| The Traitors | |
|---|---|
| Series 1 | |
 Promotional poster | |
| Presented by | Claudia Winkleman |
| No. of housemates | 22 |
| Location | Ardross, Highland |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 29 November – 22 December 2022 |
| Series chronology | |
The first series of The Traitors premiered on BBC One on 29 November 2022 and concluded on 22 December 2022. It was won by Aaron Evans, Hannah Byczkowski and Meryl Williams.
22 contestants competed on the first series of The Traitors. In a minor twist, Alex & Tom had a pre-existing relationship as they were dating before competing in the series. [1]
Amos and Kieran were apparently banished from the game, on arrival at the castle, after placing themselves at the end of a line of most and least likely to win the show. However, they were both reintroduced to the show in a twist during episode 5. [2]
| Contestant | Age | Hometown | Occupation | Affiliation | Finish [3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aisha Birley | 23 | Manchester, England | Masters Graduate | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 2) [4] |
| Nicky Wilding | 45 | South Croydon, England | Accounts supervisor | Faithful | Banished (Episode 2) [4] |
| Claire Barratt | 43 | Hull, England | Ex-police officer & entrepreneur | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 3) [4] |
| Imran Nasim | 23 | Burgess Hill, England | Scientist | Faithful | Banished (Episode 3) [4] |
| Ivan Brett | 32 | Polruan, England | Author | Faithful | Banished (Episode 4) [4] |
| John McManus | 49 | Edinburgh, Scotland | Spa therapist | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 5) [4] |
| Tom Elderfield | 24 | Chesham, England | Magician | Faithful | Banished (Episode 5) [4] |
| Matt Harris | 23 | Hertfordshire, England | BMX Athlete | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 6) [4] |
| Alyssa Chan | 21 | Cork, Republic of Ireland | Business student | Traitor | Banished (Episode 6) [4] |
| Rayan Rachedi | 25 | North London, England | Trainee lawyer | Faithful | Banished (Episode 7) [4] |
| Alex Gray | 26 | London, England | Presenter & actress | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 8) [4] |
| Amos Ogunkoya | 30 | North London, England | Doctor | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 9) [4] |
| Theo Mayne | 26 | Leeds, England | Cheerleading coach | Faithful | Banished (Episode 9) [4] |
| Fay Greaves | 59 | Bury St Edmunds, England | Head of School Welfare | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 10) [4] |
| Amanda Lovett | 54 | Swansea, Wales | Estate agent | Traitor | Banished (Episode 10) [5] |
| Andrea Addison | 72 | Brussels, Belgium | Retired | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 11) [6] |
| Madelyn "Maddy" Smedley | 29 | Swanley, England | Receptionist & actress | Faithful | Banished (Episode 11) [7] |
| Kieran Tompsett | 42 | Stevenage, England | Solutions consultant | Traitor [a] | Banished (Episode 12) [8] |
| Wilfred "Will"/"Wilf" Webster | 28 | North London, England | Senior fundraiser | Traitor | Banished (Episode 12) [8] |
| Aaron Evans | 24 | Portsmouth, England | Property agent | Faithful | Winner (Episode 12) [9] |
| Hannah Byczkowski | 32 | London, England | Comedian | Faithful | Winner (Episode 12) [9] |
| Meryl Williams | 25 | Edinburgh, Scotland | Call centre agent | Faithful | Winner (Episode 12) [9] |
| Episode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traitors' Decision | None | Aisha | Claire | Alex Ivan John | John | Matt | Alex | Alex | Amos [b] | Fay | Kieran | Andrea | None | ||||||
| Murder | On trial [c] | Murder | Offer | Murder | Blackmail [d] | Murder | |||||||||||||
| Shield | None | Tom | Amanda | Fay | Maddy | Meryl | None | ||||||||||||
| Banishment | Kieran & Amos | Nicky | Imran | Ivan | Tom | Alyssa | Rayan | None [e] | Theo | Amanda | Maddy | Kieran | Banish | Wilfred | End game | ||||
| Vote | Least likely to win | 17–1–1 | 10–6–1 | 7–6–2–1 | 7–4–1–1–1 | 6–5–2–1 | 7–3–2–1 | 6–2–2 | 4–2–1–1 | 4–2 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | |||||
