Claudia Winkleman described a particularly scary incident when filming The Traitors’ first season, when a producer stepped in to give a warning over her earpiece.
When it aired at the end of last year, the BBC competition was a smash hit, with numerous twists and turns that kept the Faithfuls, Traitors, presenter, and fans guessing.
Wilf Webster and Amanda Lovett turned on their fellow Traitor Alyssa Chan, throwing her under the bus to save their own skin during the roundtable before she was sent home.
While Claudia, 51, put on a superbly serious attitude for her presenting responsibilities, she couldn’t help but become swept up in the riveting spectacle happening in front of her.
The Strictly Come Dancing host remarked at the 2023 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards that she would “never forget” the moment Will and Amanda threw Alyssa to the wolves.
‘I’ll never forget when Will and Amanda both evicted Alyssa – when they turned on a fellow Traitor,’ she said.
‘I just heard in my ear, very quietly, “Watch your breathing.” And I thought, “This is something else. I don’t know what is happening, but this is something.”‘
Claudia noted that those behind the series had no idea how popular it would become across the country.
‘We did not see any of this coming,’ she insisted.
‘We went to Inverness and made a little show where people couldn’t trust anyone. We were like, “Never mind – we had fun.” And then something sort of magic happened and Twitter took over.’
During the first roundtable, the TV personality understood they were “on to something special.”
‘So we were up there and the surroundings were beautiful, there was a peacock and I was wearing quite a lot of tweed – and then the first roundtable happened and they kicked out Nicky,’ she recalled.
Nicky Wilding, the first person sent home by her fellow participants, was a Faithful who had hoped to win the prize money so she could purchase a myoelectric model prosthetic hand.
The Traitors hopeful had a portion of her forearm amputated in a traffic accident when she was 22 years old, and she has been in constant agony for the past two decades.
‘Nicky was there for a genuine purpose, an important cause, and I thought, “Hold on a minute, just hold on a second – something’s happening here,” Claudia remarked of Nicky’s dismissal.
After months of anticipation, it was ultimately revealed earlier this year that The Traitors will return for a second season in the UK.
‘I can’t wait to go back to the castle to watch people play the greatest game on television. I’m knitting a high funnel sweater immediately,’ Claudia said in the announcement.
Kalpna Patel-Knight, the head of entertainment at the BBC, added: ‘Last year’s ambitious and bingeable hit The Traitors with Claudia Winkleman is coming back with the brilliant team at Studio Lambert set to bring viewers another magnificent series full of drama and suspense.
‘We can certainly expect even more deceit and psychological games for the Traitors and the Faithfuls.’
The Traitors is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.