After its premiere in 2022,The Traitors UKhas become one of themostentertaining reality TV showsof all time. Hosted by the charismaticClaudia Winkleman,The Traitors UKisn’t your average reality competition, it’s a show about theinner workings of the human mind. If you ask me, the show is amasterclass in psychology. The show brings together a group of complete strangers who aredisconnected from the outside worldand left to rely on their own instincts. Inspired by the 2021 Dutch TV show,De Verraders,The Traitors UKfeatures two groups of contestants known as the Faithfuls and the Traitors.
The objective of the game is for the Faithfuls toexpose the hidden Traitors living among them,while the Traitors must lie, cheat, and betray to ensure their survival.The Traitors UKhas spanned three successful seasons and has even inspiredan American spinoff, hosted byAlan Cumming. And because of its high-stakes format,The Traitors UKhas given the world some of the mostdramatic reality TV momentsof all time. Turns out that when youstrip people down to their most primal instincts,they are willing to do anything for their survival. And when theentire premise of a game is to lie,it’s only a matter of time before things start taking a controversial turn.
The Traitors (UK)
10Charlotte Faking Her Welsh Accent
Charlotte Bermanmight go down in history as one of themost memorableparticipantsThe Traitors UKhas ever seen. Charlotte was a Traitor, but that wasn’t the only secretshe was hiding. Now, I agree thatThe Traitorsis a game about lying and betraying your fellow contestants. But no one saw Charlotte’s lie coming because, well,it was a little pointless.The 33-year-old business director was born and brought up in London, but she faked a Welsh accentto mislead everyone about her identity. Charlotte told the other contestants that she was from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, and had only moved to London as an adult. But then, she lets the camera in on her secret and confesses that she has been putting on a Welsh accent becauseher mother was from Wales. In fact, one of Charlotte’s introduction shots actually included herreading a book on learning Welsh.
Charlotte’s reasoning behind the unusual decision was thatshe believed Welsh to be one of the most trustworthy accents, whatever that means! A lot of fans actually took to social media to call her out forperpetuating stereotypesand claimed that her lie was actually disrespectful to The Welsh. Say what you will, though, but Charlotte managed to do a pretty good job with her accent. She managed tofool fellow contestantElen Wynwho lived in North Wales before moving to Cardiff. Sadly, though, her strategy didn’t pay off in the end, because Charlotte was eventually banished afterFrancesca “Frankie” Rowan-Plowdenidentified her as a Traitor.
9Keith Not Knowing How to Spell
Keith Stewart was a Faithfulin the third installment ofThe Traitors UK.But despite being one of the good ones, he left the fans shocked with aspelling mistakethat he will probably never live down. I’m sure we’ve all made our fair share of spelling mistakes. Butdoing it on national televisionis a whole other story. It all started when the whole group sat down at the roundtable to discuss who they wanted to banish. Soon enough, everyone had startedpointing fingers toward Nathan Khider, who was actually a Faithful too. But while the audience knew thatNathan was on the good side,the rest of the contestants ended up voting him out.
But what made his banishment so memorable wasn’t the fact that it was so brutal and undeserved, it was the way Keith chose to spell Nathan’s name. A fellow Faithful, Keith had no idea he was helping the real Traitors byvoting out Nathan.But when he showed everyone his vote, everyone was in fits seeing thathe had written down “Nather”instead of Nathan. The producers should really consider giving everyone onThe Traitorsnametags from now on, because I don’t understand how anyone could make this mistake. Maybe Keith panicked under pressure, or maybehe just didn’t want Nathan to be voted out.While Keith was murdered by the Traitors shortly after this, hewalked out of the game a legend,who will forever be remembered for this bizarre moment.
8Charlotte Betraying Her Fellow Traitors
Whether it was thanks to her fake Welsh accent or the fact thatshe was actually a skilled player, Charlotte managed to survive all the way toThe Traitors UKSeries 3 finale. But while she had worked hard tobuild trust and play the long game, it was hard to believe that she would easily turn on her allies at the last moment. For starters, Charlotteconvinced Traitor Minah Shannon that she was on her side. But when it was time for the roundtable, Charlotte shocked everyone when shecast the deciding vote that eliminated Minah. It was a brutal move that made the Faithfuls believe they had successfully eliminated all the Traitors, andCharlotte became the hero.
