By Minnie Wright

Published: Saturday, 24 December 2022 at 12:00 am


The BBC’s hit new reality TV gameshow The Traitors hasn’t even officially been renewed for a second season yet and people are already clamouring in the hopes of getting a spot in the line-up.

The thrilling, twisty format had viewers gripped from the start when it landed on our screens last month.

With Claudia Winkleman at the helm, the 12-part series saw a group of contestants divided into Traitors and Faithfuls before the game was on for the former to eliminate the latter one-by-one – and the latter to try to identify the former in order to prevent them stealing the entire prize pot.

And it came down to one hell of a finale earlier this week when the last five standing – Faithfuls Meryl, Hannah and Aaron and Traitors Wilf and Kieran – went head-to-head in a tense climax to the series.

Ultimately, the Faithfuls came out on top, walking away with the prize money.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, winners Aaron, Meryl and Hannah have now revealed their advice for fans hoping to make it onto the show next season (if there is a next season…).

“Definitely do it,” Meryl urged those thinking of applying. “And just be yourself. That’s what I was. I went through the whole interview stage myself.

“Just be yourself and if you want to do it, do it! Never let anyone say no, that’s what I basically say. If someone says no, you’re asking the wrong person. So just always just keep on trying – and definitely just be yourself and that should be enough.”

And once you manage to get on the show?

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The Traitors final five with host Claudia Winkleman
BBC

“Just don’t have a game plan because it changes every day,” Hannah advised. “And always be open to your best mate being a Traitor.”

“What advice would I give? Probably just to be yourself,” Arron said. “Because if you’re gonna start trying to act like someone else, that’s gonna be really hard to carry the whole way through.”

In terms of tactics, Aaron continued: “Obviously it’s called ‘The Traitors’, it’s not called ‘The Faithfuls’, so they are the ones that manage the game – and it’s really difficult to suss them out. But try and befriend everyone you possibly can, and hope that one of them is going to be the Traitor and they can kind of carry you the whole way to the end.

“But just be be yourself, at the end of the day, because you can’t be anything because otherwise people just suss you out.”

Additional reporting by Lauren Morris.

The Traitors is available to catch up now on BBC iPlayer. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide, visit our Entertainment hub for the latest news.

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