Paul from The Traitors spills all on the new series inc what Lancashire hopeful Maz's chances are
As the latest series of the BBC’s popular deception show, The Traitors, has kicked off, we sat down for an exclusive chat with one of the show’s most iconic contestants.
The Traitors series four premiered on BBC Once last night and as well as the 22 new faces in the castle, a brand new twist was revealed too.
This year will be the first to have a secret traitor whose identity will be a mystery to everyone, including the viewers.
The first episode also saw our Lancashire hopeful, civil servant Maz from Preston, be put up for murder alongside two others.
Straight off the back of the series’ premiere, we were keen to hear what one of the Traitor’s most well known former contestants thought of it all.
Manchester based business manager Paul Gorton appeared as a traitor in series two of the progamme, and created a name for himself as quite the villain.
He sat down to have a chat with us, courtesy of WhichBingo, so see what he had to say next - afer he wished us a ‘Happy Traitors Christmas’!
Did you watch the first episode last night?
“Yes, I watched the first episode! It's the best first episode- except for season two obviously- that I've seen. I think the secret traitor is the best addition to a game show that's ever been. I think it is absolutely incredible that normally there's, what, 19 people or so that are faithful. Now there's six or seven million people that are going to be sat at home trying to figure out who the secret traitor is. And it's amazing to see how many people are coming up with these wild theories - ‘, I think it's this person because of what they said, and blah, blah, blah’- and I promise you, most of them, or all of them, are wrong. It is proper needle in the haystack type of stuff so I love it. I literally loved the episode yesterday.
“I thought the game was amazing. I love that they're doing jeopardy straight away… What's really interesting is, in our season, there was an episode where you had to use a crossbow to knock out a pane of glass, and effectively if your name is on the glass, then you would lose a shield. And what everyone said is ‘we'll just aim for our own and sacrifice ourselves’ but what was really interesting yesterday is I would have thought people would go ‘well, let's just put the money in our own coffins and we'll put ourselves up’ because that seems to be the most fair. But they didn't do that. Everyone was like ‘No, we're just going to do everyone from the boat over ther’e. So I think it shows that everyone's in that game to play and I think it's going to get really brutal, really quick. I don't think it's gonna waste any time like the celebrity one was very fun, full of laughter, full of warmth. I think this one is going to be more like season three, where people are just like, they're gonna go for the jugular almost straight away.”
So what did you make of the 22 new faces?
“I think that the casting from Studio Lambert is absolutely exceptional. I think what's amazing is they've cast 22 people, and none of them are reminiscent from season three or season two or even season one. I think what people try and do often is ‘oh, well, this person is very like’- Freddie, for argument's sake, in season three, is very similar to Harry or ‘Jonathan Ross is playing the game very similar to Paul’, whereas I think these guys all seem to be so different. I don't think we've seen any traitors that have been like this before. You know, you've got a barrister in there, you've got this Head of Communications, corporate person in there, and then this kind of, maybe younger and more affable, soft edges wouldn't hurt a fly type guy.I think they've done incredibly well, but they do cast the best people, obviously. But the secret traitor for me is what I always go back to, because I cannot believe that there's going to be millions of people at home all coming up with those same theories of who it is. It's brilliant.”
You said people all have the wrong theories so does that mean you have a theory about who the secret traitor is?
“I've got a boring theory. I think there's two names- I've got Amanda and Sam. Amanda, obviously, the detective that has been fighting crime forever, and now she wants to go on the other side, she would be very good as a secret traitor. The longer she stays in the game and she's not killed, the more likely it is that she's a secret traitor. But I do think she's going to get herself banished, because she's just so strong and so intelligent and just comes across like she really knows what she's doing, and that normally is threatening to faithfuls and traitors. Then you've got Sam. Now, Sam pitched himself in a very similar way that I did, where he was like, ‘I can be brutal and cutthroat and all of these things’ and I think he really, really pitched himself well to be a traitor. So when he wasn't picked, I was shocked. So if he was picked to be a secret traitor, it would kind of work, but they're like my boring theories. But what I'm hoping for, and I'm dying for, is for it to just be someone completely left field that no one has even learned their name yet. It is just someone that is just kind of sat, and they're just kind of ticking along, maybe even like a Fiona, where she's kind of like this lovely, affable woman that's building relationships with everyone, and she doesn't fully understand what's going on. Wouldn’t it be great if that was all a mask and she was actually behind killing these people? It's the best inclusion that I've ever seen of a game show. I think it's fascinating.”
