Secrets of traitors: from blindfolded car journeys to sleeping places

The Traitors is one of the few things that gets us out of our January misery. For three nights a week, it feels as if the entire country is living and breathing a cloak-and-dagger drama.

For the other four laborious days when the show doesn’t air, we’re sharing our opinions and theories online with everyone from coworkers to strangers.

But it’s not just strategy and contestants viewers are talking about — my group chat is constantly bombarded with questions about what happens behind the scenes, where the cast goes after leaving the castle, and whether Charlotte will ever learn her real accent. Will reveal.

Fortunately, we no longer need to consider most of Answers to these questions, as former contestants talk to BBC News about the secret workings of the Palace of Traitors.

The order in which the contestants arrive at the breakfast is a source of tension and speculation on the show.

Series one loyalist Maddie Smedley explains that when the contestants arrive at the palace in the morning they are put into separate holding rooms and called to have breakfast individually or as a group.

Similarly, in the evening, contestants wait in a holding room until a runner arrives to personally escort them out of the building and to a car.

Traitor and series two champion Harry Clarke says that there are no clocks in the castle and the contestants have no sense of time.

“You are picked up in the morning and when the filming is over, you are dropped back at the accommodation,” he explains.

“I don’t know what time the missions will start or when lunch will be – we rely on the production team to direct us and in between, we all just sit and talk.”

Unlike the hour-long episodes we see, Harry says the days aren’t filled with wall-to-wall traitor speculation.

“I spent most of the day talking to Paul about Liverpool and Chelsea or finding out if everyone believes in aliens and obviously that stuff doesn’t make the final edit because it’s not relevant to the game.”

Series one loyalist Dr Amos Ogunkoya describes his days at the palace as “a really nice holiday camp until the Round Table Conference”.

“Most of the day we’re learning about each other’s lives and so you become really close to everyone who is there.”

Matt Harris, another loyalist in series one, says that, although the castle is huge, “you’re not allowed off camera, so you can’t walk around the grounds”.

“They’ve created rooms like the library and the bar specifically for the show and the producers tell you which rooms you can go into.”

The lack of clocks makes it difficult to know exactly how late it will be. Anything But The Roundtable is definitely much more than its 10 minutes of screen time.

“In the beginning, there are 22 people,” says Harry. “Even if everyone only speaks for 10 minutes, it’s more than three hours.”

As viewers, it may be hard to understand why the contestants are so emotional during and after the roundtable, but Harry says it’s “really intense.”

“Everyone has their own story and if someone is turned away you are taking away your chance to win money.”

Maddie says she cried so much on the show that “the security guards had to give me ice every morning to keep the swelling down in my face”.

The exact location of the contestants’ residence remains a mystery to us and obviously to the cast as well.

Maddie says, “It’s about a 30-minute drive from the castle but as you approach you’re blindfolded, so you can’t see the car in front or work out exactly where you are “

She explains that the entire production team and cast live in private residences but you are kept separated from everyone else “with military precision.”

“You are allowed to jog but you must be accompanied by a runner and there are two security guards posted on each floor who ensure that you do not leave your room without an escort.

“At first, I was really scared of them because I’d watched the Dutch version of the show and in that, the loyalists were murdered in their hotel rooms, so every time the guard knocked on my door I was like I’m going to leave the game.” ,” she says.

Harry explains that he felt lonely at times in the residence, especially when contestants’ phones were taken away. “But I can’t complain because I slept easy every night knowing I’d be there for breakfast!”

Occasionally viewers will see a bowl of fruit at breakfast or a carrot on their plate at dinner.

The contestants we spoke to gave mixed reviews of the food served on the show.

Dr. Amos says, “Breakfast was terrible, you definitely don’t want to eat too much of it,” but Matt was more generous, describing it as “decent.”

Harry says that “there was a lot of Scottish food like haggis” and added that being a fussy eater, he “wouldn’t touch it”.

But luckily Harry had the option to request food.

During the day, he says he ate “a lot of chicken nuggets and chips” and in the evening, he would ask to have “the perfect traitor fuel” – a crispy sandwich – delivered to his residence.