| Aaron | No vote | Imran | Imran | Alex | Tom | Rayan | Maddy | No vote | Theo | Maddy | Maddy | Kieran | Banish | Wilfred | End game | Winners (Episode 12) | |||
| Hannah | Nicky | Imran | Alex | Alex | Alyssa | Rayan | Maddy | Amanda | Maddy | Kieran | Banish | Wilfred | End game | ||||||
| Meryl | Nicky | Imran | Ivan | Tom | Maddy | Rayan | Maddy | Amanda | Maddy | Kieran | End game | Wilfred | End game | ||||||
| Wilfred | Nicky | Aaron | Ivan | Alex | Alyssa | Maddy | Theo | Amanda | Maddy | Kieran | End game | Aaron | Banished (Episode 12) | ||||||
| Kieran [f] | Eliminated | No vote | Wilfred | Rayan | Theo | Amanda | Meryl | Wilfred | Banished (Episode 12) | ||||||||||
| Maddy | Nicky | Aaron | Wilfred | Wilfred | Wilfred | Meryl | Aaron | Aaron | Meryl | Banished (Episode 11) | |||||||||
| Andrea | Nicky | Aaron | Hannah | Tom | Alyssa | Rayan | Theo | Hannah | Murdered (Episode 11) | ||||||||||
| Amanda | Nicky | Imran | Ivan | Alex | Alyssa | Rayan | Theo | Maddy | Banished (Episode 10) | ||||||||||
| Fay | Nicky | Imran | Alex | Tom | Rayan | Maddy | Theo | Murdered (Episode 10) | |||||||||||
| Theo | Nicky | Imran | Alex | Tom | Wilfred | Rayan | Aaron | Banished (Episode 9) | |||||||||||
| Amos [f] | Eliminated | No vote | Wilfred | Rayan | Murdered (Episode 9) | ||||||||||||||
| Alex | Nicky | Imran | Ivan | Rayan | Alyssa | Aaron | Murdered (Episode 8) | ||||||||||||
| Rayan | Nicky | Aaron | Alex | Tom | Alyssa | Aaron | Banished (Episode 7) | ||||||||||||
| Alyssa | Nicky | Aaron | Hannah | Alex | Wilfred | Banished (Episode 6) | |||||||||||||
| Matt | Nicky | Imran | Ivan | Tom | Murdered (Episode 6) | ||||||||||||||
| Tom | Nicky | Imran | Ivan | Alyssa | Banished (Episode 5) | ||||||||||||||
| John | Nicky | Aaron | Ivan | Murdered (Episode 5) | |||||||||||||||
| Ivan | Nicky | Imran | Alex | Banished (Episode 4) | |||||||||||||||
| Imran | Nicky | Theo | Banished (Episode 3) | ||||||||||||||||
| Claire | Nicky | Murdered (Episode 3) | |||||||||||||||||
| Nicky | Fay | Banished (Episode 2) | |||||||||||||||||
| Aisha | Murdered (Episode 2) | ||||||||||||||||||
Key
Notes
| Episode | Task description | Money earned | Running total | Shield winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Split into two teams to build a fuse and set fire to a wicker man. While one half of each team was searching debris on the side of the lake for rope to create the fuse, the other half had to row back across the lake with a torch to light their fuse. The first fuse lit was worth £10,000 and the second £5,000. | £15,000 of £15,000 | £15,000 of £15,000 | No Shield on offer |
| 2 | Eight of the contestants had to ring the bells of the nearby chapel to play a tune, while the remaining contestants searched the Castle for a music box that was playing the same tune. Each music box contained an item – a larger version of which was hidden in the Castle. Each correct item brought back was worth £2,000 for the prize fund. | £8,000 of £10,000 | £23,000 of £25,000 | |
| 3 | Five contestants' names were randomly drawn from a tombola and they would be strapped to a revolving funfair wheel, while the remaining contestants answered Mr & Mrs-style questions. For each answer that matches with someone on the wheel, they would earn £100 for the prize fund – and they would also earn a £2,500 bonus if everyone stayed on the wheel for ten minutes. There are two rounds – each with a potential prize of £5,000 to be won. | £8,700 of £10,000 | £31,700 of £35,000 | |
| 4 | Split into three teams – led by those on Trial. Each team sent one person into a pen full of sheep while their team described a photo of one of the sheep. The person in the pen had to work out which sheep was being described – and each sheep was wearing a coat with the name of a contestant on it. After each round, more sheep were added. Each correct sheep identified by a team would earn £1,000 for the prize fund and the fastest team would be given the chance to earn an extra £1,000 if they could round up all of the sheep within two minutes. | £8,000 of £10,000 | £39,700 of £45,000 | |
