephen was fretting about whether he could trust Rachel, or whether it would be easier to make it to the finale solo.
Basically, the table was being laid for an epic confrontation. Yes, there was a final challenge. And yes, they got to ride a helicopter; they always do in the finale. But we don’t tune in to watch the players mince around a loch in speedboats. We’re here to watch them rip into each other in an attempt to clinch the prize fund for themselves.
And the second half of the episode certainly delivered on that. Faraaz was plotting with Jack to take out everybody else; Jack was plotting with Jade and Stephen to vote out Rachel; Rachel was plotting with Faraaz to take out Stephen.
Predictably, then, the round table was tense. But finally, it was Jade whose number was up, and then it was down to four. Could Stephen and Rachel’s relationship carry them through to the end?
Turns out, it could. Rachel’s world class gameplay paid off once more, and Faraaz was voted out. With Jack standing between two Traitors, the game was theirs to win. And win they did: soon enough, Jack was leaving the castle for good.
“Maybe they were both Traitors and they’d agreed they’d win the game together,” a baffled Jack said after they voted him out. Maybe, Jack. Maybe.
But Stephen and Rachel have been incredible. As Claudia put it, they’ve been “two Traitors, but totally Faithful to each other”: certainly, that’s a first for the show. And now, each of them £50,000 richer.
What a season. It’s been nasty, sure, but it’s also delivered on thrills, spills and drama, as well as a barnstorming ending. The worthiest contestants won. Four seasons in, this show is still proving why it’s the GOAT of reality TV; roll on Celeb Traitors 2026.
The Traitors is available to watch on iPlayer
