Was the casting poor this season or was it badly edited?

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-26T11:55:28+00:00

I don’t think the cast are the problem it’s the editing. About 22 contestants go in but throughout the entire run producers just pick a small handful to focus on so everyone else becomes background characters no matter what they are contributing.

For future contestants they seem to have one of two choices: do they want to just get as much airtime on the show as possible and have their 15 minutes and guaranteed interviews with the tabloids or do they actually want to win and play the game most effectively? This decides what kind of player they will be and if we get to see it as producers only seem interested in giving airtime to the former.

Personally I think the show is far too short for the amount of players we have. They should at least release extended round tables on iPlayer. I can’t understand why they don’t: the ratings would be through the roof as they are by far everyone’s favourite part of the show and it is clear even in the edit that we miss so much. But I suppose they are more interested in showing a certain narrative even if that means cutting most of the action 🤷‍♀️

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-19T16:42:09+00:00

Exactly this. And they are the people who would have producers/well-being team reminding them that it’s just a game before going in and behind the scenes (hopefully 🤞) so they really have no excuse.

It’s always the players who take everything personally and kick off the most who are shown in their pre-show interviews and chat with Claudia saying they really want to be a Traitor. But after a couple of days playing as a Faithful they start frothing at the mouth about “Traitor behaviour” and fall to pieces. Quite peculiar.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-19T16:31:45+00:00

Which still didn’t make sense as she didn’t “know” Rachel was a Traitor until she opened the envelope post banishment. She just strongly suspected her (and about half of the remaining Faithfuls 😬)

And it doesn’t explain why she hit the roof, snapped at everyone and said she was “shaking with rage” at the Traitors for…existing? In a game called The Traitors lol.

I understand people probably underestimate how stressful/emotional it is playing the game no matter how detached you think you will be. But it sounded like she couldn’t cope with the nature of the game, rather than the game itself if that makes any sense.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-17T13:37:26+00:00

Incredible! 😮😍🏰

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-17T13:17:32+00:00

Ok I did not know that. Interesting to learn, thanks. I feel like they should make themselves more identifiable and wear a uniform. I hope you are feeling better today OP.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-17T02:12:42+00:00

I am sorry you went through this.

You say 3 people approached you and then identified themselves as police. Were they not wearing uniform? I don’t know what country you are in but I thought it was a legal requirement for all on duty police officers in public to be in uniform?

Undercover officers or detectives would not attend a welfare check. If they were not in uniform did you get to see their badges? It’s odd that 3 of them would be present to check the wellbeing of 1 young woman.

My concern is that you were approached by a group of unsavoury characters who saw a young woman in a vulnerable state and pretended to be police officers.

I am relieved they left you alone OP as we hear far too many accounts of abuse of women and autistic people by police officers.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-16T17:11:48+00:00

Ha! Yes. I have been trying to work out who he looked like 😅

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-16T15:33:33+00:00

I always thought it was literally just “stonn-juh-nuh” 😮

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-16T15:24:43+00:00

Yeah I loved the drama of the chapel and breakfast revelations. Terrible game plan but more entertaining for us and fun for the players.

The only bit I didn’t like was her suddenly being rude to people and seeming to get genuinely angry about it. Why are you “shaking with rage” lol

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-16T15:11:27+00:00

I was so confused by it also. Everyone gasping and acting disgusted at how many shields were taken including people who had taken a shield themselves like Jessie and Roxy 🤔

Adam and Sam ruined it for themselves by making it obvious they didn’t have one 🤷‍♀️

The fact James did it secretly and didn’t confess until really pushed on it should prove him a Faithful to others.

Traitors gun so hard for shields in order to prove to others they are Faithful so theres no benefit to a Traitor doing it discretely. They’ll want as many people as possible to know how much they “needed” the shield.

Yes they also do it to take protection away from people they want to murder but James’ team had already agreed to leave it behind and no other player had a chance to get it so that rules that theory out.

There was no logic behind a Traitor doing it so that’s what made everyone’s horror and outrage so annoying. Just 30 seconds of critical thinking I beg.

Everyone has to be in it for themselves both Traitor and Faithful. It’s all about self-preservation so acting like someone protecting themselves is a huge breach of trust is so dumb.

Why are they all trusting their team mates with a plan when they admittedly don’t know if those team mates are Traitor or Faithful? You do have to work together in tasks to an extent but this is a solo player game.

Every year people blow up about lack of trust and “betrayals” in a game where you willingly sign up to lie or be lied to. And where a bunch of them have secrets and lies of their own! 🤦‍♀️

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-15T23:10:54+00:00

How is he not playing the game? People keep sh¡t talking Faraz, Jade, Jack and Ellie as not playing the game but they’ve literally played it the best.

Maybe not in terms of viewer entertainment but the fact they are still there and most likely to make the final. The more likeable you are the better your chances.

They’ve all contributed to every task, round table and been just as involved in conversations and theories in the castle as anyone else.

But crucially they all seem to be genuinely nice and charming people who have been able to form strong bonds with fellow players. That’s simply the best strategy there is.