| 5 | The contestants were split into two teams and one at a time went into the confessional booth to hear a page and paragraph reference from Claudia. They had to then bring that reference back to Claudia and use The Book of Traitors to find a riddle – leading to a clothing item worn by one member of the masked congregation. Only the first team to identify an item counted, and each correctly identified item earned £2,000 for the pot. The team who identifies the most correct items fastest would be given the first opportunity to visit the Armoury and potentially earn a Shield. In addition, Amos and Kieran were revealed after the challenge to be two of the masked congregation. After a fifth tiebreaker round, Alex, Amanda, Hannah, Meryl, Theo, Tom & Wilfred were sent to the Armoury. | £8,000 of £8,000 | £47,700 of £53,000 | Tom |
| 6 | Split into three teams, two members of each team were buried in underground graves and it was up to the remaining team members to uncover them within 45 minutes. Each person who escaped their grave was worth £1,500 for the prize fund and the fastest team to uncover their two teammates would win a trip to the Armoury. Aaron, Alex, Amanda, Hannah & Theo were the first team to be complete, and were sent to the Armoury. | £9,000 of £9,000 | £56,700 of £62,000 | Amanda |
| 7 | As a group, the contestants had 45 minutes to transport whisky barrels to an old distillery on the top of a nearby hill. Along the way, they would find more barrels of increasing size worth more money, as well as five barrels which would allow contestants of their choice to enter the Armoury. In addition to £8,400 worth of barrels, three of the five Armoury barrels crossed the finish line – and Andrea, Fay & Theo were chosen to enter the Armoury. | £8,400 of £10,000 | £65,100 of £72,000 | Fay |
| 8 | Split into two teams, contestants had to escape a Fishing cabin-themed escape room. For each team who escaped, they would add £3,000 to the prize fund – and the fastest team to escape would be given the opportunity to enter the Armoury. Only the Green Team – Fay, Hannah, Kieran, Maddy, Meryl and Wilfred – escaped in the time limit, and they entered the Armoury. | £3,000 of £6,000 | £68,100 of £78,000 | Maddy |
| 9 | Split into three teams, contestants would drive a route and encounter True or False statements. If they pick the incorrect answer, they would hit a dead end. Teams had 45 minutes to complete their route, and each team who completed the route would earn £2,000 for the prize fund. The fastest team to complete the route would also be given the opportunity to enter the Armoury, where one of them would win the Shield. The Blue Team – Kieran, Meryl & Wilfred – were the first team back and won their tickets to the Armoury. | £6,000 of £6,000 | £74,100 of £84,000 | Meryl |
| 10 | The contestants were given twenty minutes to individually make their way through a room and steal artifacts which were protected by lasers. Each artifact was worth a set amount of money for the prize fund. Breaking a laser would cost the group one minute of time and any artifacts being carried would be lost. After all eight contestants have made an attempt, they are then given a second opportunity. On their first pass, only Wilfred (£2,000) and Aaron (£1,000) collected artifacts and on their second pass, Wilfred (£400) and Kieran (£300) collected artifacts. There was a shield among the artifacts which would keep them safe from murder, but no-one went for it. | £3,700 of £7,000 | £77,800 of £91,000 | None |
| 11 | Suspended over a rickety bridge above a river are bags with different values – ranging from £500 to £2,000. One at a time, blindfolded contestants will go out onto the bridge and be guided by their teammates to collect bags. They have eight minutes each to get their money across the bridge – anyone who falls is out, alongside their money. Only Meryl (£500), Maddy (£750) and Aaron (£2,000) got across the bridge – adding £3,250 to the prize fund. | £3,250 of £7,000 | £81,050 of £98,000 | No Shield on offer |
| 12 | Dotted around Loch Glass are moneybags totalling £20,000. The two strongest swimmers – Aaron & Hannah – had to jump out of a helicopter to swim to a pair of buoys to get the combination to find speedboat keys and a map in a box. The remaining three then had to collect the swimmers before they used the speedboat to find the moneybags in four separate locations over the ten miles of coastline within 30 minutes. | £20,000 of £20,000 | £101,050 of £118,000 |