Could you predict right now whether you think the traitors or the faithful would win?
“I think the secret traitor has the most likelihood of winning if they go through the game and it stays the way it is, because they get to dictate and put people up for murder, so that they can literally dictate who goes around them. I think that's absolutely fascinating. And because they're a secret traitor and no one else knows their identity, they also don't have the pressure of teamwork and backstabbing. So I can see Rachel and Hugo butting heads quite a lot. I can see Steven and Rachel working well together. But, you know, as a traitor, you've always got to look for who's going to be stabbing you in the back in order to get themselves forward. I did that a lot. Harry did that a lot. So, you know, it's tricky. There's almost an internal battle within the turret as well as outside in the actual castle, whereas the secret traitor can just crack on, but they can't keep recommending three names, because after half of the season's done, they would have recommended everyone and they'd be guessed. So I've got a feeling that maybe the secret traitor then becomes part of the actual traitors. They get brought in after halfway, maybe, because there's one in 16 now and after today's episode, if they recommend three again, it'll be one in 13. So, you know, it does whistle down that, you know, if one of half the people left could be a secret traitor. It's fascinating. The casting is incredible. You've got someone in there with a stammer. So I think when it comes to people that want inclusion, I think that's absolutely incredible. I think it's going to be really difficult, because how do you accuse someone when you're only going off body language and behavior so that maybe that person could be a secret traitor like you just never know, but they've absolutely hit the nail on the head with people that they've picked. They all seem genuinely game ready to win 120 grand. None of them seem like they want to be there for the experience or for things that will come after the show. They seem like they want to be in there to win money.”
Do you have any thoughts on our Lancashire man Maz as a character?
“I think he's an interesting character so you never know what happens with these people. It's normally the ones that aren't too much in the edit at the start that become bigger characters later on. So you never know. Or they just killed straight away!”
Well Maz wasone of three names put up for murder - alongside James and Nelly - so who do you think the traitors should go for?
“Well, it's interesting because they're three people who, they're all so different, because James is a very quirky character. He's a big talker. He's putting people's names forward. He's having secret conversations, and he's getting really, kind of like, tucked into the game really quick, which I always think is a red flag.
“Then you’ve got Maz, who's just like this lovely fella from Lancashire and you just think, well, he's not really been in the show, so it's kind of like a bit of a red herring kill. Why would someone go and kill him? He hasn't really done too much yet, type of thing, you know, he's not been part of the narrative. So that might just be a random kill.
“Nelly is really interesting because she knows the other fellow… Ross. So I would keep James in because he's causing confusion and putting loads of names out there and makes himself look bad. I would keep Nelly in there because of her relationship with Ross, because that also looks weird, because it's the traitors so do you know each other from 10 years ago? Is this fake? Are you actually husband and wife? Are you brother and sister? Are you actually best friends? Like, there's all that type of stuff. So I've got a feeling that it's gonna be Maz because it's just a curveball, it's just a red herring. It's just kind of like a kill with no basis.
“What I find really interesting, and again, it kind of points towards Amanda being a secret traitor is, anyone in that castle, if you were a traitor, you would identify Amanda. She is the strongest person in there, by far. We obviously know that she's a detective, and we know how strong she is on that point. But even conversationally, when you see the type of conversation she's having, and she's quite stern, you would automatically say that she's a risk, and you would say that she's a traitor. So the fact that you wouldn't kill her makes me think that she might be the secret traitor, because you would kill her in a heart- I would have killed her in a heartbeat. It wouldn't have even been a discussion. Me and Harry would have looked at each other and gone ‘it's Amanda. We have to get rid of her’ and then all of the guys are also very insecure. So Hugo is really emitting insecurity, because he's automatically gone’ the secret traitor is better than us’ and instead of thinking, well, actually, there's three of us that we can kind of go and we can try and find them, and whilst we also kill people and blah, blah, blah and spread narratives, but he's all gone insecure very quick, and automatically assumed that the secret traitor is better than them. So I think Rachel and Steven, if they're going to throw someone under the bus, I think it's going to be Hugo first.”