But Charlotte wasn’t done yet. She was later given the power to either recruit or murder a fellow contestant. However, instead of making the safe choice of finding herself a strong ally, she brought in FaithfulFreddie Fraserandset him up for immediate failurewhen she made him targetLeanne Quigley. When Freddie’s attempt failed, everyone’s suspicions would be directed toward him. And it was a great plan until it backfired whenFreddie decided to turn on Charlotteand write her name at the roundtable. That’s when her strategy began to fail and everyone realized thatCharlotte might not be as honest as she seemed.Just goes to show that sometimes, Charlotte was just too clever for her own good.
7Freddie’s Shirtless Shower
Freddie’s sabotage of Charlotte’s plan wasn’t the only thing that earned him recognition on the show. In fact, way before he got the chance to step into the role of a Traitor,Freddie had already gone viral, not for his gameplay and strategy, but fora completely unexpected reason. DuringThe Traitors UKSeries 3, Episode 2, the viewers were treated to a slow-motion montage ofFreddie taking a shower.The racy scene featured Freddie showing off thetattoos on his toned armsalong with hisripped absas he wore nothing but a silver necklace. Now, I’ll be honest, the moment came out of nowhere and left a lot of fans wonderingwhy it was shown in the first place.
This might have been the first time the audience was exposed toa full-blown thirst trapon the reality show, granted that it lasted less than 10 seconds in total. Now, of course, a lot of fansenjoyed the moment for what it wasand appreciated it for what it was. But some were pretty offended and claimed thatThe Traitors UKwas also turning intoa typical reality showthat relied on shock value for ratings. As reported byThe Mirror UK, Freddie’s own mother thought that the scene was uncomfortable, especially becauseshe watched it with her mom.But because of all the attention the viral scene received, Freddie went on to become one of themost recognizable faces on the reality TV franchise.
6Lisa Revealing She’s A Priest
Lisa Couplandwas yet another Faithful whokicked things off by lying.But unlike Charlotte, she wasn’t lying about her nationality,Lisa was lying about her occupation. Sometimes, lying about certain things on the show can prove to be a good strategy. Think ofMaddy SmedlyinThe Traitors UKSeries 1 for instance, whenMaddy hid the fact that she was an actressto avoid raising unnecessary suspicion towards herself. Similarly, Lisa decided to conceal thatshe was a priestin the first few episodes. But little did the viewers know that she was going touse that information as ammo.As the game progressed, Lisa found herself in a tight spot when the rest of the contestants started suspecting her of being a Traitor. So,she decided to play the priest cardin order to earn the group’s trust. I mean, no one would suspect a priest of lying, right?
Sadly, the revelation proved to be one of themost controversial momentsin the show becausethe contestants immediately turned on Lisaafter this. For starters, nobody cared about her announcement as much as she thought they would. And secondly, the Faithfuls started questioning why Lisa hid her occupation in the first place. They believed that if shewas willing to lie about being a priest,she could very well be hiding other secrets. And in a single moment,Lisa became the victim of the roundtable.
5Alex and Tom’s Relationship
Alex GrayandTom Elderfieldwill forever be remembered for being the first players to enterThe Traitors UKwhile they were in a relationship. But the problem was that they decided to keep their romance a secret. And it’s safe to say thatTom’s sudden revelation about theirsecret relationshipwas one ofthe most shocking momentsin the history of the reality show. I have to admit thatTom and Alex’s strategy was pretty risky.While they hid their relationship to gain an advantage over the rest of the players, things came crashing down when they least expected it. WhenAlex was placed on trial by the Traitors,Tom gave in and revealed their relationship in a desperate attempt to save her. His iconic line: “Alex isn’t a Traitor… she’s my girlfriend!” took the audience and the other contestants by complete surprise.
But the move backfired because now, the Faithfuls had all the morereason to doubt the couple. They were immediately branded as liars and this gave the real Traitors a chance to shift the attention away from them. The entire game turned upside down because of Tom’s sudden outburst whichthrew his and Alex’s strategy out the window. But the worst part was seeingMatt Harris’sreaction to the news. The poor guyhad the hots for Alexand believed that they had a future together. When he found out that she was dating Tom, his heartbreak was aired for the whole world to see.
