Ivan Brett, who gained fame from The Traitors, has revealed the reality behind the iconic round table sequences of the popular BBC show.
The 33-year-old featured in the debut season of the reality TV series, which sees Claudia Winkleman at the helm.
With the arrival of the keenly-awaited third UK series launching on New Year’s Day, Ivan has divulged behind-the-scenes details, particularly about the high-stress round table scenes.
At the round table proceedings, Claudia appoints the initial Traitors and during the banishment ceremony, the Faithfuls deliberate and cast their votes to expel one among them suspected of treachery.
Talking as part of Spin Genie‘s AR Treasure Quest launch, Ivan exposed: “You do get to spend quite a lot of time together. It feels quite squeezed when you watch the episode, but the breakfast and the round table scenes last for hours. It’s hard to measure time because they’re quite intense but they do that,” reports the Mirror.
He elaborated: “You do get hours and hours together, which I think is really good. It means the game does play out naturally. Having said that, it is a live set. They’re going to have to reset cameras, take down time, and have a break themselves. So there are definitely moments as well when you’re sort of told, ‘okay, the game’s over, go away’, and everyone sits down somewhere else and is quiet for a bit. Mostly it’s very authentic during that time.”
The former contestant, who was ousted by his peers in his season, has clarified the show’s production authenticity: “Things were portrayed as they happened. We were never asked to retake anything, and we were never put in a room and told to speak to people or anything like that. There was no direction, so I really want to make that clear.”
Regarding the concept of time during filming, he said: “I don’t wear a watch, and obviously you can’t have a phone, so I don’t know. I remember someone saying one of the round tables lasted for three hours, not just the conversation, but the voting as well. You sit there and wait a long time before it starts, and then they pump in some music to hype the tension.”
The Traitors airs on BBC One and iPlayer