The Traitors UK has just came to an epic finale, which saw the Faithfuls walk away victorious in a brutal and tense End Game which played out in front of viewers.
During the intense final episode which aired last week, Faithfuls Leanne and Jake celebrated their victory with a hefty sum of £94,600, while Alexander and Frankie narrowly missed out despite being loyal players.
And now, a former star on the hit BBC show has admitted that grudges between players ‘came back’ after watching the episodes, as they detailed that the transition going back to normal life happened very quickly.
Ivan Brett, who competed on The Traitors back in 2023 for its first ever season, has given an insight on how the cast reacted to the series coming to air for the first time
Opening up on the immediate aftermath of filming, as well as the reception from viewers, Ivan says the WhatsApp group chat was ‘very intense’ with over 400 messages a day, and says the experience was “like all being in love with each other” after filming ended.
Aside from discussing how long people kept recognising him for, Ivan candidly admitted cast concerns that the show ‘failed’ after the first three episodes, and how some of the contenders later ‘skyrocketed’ on Instagram following their stint on the programme.
Speaking to Spin Genie, Ivan also shared the advice he gave to series two players and admits some grudges formed on the show “did come back” when season one came to air months later.
When discussing the gap between filming and the show airing, Ivan said: “It was crazy. As soon as the show was over and everyone was in the group chat, it was really intense. That group chat was, the kinds of WhatsApps you’ve got when you get back to it, you’ve been away for an hour, and there’s 400 messages. That was every single day.”
Join the Daily Record’s WhatsApp community hereand get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
Discussing the drama which played out on screens, he noted: “I didn’t think at the time people were holding grudges. I think actually some of the grudges that people held kind of came back when watching the show. Between it filming and it coming out, it was a really happy family feeling.
“Everyone loved everyone. We were just all in love with each other in this kind of amazing way. We had this secret, and no one else was talking about what happened, and we really expected, by that point, that it was going to be this big hit. What a really famous musician when they are sitting on an album and they haven’t released it yet but can’t wait for the world to see it.
“We obviously couldn’t tell anyone else about it, and we were supposed to keep it totally secret, and we did, but we definitely hung out together. Some of us went to Centre Parcs together! It was only when the show started coming out, it became a lot more difficult to feel like we shared that secret, because the world knew about it.”
Speaking of how he handled the show airing, Ivan added: “It was very intense, and for quite a short amount of time, we were celebrities now. But of course, most of us realised we’d go back to our normal lives very quickly.
“Some of us within days, some of them, some of us within months, some of them within a couple of years. For me, it was very quick, a few days and being shouted out on the tube, and then a couple of weeks later, basically, life was normal again.”
When asked what it was like watching the show run for a second series and reliving his time at the castle, he continued: “It was really exciting, it felt great to see other people getting to experience what we experienced.
“There was definitely a feeling of jealousy, like, ‘how come they’re getting to do it?’ I ended up being really proud of them. As it was happening, I messaged them on Instagram, and I’d be like, ‘This is amazing, I love this bit, you came across so well in this,’ and I just tried to reach out and contact them.”
He concluded: “The experience of watching yourself back on TV was a lot more anxiety inducing than the experience of being on the show. There was anxiety, but it was overwhelming in other ways as well. How were they going to show me? What are people going to think? I really wanted to help support [season 2 contestants] through that.
“There was some initial jealousy of, ‘That’s not fair, I want to be doing that, I want a second chance’. After that, it was a feeling of pure pride. It’s been fun with a bunch of season two contestants as well. I just think they’re fantastic. We have this thing right, which we share, which is that we’ve been through this show experience. It feels like a special connection.”
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our daily Showbiz newsletter here.