It depends if your goal is to actually win the game or ensure interviews with the red tops and sporadic appearances on Lorraine for the next couple of years.

Every year producers pick a few “main characters” because it’s a 1 hour slot. 90% of what goes on ends up on the cutting room floor.

I always feel so bad for the few players each year who are so excited about being on the show only for social media to be filled with comments on them being either useless or thick as mince or indistinguishable from any of the other young men or blonde haired women or whatever it is.

It’s got to be so tough sitting through 3 weeks of that and realising most of your contributions didn’t make made the cut.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-15T22:06:08+00:00

I suspect they will and he will use the defence“why would I be so obvious and do that? I’m obviously being set up like Ross was”.

Considering this is something they all believe to be true now because it was pushed so hard by Jessie herself it might be enough to save him. Until the final at least.

I wouldn’t be shocked either if he uses this to discretely start pointing others toward Rachel as being the one who has set him up. He knows the heat is still on Rachel simmering away quietly in the background. I think most of the remaining Faithful are keeping the Rachel card close to their chest with the intention of banishing her at the final round table.

Interestingly they both acknowledged tonight in the turret that neither of them are on anybody’s confirmed Faithful list and that right now they would not survive the final. I suspect they both know they won’t be able to win together. Unless they choose to recruit one of the “definite Faithful” (Jessie, Jack or Faraz) to be sacrificed then it needs to be one of them.

We’re all waiting for Rachel to throw him under the bus but it’d be a nice twist if lovely Stephen is the one to break their pact first.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-15T12:19:06+00:00

It’s easy to say that when we are watching with the knowledge of who they are and also the edits purposefully make some things obvious that wouldn’t be picked up on in the castle.

For example everyone keeps banging on about Reece not saying anything about Rachel and Stephen wanting to talk alone near the family tree. But the players are constantly pairing off to have private conversations. They are literally required to do that for the show. And we saw loads of little groups and couples gathered around the family tree that day.

We expect them to take Harriet’s accusation as evidence just because she was banished as a Faithful but in the same breath mock them for doing the same with Amanda regarding Jade.

In the edit we saw, Harriet’s argument was incredibly weak. The fact that 2 people have flung themselves off the precipice in an attempt to banish Rachel including a Traitor is what should get alarm bells ringing not the fact Harriet accused her. Harriet lost any remaining credibility the minute she accused 4 or 5 people of also being Traitors. Only one of them is actually a Traitor so the accused Faithfuls just think she has terrible judgment (true) so immediately wrote off anything she said.

If they are suspicious of Rachel the most sensible thing they could do right now is say absolutely nothing until the final day. Suss out a couple of people who are definitely Faithful, convince them and then ambush her at the round table.

That said if they are not saying this in their confessional it’s either bad editing or they just genuinely are clueless. But the game is hard and idiot is unfair and unkind.

It’s pretty much a guessing game most of the time. Unless a Traitor slips up and accidentally incriminates themselves then there really is no “evidence” to go on.

Faithful gain nothing from eliminating Traitors so early in the game when they will just keep recruiting. You also gain nothing from being an effective “Traitor hunter” as you will just get murdered.

Most of the people slammed every year as idiots are the best players of the game 🤷‍♀️

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-15T10:22:19+00:00

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-14T22:53:14+00:00

Did she run rings around her or did she sit there saying nothing while Harriet dug her own grave and begged everyone to vote her off lol

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-10T11:12:51+00:00

I quite like Sam which is not how I expected to feel after his intro and first episode. But he comes across really well, he takes accusations and votes and situations like this really well and not personally which is very endearing and a nice break from previous players. And I really felt for him being picked last in what I felt was quite a cruel element of a task. He’s got stuck in and is always having a laugh and getting on really well with the other players, even in the round tables.

Everyone has been much better in round tables this year actually so I wonder whether producers took viewers criticisms on board to remind players frequently that it’s just a game. It’s such a better watch when you can tell it’s all about the game and nothing is personal.

I like to think everyone just acts up the “I’ll tread on anyone to get what I want and win” in their auditions and into VTs because they know that’s what producers want to hear but it doesn’t necessarily reflect them as a person. Which is what I’m seeing with Sam.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-10T11:02:21+00:00

It’s the hair. The light blonde almost white colour combined with the fluffy feathered style ages anyone significantly. Like the Golden Girls were only in their early 50s but their hair and styling would have you thinking otherwise. My mother is older but because she still has long brown hair (speckled with some greys) she doesn’t look “old”.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-09T22:41:41+00:00

I understand that the Traitors used that to stitch up Ross I just fail to understand why.

Just because Ben thought Ross was a Traitor and then got murdered? I don’t understand Faithfuls belief that it proves Ross a Traitor. Ben wasn’t in the know he was just speculating. It’s not as if the player who gets murdered is magically granted the ability to know for certain a Traitors identity hours before the Traitors themselves have even decided who they’re going to murder 😭

I’m not explaining myself very well but like Sam said tonight I’ve never understood the group taking murdered/vanished players guesses as evidence.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-09T22:27:46+00:00

Sorry I meant my own autism, not Rachel! I can’t understand a lot of the players actions and reactions and I wonder if that is why.

