'Tis the season – and no, we’re not talking about Christmas. It’s time for The Traitors season two, which is currently going strong. If you've watched before, you'll know that means more deception, more angsty conversations and oh so much more backstabbing.
In a remote Scottish castle, 22 contestants will compete to win a £120,000 prize by catching and eliminating the secret ‘Traitors’ in their group. If they manage to do it by the final round, they'll each get a share of the prize. If they don't, then any remaining Traitors walk off with it all instead.
Naturally, this kick-started a global phenomenon as the contestants then proceeded to get their Machiavelli on – and as the drama hits its stride (anybody for a real life funeral, complete with Claudia Winkleman in all black?), we’ve rounded up some of the best moments from the truly bonkers season one, where it all began. Enjoy.
The elimination line
Host and fashionista Claudia Winkleman (seriously, who else is capable of pulling off a cape with such flair?) kicked things off with a bang at the start of season one, by asking the contestants to all stand in a line. The aim: to rank themselves based on who was most and least likely to win.
Amos and Kieran took their place at the end of the line – only to be brutally booted off the show by Claudia. They duly packed their bags and left (for the time being, anyway) leaving the contestants (and the nation) reeling.
Wilf and Amanda kicking out Alyssa
The clue is in the name – but it still came as a shock when Will and Amanda turned on fellow Traitor Alyssa early in the show and sent her packing. Clearly fearing being knocked out during the elimination round (where contestants vote for who they think should leave, Weakest Link-style) Wilf wrote Alyssa’s name on his board.
With votes for Wilf and Alyssa neck and neck, Amanda finally cast the last vote, stunning the nation in the process.
Amanda channelling Wales' spirit animal
Amanda then cemented her status as a show icon shortly after Alyssa’s dramatic exit. In a secret meeting with fellow Traitor Wilf, she warned him against turning on her like the pair did with Alyssa, comparing herself to the Welsh dragon. “What is on the Welsh flag?” she asked Wilf. “A dragon…” he replied. A pause. “If you throw me under the bus…”
Alex and Tom's startling revelation
In perhaps the weirdest turn of events on the show, contestants Alex (27) and Tom (24) entered the show as a couple, but attempted to hide their relationship because they thought it would ruin their chances of winning.
During one particularly tense meeting, suspicion fell on Alex, prompting magician Tom to stand up and deliver the immortal line, “Alex isn’t a Traitor… she’s my GIRLFRIEND!” Cue dropped jaws all round.
Wilf turning on Amanda
Oh, Amanda. Despite her ominous warnings to Wilf, he decided to tussle with the dragon after all. She was left blindsided when Wilf turned on her during a heated roundtable – carefully planting the idea of her guilt in his fellow contestants’ heads before casting the deciding vote during the elimination.
“I’m really sorry Amanda, I put your name,” he said at the time. “The only reason is I didn’t really understand how you could turn on Theo. That was really difficult… if I’ve got it wrong [about you being a Traitor], I’m really sorry.” Top backstabbing behaviour.
Maddy's detective work
Channelling the vague essence of an ancient Greek oracle, Maddy was convinced that Wilf was a traitor from the very beginning. Though her logic was deeply flawed, and the evidence she gathered was questionable â she was convinced that Wilf was in cahoots with pure, innocent Aaron â she frequently identified the right suspects anyway. Unfortunately for poor Maddy, the rest of the contestants largely ignored or ridiculed her theories. Very much the Cassandra of the show.
Claudia’s taste for tweed
It’s unclear whether it’s mandatory to wear ridiculous quantities of tweed for The Traitors presenting gig, or if it’s simply the influence of hanging out at a massive Scottish castle, but either way, Claudia Winkleman embraced it with aplomb. Along with the abundance of tweed, she frequently wore fingerless gloves, and decadently knitted roll-necks so enormous that her face was barely visible between that and her impressive fringe.
The kiss of death
For most of the series, traitors ‘murdered’ their fellow contestants by gathering together in a tiny little turret to select their next victim; Faithfuls found out their fate when they received a wax-stamped note in the middle of the night. But towards the end of the series, producers shook things up: the traitors would need to murder in plain sight at the world’s more tense dinner party. In a stroke of camp genius, somebody behind the scenes decided that it would be a good idea to have the traitors administer a ‘kiss of death’ to identify their next murder target – Amanda duly obliged and ruined the entire night with a single peck. Iconic.
When Andrea became a queer icon
It was impossible not to fall in love with Andrea. Aged 72 at the time of filming, she put her all into every single physical challenge (despite having two false knees) and made firm friends in the castle; she also opened up to her fellow contestants about her partner’s death. The two women had been together for 26 years.
“I’m not going to particularly identify myself as a gay icon, but my message and wish for everybody is to love who you like. Don’t let it stop you,” she later told Metro. “It doesn’t matter who they are, what colour, what religion, who gives a f**k? I’m loving women now, I’ve loved women for a little while, before then it was men, so what?”
The finale, aka where Wilf's lies come undone
Up until season one’s completely unhinged finale, Wilf played a blinder: but as time went on, he also became more and more paranoid. After a minor slip-up from Amanda, he panicked and brutally turned on her. That just left him and late recruit Kieran, who began crumbling under the pressure almost immediately. Wilf quickly figured out that he needed to get rid of him, and fast, but Kieran got a whiff of his scheming – in a staggering roundtable, he delivered a “parting gift” by voting for Wilf right before he’s banished. And just like that, Wilf’s entire plan came tumbling down.