According to Maddie, if a contestant is banished from the round table, they are “left really immediately”.

“You are taken straight to the exit interview and then taken to the hotel to pack your luggage. The next day, I was escorted to the airport by security guards in the morning and my phone was given back.”

Maddie says the most stressful way to leave the show is murder.

“You come in the morning like you’re going to have breakfast and you’re all waiting in these holding rooms. Eventually, you get called in like you’re going to have breakfast, but instead, they take you to another room. Go where the murder letter is sitting on a chair.

“It was very stressful.”

“The biggest shock was how unscripted everything was,” says Dr. Amos.

Maddie says the only time the producers intervened was to ask her to announce at breakfast that she was an actress.

She explains that while they were waiting to be taken back to the hotel she had already shared this with her fellow contestants and he took off his mic.

Matt says there were some moments that were dictated by the producers.

“Sometimes, people would be singled out and told to go and talk to some other people – it’s natural that they guide you into a position to make good TV.”

“At first it’s weird because there are cameras in your face but after a while, you forget they’re there and the producers never step in,” says Harry.

“Most rooms have cameras in the corner and a mic attached to you so sometimes, you don’t see any of the producers until the end of the day when they meet with you.”

Mike Cotton, creative director of the studio that made The Traitors, explains that “there were cameras all over every single room”.

“I would say there were probably about 50 or 60 of them in the living space within the palace.”

He says a team of camera operators work in pairs to follow the performers in separate rooms – but at a distance.

At the Round Table, he says the cameras are hidden and some are built into the table itself.

“The contestants can’t see any cameras and this is done to keep them immersed because they can only see each other,” he explained.

“When I met Claudia, I was very nervous because she’s so powerful,” says Harry.

“I wanted to be the traitor so badly and I thought she wouldn’t take any notice of us but in reality, she knew everything about everyone.

“She really gets involved and makes you feel really comfortable.”

How much does Claudia Winkleman know about challenges?

According to Harry, “very little.”

“There’s a team that creates missions and everyone else is ignorant about them. I’ll try off-camera to get them to tell me about it or I’ll give them ideas but they won’t listen.”

Claudia recently said His greatest fear is accidentally revealing the identity of the traitors during the filming of the Round Table Conference.

“I’m absolutely crazy about seeing traitors, so I look right over everyone’s heads,” she explained.

Speaking to BBC News and other press last month, Claudia explained that there is a team of people who make decisions.

“We talk to all of them, and then six of us, brilliant casting people, go into a room, and we get seven packets of biscuits.

“I’m the smallest voice in the room, but during a conversation you decide whose voice it will be.”

The team takes into account the wishes of the players and if someone asks not to be a traitor, he or she will not be selected.

Dr. Amos says he made it clear that he wouldn’t be on the show if he wasn’t loyal.

“I wanted to take part in the show but as a doctor I feel that being a traitor and lying to people will have real life consequences because my patients can’t trust me.”

One thing is clear from talking to the contestants that applying for the show is hard work.

After closing your initial written and video applications, you have multiple audiences with creators.

“They mainly ask you to tell stories about yourself and your life,” says Dr. Amos.

“Eventually, if they like you, you’ll get a call a few weeks before (filming starts) saying you’re going to Scotland,” says Harry.

The Traitors is filmed at Ardross Castle, a 19th-century mansion about 30 miles north of Inverness.

It is set in approximately 100 acres of gardens and parkland and has been owned by the MacTaggart family since 1983.

Fun Fact: Its previous owner was Charles William Dyson Perrins whose grandfather, William Perrins (in partnership with John Wheeley Lee), created the recipe for Worcestershire sauce.

Mike Cotton says the crew on location is made up of more than 200 people.

“It absolutely sounds huge but we film an episode a day,” he says.

He explains that this team includes everyone from producers and camera operators to the art department who work their magic on the interior designing of the rooms.

He compares the production to what you might find on a Hollywood movie set.

Dr. Amos says that every member of the crew knew who the traitors were.

“It seems like the loyalists are the majority on the show, but in reality, you feel like you’re a massive minority – everyone from the psychologist supporting you knows who the traitors are.”