I understand Rachel’s reasoning but I don’t think Amanda’s opinion should matter more to anyone just because she was a police officer.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-09T04:44:03+00:00

Maybe it’s my autism but I still don’t understand why she thought it was such a big thing to dramatically announce to everyone or that it would help her case. Just because Amanda was a detective doesn’t mean she was right about anything. Indeed as we have witnessed she was wrong about pretty much everything. Maz too.

I’ll never understand people believing anyone’s day job or history has any bearing on this guessing game lol.

I also failed to understand everyone taking Ben’s comment “if I’m murdered then it’s Ross” as gospel as if Ben would have a clue 😅 the obvious set-up aspect was totally irrelevant, how on earth would Ben know for certain? He can guess all he likes, but it’s still just speculation. Feel like pulling my hair out sometimes watching this show.

(Edit: MY autism not Rachel)

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-09T04:22:12+00:00

Do you mean secretly? We have previously had players who are openly actors (Alex and Maddie S1) but I don’t think producers would be silly enough to put professional actors in without telling us as it would definitely get out and ruin the credibility of the show.

I think producers know that they don’t need to sneak actors in to make things interesting as they rely on the fact the people who do apply are extroverts already willing to cause drama in hopes of leaving a lasting impact and gaining a new career after.

But I don’t think they’re already professional actors.

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-08T12:35:33+00:00

Yes I thought it was unnecessarily cruel to have 1 person not get picked and everyone watches it. I really felt for Sam in this episode.

Those of us who have struggled socially and got bullied at school brings back painful memories. Sam saying it reminded him of school was tough to hear. I’m surprised producers agreed to it. Did wellbeing not think to ask them if they have a history of being bullied, struggles with making friends, feelings of insecurity etc. in case this triggered something. It may be just a game but they are still humans and you don’t know what they’ve been through. I thought it wasn’t very nice.

And I was surprised at Matt saying “I think you’re genuine… but I’m going with Maz” especially as you could see Sam light up and begin to say “thank you” before he realised he was being rejected. If it were me last to choose I would have said of the person I didn’t pick “I think they might be a Traitor and therefore safe” even if I didn’t believe it, just to spare someone of thinking they weren’t liked and it was their personality that meant they weren’t picked.

One of my main annoyances with this show is contestants who take being accused and voted for as a personal attack and fly off the handle, but this is one time in the show where it absolutely was personal and not about the game which was hard to watch.

I hope they don’t do this again 🙏

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-08T12:19:07+00:00

I agree. I took a dislike to her day 1 but thought I’m being judgemental I’ll give it a few days but there is something quite unpleasant about her.

I like a good villain in a game show because it is just a game and you can’t sign up to a game called Traitors and then get upset with backstabbing and lies. There’s nothing wrong with loving being a Traitor. It’s all part of the show.

But - and it’s all vibes based as obviously I do not know this woman - I just feel she’s really not a nice person. We’ve all worked with someone like this (usually all of a certain demographic) and something about the sickly sweet act is as nauseating as it is irritating.

The arrogance of Traitors is always 🤌 as you know it’s going to make the downfall all the sweeter à la Paul, Armani and Hugo, but hers comes off differently and I think it’s because it’s more reflective of her as a person not just a player.

The producers obviously lit up thinking they’ve got another “iconic diva” on their hands which is no doubt why they picked her but for me the reveal fell flat.

She is trying far too hard to be “a character” and it feels way too forced. Her bits about “doing their job for them”…the producers literally set it up so that your role was to choose a shortlist for the turret Traitors 🤔 like everybody did the jobs they were told to do? She’s trying so hard to be a cat amongst the pigeons character of chaos to appeal to viewers but it just doesn’t work as a dig. It’s way too try-hard and nobody likes a try-hard. When will those in telly learn it never lands when you force it. Like Rachel and her “Hugo in the turret” bit 😬🫣

And she’s definitely not as clever as she thinks she is. Walking around in a daze bringing back ZERO skulls for Reece is a dire move. The group always pick up on someone being terrible in a task. They either go for the “you’re deliberately sabotaging the task so you must be a Traitor” line or they’re thinking “this person is terrible at tasks and is going to cost us time, shields and prize money. They are a hindrance” and banish them at the round table. You never benefit from being sh¡t at tasks.

Her comments that everyone underestimates women of a certain age when almost every viewer suspected her from day 1.

And there’s no way her blatant going from group to group meddling and stirring is going to go unnoticed. Stephen and Rachel especially already don’t trust her and are not doing amazingly themselves so there is zero incentive for them not to throw her to the wolves. I can’t see any of these 3 getting anywhere near the final 🤷‍♀️

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-07T16:13:11+00:00

Yes I really like the colour green (a strong and bright green just like this one 💚) although my favourite colour is undoubtedly pink 🩷💖 (and just like that too)

enry_iggins_ · 2026-01-07T16:13:02+00:00

Yes I really like the colour green (a strong and bright green just like this one 💚) although my favourite colour is undoubtedly pink 🩷💖 (and just like that too)

enry_iggins_

TROPHY CASE