4Kasim’s Harold Shipman Moment
Kasim Ahmedwas a fan-favorite onThe Traitors UKSeason 3. That’s partly why his banishment was so hard to watch. But that wasn’t the only reason, becausethe reasoning behind his eliminationmight just be the most ridiculous thing you will ever hear. Even Kasim couldn’t help but joke about it. It all started whenJake Brownmadea controversial commentand basicallycompared the Cambridge-based doctorto the notorious serial killerHarold Shipman.Jake wanted to suggest that Kasim could be a traitor because he“saves lives during the day and then kills at night,”which is what Harold was infamous for.
Of course, the comment did not go down well with the viewers and Jake’s fellow contestants, who felt like the comparison wascompletely uncalled for.While Jake didn’t name the serial killer, Kasim was quick to call him out on it.“You’re basically calling me Harold Shipman or something”became one of the most quotable lines of the season. Now, it’s fair that Jake was under fire forwanting Kasim out over something so ridiculous. But it just goes to show the paranoia that had taken over at that point in the game. But at least Kasim’s good sense of humor helped him accept his defeat when he was eliminated. However, he kept the others guessing til the last moment ashe gave a dramatic speechwhere everyone was convinced that he was going toadmit to being a Traitor. But unfortunately,Kasim revealed that he was a Faithfulbefore he walked out and left everyone in total disbelief.
3Charlotte and Francesca’s Awkward Breakfast
The Traitors UKSeason 3 definitely gave ussome ofthe show’s weirdest moments. But this one definitely takes the cake for being the most awkward. Considering that these two were actually friends whenFrancesa won the power of the Seerand found out that Charlotte was a Traitor, it was a punch in the gut for her. The next morning, the two ladies wereextremely cold toward each otheras they pretended like nothing had happened. But Charlotte went on the defense and completelychanged the narrative to protect herself.
During breakfast, she told the rest of the group that Francesca had actuallyconfirmed that she was a Faithful.Talk about gaslighting! And because Francesca wasn’t allowed to expose the truth to the others, she had to sit there andmuster up forced smiles.The craziest part is that the rest of the contestants had no idea that she probably wanted to strangle Charlotte at that moment. What’s worse is thatCharlotte doubled down on her liesand implied that Francesca might try to spin the story another way because she had been off with her beforehand. As brilliant as it was, watchingCharlotte completely betray her friendwas uncomfortable to watch.
2Linda’s Fake Crying
Linda Randsgave anOscar-worthy performanceafter orchestrating the brutal murder ofLivi Deane. The morning after, Linda showed up to breakfast and startedcrying over Livi’s absence. The only problem was that no one had actually seen her interacting with Livi all that much, which made her crying seem a little fake. Not to mention thather tears were so dramatic and over-the-topthat they instantly raised suspicions. “My girl,” Linda said as she sobbed over Livi’s murder while the rest of the group watched in silence. Little did she know that absolutelyno one was buying her act.
I have to admit, this scene was one of the highlights of the season for me because Linda pretty much sealed her fate after shedding all these crocodile tears. She should have taken a page out of the other Traitors’ book andrelied on subtle manipulationinstead of melodrama. But this wasn’t the only instance where shegave her identity away.Let’s not forget the moment when shevisibly panicked and turned her headat the simple mention of the Traitors from hostClaudia Winkleman. I mean, she pretty much set herself up as one of themost obvious villains of the seasonwith her antics.
1Mollie Blindly Trusting Harry
Harry Clark’sbetrayal ofMollie PearceduringThe Traitors UKSeason 2 is exactly what makes this show so brutal and heartbreaking. Mollie and Harry made it to the finale and, at that point,everything depended on whether Mollie would trust Harry or see through his carefully crafted lies. WhileJaz Singhhadalerted Mollie of his suspicions,she just couldn’t believe that her closest ally would lie to her. So, when shedecided to eliminate Jazinstead of Harry, the fans knew that she was going to regret her decision.
And rightfully so, a few moments later, as the two of them stood in front of the burning bit, the truth was finally revealed. AsHarry admitted to being a Traitor all along, Mollie was devastated. She couldn’t believe that she had been manipulated by the only person she trusted in the game. But you have to give Harry credit for playing the game like he was supposed to. As hewalked away with the entire £95,000 prize pot,his betrayal became one of the most upsetting moments in the show’s history.
