After a year-long hiatus, the BBC’s popular reality competition The Traitors made a thrilling return to our screens, packed with more unexpected twists than ever before.
The third series kicked off on New Year’s Day (January 1), and saw an astonishing four contestants eliminated in the very first episode. Three of the players were ousted before the games even began, with the 25-strong cast forced to decide amongst themselves who should depart in a shocking twist that occurred just minutes into the first episode.
Audiences watched as the train transporting the players to Ardross Castle abruptly stopped, followed by host Claudia Winkleman’s voice echoing over the vehicle’s speakers. She informed the group they had a mere 10 minutes to decide who would exit each of the three carriages to reduce the number of players to 22, with £1,000 being deducted from the prize pot for each minute they took to decide, reports Wales Online.
Despite the premature departure of three contestants, the Traitors – Minah, Armani and Linda – proceeded with the first ‘murder’ of the series, selecting 34-year-old communication doctor Yin as their target.
“Honestly, I’m still half in denial that it’s happened,” Yin admitted following her unexpected departure. “It’s a lot sooner than I expected but I did know for a fact that if I was chosen as a Faithful which is more likely given the odds that this was a very real possibility, so I did mentally and emotionally prepare myself for the worst possible outcome of leaving first. The rug was pulled from under my feet and I just had to accept that this was the situation.”
Despite being the inaugural casualty of the series, she says the “surreal” experience “met my expectations 110 per cent.”
“It was so odd to immerse myself within an environment that I’d seen on previous seasons. I’d watched Australia and the UK and US series and every detail, such as the knight and the bar area and the different decorations and how could you forget the breakfast table. All of these little details literally were exactly as expected. So, it felt quite surreal for that reason.”
Before joining the show, Yin had revealed her plans should she win The Traitors’ jackpot. She intended to repay a “pretty large loan” from her mother that supported her in purchasing her first home and also to kick start a fresh business venture.
“I’ve been paying her back quite slowly, but this would allow me to finally just send her a sizable amount, because she’s not a wealthy person herself, she’s just self-sacrificing for her children and her family,” she revealed. “Secondly, I’ve always been toying with this idea of starting my own website around my communication science discipline. I called the whole thing Yin-powerment.”
The Traitors continues tonight at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer