It’s been two years since Edinburgh’s Meryl Williams took home victory as a Faithful on the first season of The Traitors, alongside Aaron Evans and Hannah Byczkowski.
It was a finale that kept viewers on edge until the very last moments, when Wilfred Webster was unmasked as a Traitor.
The Scots-South African star explained how the show has evolved since her stint in the original series of the smash hit show. And she opened up on what really happens at those intense round table sessions – and how much interaction contestants truly have with host Claudia Winkleman.
In an exclusive chat with Betway, Meryl, 28, said: “It’s so, so intense. The round table is also a lot longer than what’s shown on the show. “Obviously the show is an hour long, but you are sitting around the table for I’d say a couple of hours. When you go back to your room you literally just sleep because it’s so emotionally and physically draining.
“You don’t want to speak to anyone for another 12 hours! It’s definitely heightened too because everyone is looking at everyone, trying to pick up on clues. It feels like you’re getting attacked! It’s also freezing in the room – I think that they do this deliberately to make you feel even more uncomfortable.”
Shedding some light on the ‘murder’ process and how things are kept under wraps from those not in the know, she went on: “The cars come to pick us all up individually in the evening, just so they can make sure that there are no crossovers. The traitors’ cars then go to leave but then do a U-turn back to the castle.
“They then go to the turret and decide there and then who is getting murdered.
“Before breakfast everyone has a one to one interview on camera, it’s like the Big Brother diary room. This is where the person who’s been ‘murdered’ receives the letter to tell them. I got pulled into the room a few times before breakfast and just presumed it was me who was being murdered, it can be confusing!”
Meryl, who was born and brought up in South Africa but moved to Scotland as a youngster, admitted that cast members don’t spend much time with host Claudia Winkleman.
She said: “She would come out for the filming and say what she had to say, then she would leave again. She loved us, especially the more time we were on the show for. She was also very invested in the show, but she had a job to do.
“She probably wanted to keep her distance a bit because you don’t want to build a relationship with people and then suddenly then could just leave. So yes, it was very professional.
“I was very jealous of her having people come in to do her hair and makeup. She would have makeup artists and stylists coming in. We were just staring at her in awe whilst she was getting her touch ups – like ‘can I have one too, please?’”
Meryl, now an influencer, thinks that the new crop of contestants on series three might find things a bit easier now after she and the original cast blazed a trail. But she admits the series has become ‘more difficult’ since her own year, touching on producers’ focus on capturing every critical moment, while contestants are more likely to ‘secretly sabotage’ tasks.
Meryl, who described her success on the show as “surreal”, said: “The people on this season are definitely more clued up – I don’t think anyone really realised the little slip ups on our season, like Wilfred basically admitted he was a traitor around the round table but nobody clicked onto it! We had no expectations, we just wanted to be friends and find the traitors.
“Whereas now, I feel like they are all for themselves. It’s dog eat dog!
“Watching seasons two and three, they were going in with game plans, they all had strategies, they knew how to work it and they knew what mistakes were made in the first season so could avoid these mistakes. We went in completely blind.”
Meryl’s life changed forever after her appearance on the BBC show, as she’d hoped it would, so current contestants could be in for a wild ride when this run finishes.
She added: “Once it aired, it completely changed my life. I mean, I had a normal job working in customer service before The Traitors, and my biggest dream was just to leave. I was so unhappy. I didn’t like the 9-5 routine.
“I was hoping The Traitors would open some doors and I could quit my job. And that was the first thing I did. It has completely 360’d my life! I went to the NTA’s with The Traitors and we won. I’ve been to the BAFTAs and got a nomination for an Audience Award. It’s also opened a lot of doors for me, and hopefully more in the future too!”
Meryl, who has achondroplasia, revealed she still has some of her share of her £101,000 winnings stashed away, after spending some of it on life changing forehead reduction surgery last year. The procedure, which costs up to £5,000, involves bringing the hairline lower down the forehead and removing excess skin and bone.
Speaking at the time, Meryl said: “I was a bit worried that other people might criticise me for trying to play with something that I was born with, but it was just a personal decision.”
Catch The Traitors on BBC One every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night at 9pm.
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