Series 1 of The Traitors received mixed-to-positive reception, with critics praising the work of host Claudia Winkleman, the season's atmosphere, and its entertaining moments. Primary criticisms were mainly aimed at the show's cast and struggle to choose an age demographic. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it holds an approval rating of 67% based on 6 reviews, with an average rating of 8.00/10. [10] Isobel Lewis of The Independent gave the show 3 out of 5 stars, embracing the show's entertainment factor, writing "The Traitors definitely isn’t a perfect reality show, or even the best in its genre right now, but it is pretty entertaining. Plus, there’s something incredibly satisfying about watching a contestant claim that their fellow player is “a really honest person”, while we sit at home smirking in the knowledge that they're really a traitor". [11] Rating the season 5 stars out of 5, Michael Hogan of The Telegraph praised the show's finale, saying it was "dramatic, deliciously dark and just camp enough, this was old-fashioned event TV". [12] Fiona Sturges of Financial Times praised the show for its twists and turns, writing "On paper, it might sound like a zhuzhed-up version of Cluedo or the children’s game wink murder. In practice, it is a brilliant recipe for multi-layered manoeuvring and top-tier bluffing." [13]
Alison Rowat of The Herald was critical of the show's identity and found it dull, stating the season was "safe, sanitised and deadly dull", adding that "[it is] too silly for older viewers, too bland for the younger streaming crowd, it would be a better fit for BBC3 but here it is, occupying a prime slot over three week nights. Now there's a mystery." [14] Rachel Cooke of The New Statesman was critical of the show, calling it "complicated where it should be straightforward; which aspires to a vague cleverness where it should really aim only for rank stupidity". [15]
| No. overall | No. in series | Title [16] | Original air date | BBC One broadcast [17] | UK viewers (millions) [18] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 29 November 2022 | 29 November 2022 | 3.88 |
| 2 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 30 November 2022 | 30 November 2022 | 3.14 |
| 3 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 1 December 2022 | 1 December 2022 | <2.71 [a] |
| 4 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 6 December 2022 | 6 December 2022 | 3.33 |
| 5 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 7 December 2022 | 7 December 2022 | 3.13 |
| 6 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 8 December 2022 | 8 December 2022 | 3.37 |
| 7 | 7 | "Episode 7" | 13 December 2022 | 13 December 2022 | 3.76 |
| 8 | 8 | "Episode 8" | 15 December 2022 [b] | 15 December 2022 | 3.75 |
| 9 | 9 | "Episode 9" | 16 December 2022 [b] | 16 December 2022 | 3.60 |
| 10 | 10 | "Episode 10" | 20 December 2022 | 20 December 2022 | 4.09 |
| 11 | 11 | "Episode 11" | 21 December 2022 | 21 December 2022 | 4.32 |
| 12 | 12 | "Episode 12" | 22 December 2022 | 22 December 2022 | 4.73 |
Weekly ratings for each show on BBC One. All ratings are provided by BARB. [19]
| Episode | Date | Official rating (millions) | Weekly rank for BBC One | Weekly rank for all UK TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Episode 1 | 29 November | 3.88 | 14 | 25 |
| Episode 2 | 30 November | 3.14 | 25 | 38 |
| Episode 3 | 1 December | <2.71 | — | — |
| Episode 4 | 6 December | 3.33 | 21 | 37 |
| Episode 5 | 7 December | 3.13 | 24 | 45 |
| Episode 6 | 8 December | 3.37 | 20 | 36 |
| Episode 7 | 13 December | 3.76 | 21 | 29 |
| Episode 8 | 15 December | 3.75 | 22 | 30 |
| Episode 9 | 16 December | 3.60 | 23 | 33 |
| Episode 10 | 20 December | 4.09 | 18 | 30 |
| Episode 11 | 21 December | 4.32 | 16 | 25 |
| Episode 12 | 22 December | 4.73 | 12 | 15 |
| Series average | 2022 | 3.74 [a] | — | — |
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