A modern series of The Traitors begins - with a delicious twist
The Traitors is back! We've been joined by Series 3 winner Jake and fan favourite Freddie - giving live reaction as the show unfolds
Straight away we're hit with a shocking - and ingenious - twist, our entertainment reporter writes
Twenty-two contestants from across the UK are battling it out to victory up to £120k. Never seen the show? Here's how it works
Edited by faithfuls Alex Smith and Freya Scott-Turner
Just when we thought Alan Carr's swoop to victory couldn't be topped, the show has hooked us with a recent twist. Twenty-two recent contestants and a secret traitor.
I must confess, I've been guilty of judging the performance of the faithfuls in previous series. Now, it's dawning on me that catching traitors is actually quite hard.
We're ending our live coverage shortly, but if you haven't had enough of a Traitors fix yet, there's The Traitors: Uncloaked on BBC Two.
But we'll leave the final words for last year's winner, Jake.
I hope the traitors start turning on each other. Love a bit of drama.
Netty and Ross - you can banish them. Like it’s a fine excuse, So wouldn’t murder her.
So the secret traitor has chosen their three shortlisted candidates for tonight's murder:
So that means one of them will be murdered - and more importantly, none of them are the mysterious secret traitor.
A bit more now on Roxy and Judy - after it’s just been revealed that they are mother and daughter (not that the other players know it yet).
Executive producer Mike Cotton told journalists last month that, unlike the celebrity spin-off: "One of the great things about the regular version is the contestants can come in with secrets, whether that's about their lives or secret relationships.”
We're keeping our fingers crossed for a substantial dramatic reveal to the other contestants later in the series, on the same level as Diane's iconic line in series two: "Paul just couldn't be my son... but Ross is."
Asked how producers decide when to reveal the relationship to other players and viewers, Cotton said: “We never know when we're going to deploy it. When we're going into filming, we go in, wait to see how it plays out, and decide whether we want to reveal that.”
I think her daughter Roxy is definitely the secret traitor - my money's on it, and I don't know why.
I'd been wondering if any of the contestants were related.
It's a classic part of each series, and now we know - this year it's a mother-daughter thing. Things are sure to get juicy.
The competition plays tricks on your mind. No one wants to be first out.
I don’t think the secret traitor is one of the 10.
It makes no sense for the traitors to be up for murder? They’ll want as many options as possible, no?
And what happens if the secret traitor is first banished??
With that, the first mission is now over - and £10,000 has been added to the prize bank.
And as Claudia says, "there's always a sting in the tail" with the Traitors. Twelve contestants picked up a shield in that task, so 10 contestants will be up for murder.
No round table tonight - lets head back to the castle.
I’d be fuming if someone put my coffin there and put me up for murder on the first day.
I remember when there were six of us up for murder and it was actually the worst night's sleep I’ve ever had
I can already picture the round tables being dramatic.
Plot twist with the shields this is where we see how selfish some of these players can be.
And it looks like alliances are starting to form already... oh I love this game!
And Netty is a shout for the secret traitor to be fair.
Literally the worst, trying to steer a boat with people you’ve just met.
Jealous they’ve got a swimming mission. That's one thing we didn’t do, although I bet it’s tiring!!
The missions are no joke - made me realise how unfit I was.
This is where the alliances start - or as Freddie calls them, cliques.
A treasure hunt, trying to ID songs with your head underwater, or hauling enormous structures up hills. We've seen it all over the previous series.
What awful ordeal are they going to put the contestants through this time?
They get to choose the murders no way! They know exactly who they are!
Can’t believe she’s telling them - this is TV gold - and I love this point-of-view camera angle.
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