Obviously, you were a traitor during your series, would you say that reputation has followed you since leaving the show?
“No, I think what's quite funny is and, it was absolutely in no way intended, I turned into this panto villain, and people just loved the character. But I think what's funny is no one really takes me seriously anyway. And I do kind of have this thing where people think I'm making things up, even when I'm being genuine. But there's a TV show coming out this year, which is based on that, with me using that character in another guise, let's say, for another game show, you might not have seen the news. But for me, [Traitor’s] the greatest thing I've ever done in my entire life and if I was a faithful in that show I would have never have developed this kind of, like evil, villainous panto character that went out and did all the things that I did, so I would never change it for the world, and I definitely wouldn't have played it any different.
Would you go back and do it all again if asked?
“Oh, 100 per cent. What's interesting is when I watched last year, I was still watching it as a super fan, whereas this year, even just one episode in maybe because absence makes the heart grow fonder, like I'm watching it, and I'm going ‘Oh, send me back’. Like, I want to be back in there. I want to kind of go through everything that they're going through again.. In season three or the celeb one, I didn't fully feel it, but in this one at the round table, when Claudia was walking around, I could feel all of them feelings coming back and then being touched on the shoulder. Claudia did a poke when she was doing her traitors this time, I got a squeeze. I got like a pinch, now she's doing pokes, so she's changed her technique.”
You mentioned earlier that you have a new show coming out, I did see that, it’s called ‘Do you know your place’ so can you tell me what it’s about?
“‘Do you know your place’ is a new game show coming out on BBC, hosted by Vernon Kay, and then I'm Vernon's unreliable tour guide. So there's going to be a panel of three celebrities, and every day, I take them to a different town, virtually on a big screen, and I talk about the facts from the towns that I'm in and all the sights and wonders of that town. However, I do like tricking people and maybe seeing if people are paying attention. So there's a question at the end of every area that I go to, and then the celebrity panel has to decide, am I telling the truth? Am I not telling the truth? Or, you know, is this accurate? Is it that long? Is it not? Is it that old? Is it isn't? so, yeah, I love it. It was the best thing in the world to film. We did the pilot for it about a year ago, and it's the only pilot I've done, and it got picked up, which I feel like the luckiest person in the world that that happened to. And I can't wait for everyone to see it.”
Why should people tune in to say it?
“Because it is so different and it's amazing. There's loads of TV shows and loads of game shows, but this is the only one that genuinely is like unique, and it's never really been done before. It's never had that kind of like a person that they're watching and they're taking them around a certain area and then asking questions at the end. So it's really funny. It's also kind of educational. So some of the places that I go, and sometimes, believe it or not, I do tell the truth, and some of the places are genuinely fascinating and amazing, and we want to kind of boost the tourism of the UK in towns that maybe you didn't even know were touristy towns. So yeah, if it makes people laugh and entertains people and you get educated by it, then then what's not to love? And it's Vernon Kay everyone loves Vernon.”
Going full circle, do you credit the traitors for giving you that opportunity?
“Oh, 100 per cent, yeah, I would not be here without Studio Lambert picking me to go on that show. And I think during the application process, there was no show in the world that I wanted to go on more and I remembered one of the first things I said was ‘there's never a show that I've watched that I thought I could win more than The Traitors. I have to get on this show.’ and then, luckily, I did. then to be picked to be a traitor, and then to go through the episodes, which was just incredible, and then to build such a strong friendship with Harry as well, I'm the luckiest person in the world. I didn't expect anything to happen And the fact that, you know, now we're watching the traitors, and in a couple of months, its going to be a show that I'm on. It's just feels like a dream. It doesn't even feel real, to be honest, even when I say it, it doesn't make sense or feel real.”
Our chat has come to an end but is there. anything else that you would want to mention?
“Oh my gosh, no. I mean, hindsight is always funny, because people always look at it in a positive way. But I could have done differently in my season and gone in episode two. I think the most important thing is to always be in the room with the most amount of people, because then you can defend yourself. The one time I wasn't in the room with the most amount of people, people were talking about me and I ended up going that evening. So that could be a good insight for people for Traitors season five. But, but, no, I love it. I think the show is the best thing in the world, and the secret traitor is the best inclusion of any game show I've ever seen in my life. It's fascinating.”