The Traitors’ Anthony Mathurin has spoken out about his experience in the competition, saying that his initial game plan for the series was utterly thrown off.
The chess instructor also stated that if a specific moment on the programme had taken a different turn, people may have seen him in an entirely different manner.
Fans of the BBC competition will find out tonight what happened to Faithful Diane Carson when she was handed the poisoned chalice by Traitor Miles Asteri, after waiting nearly a week.
The cliffhanger occurred shortly after Anthony, 45, was exiled from the game, and he claimed he was’really glad’ that he was allowed to go ‘on his terms’.
‘I didn’t go out with a whimper. That’s certain. I gave it with both barrels. I can go out with my head held high, so I’m really happy about that,’ he told us.
Anthony certainly didn’t fade into the background, making his opinion heard loud and clear on several occasions, including when he and Zack Davies butted heads over their suspicions over one another.
If Claudia Winkleman had chosen him as one of the Traitors at the outset of the game, his experience on the show may have been significantly different.
‘I initially wanted to be a Traitor, and that’s what my game plan was based around. However, I was given the Faithful card, and before I knew it, I was in the firing line. Even before I could even get around trying to be charismatic, I was really in the firing line,’ he recalled.
So, Anthony decided to change his tactics, aiming to come across as a ‘stand up guy’ from start to finish so that he could gain his fellow Faithfuls’ trust… before being ‘primed for a switch to become a Traitor’.
‘That would be a great blindside,’ he added.
While Anthony made it halfway through the competition, he believed that if he had been a Traitor from the start, viewers would have seen other aspects of his personality more clearly.
‘I can be two different types of people. One, completely engrossed in what I’m doing – if I’m playing a game of chess, I can play chess for maybe 24 hours straight, no problem, not have a drink, not have not eaten or food – you know, just play,’ he stated.
‘And somebody will say, Wow, he’s not a sociable person. But then I can walk into a room I come in, have fun, or get the party started to speak to everybody, smiles, beaming, you know, and everyone’s like, Oh, wow, what a charismatic guy, full of energy, full of vibrancy.
‘So it just depends which end of the spectrum I’m on, that’s it.’
He continued: ‘I believe if I was a Traitor, you would have seen both. You’d have seen the calculating, ruthless side and then you would have also seen the charismatic side.’
Anthony’s revelation of Paul and Miles as traitors shocked the audience. But learning that Harry Clark was among them brought him to his knees. Literally.
Anthony and Tracey discover who #TheTraitors are 😂 #TheTraitorsUKhttps://t.co/MTeIARHgHq
— The Traitors HQ (@the_traitors_) January 12, 2024
Going over his thoughts about the Traitors, Anthony revealed that he dubbed Paul ‘Uncle Paulie’ after Goodfellas, because ‘he’s a sweet dude, but he’ll knife you in the back’.
The chess tutor admitted that he was on Paul from the start, after seeing the slick player put Andrew Jenkins under the bus after a mission.
He discovered that exiled Traitor Ash Bibi and Miles had slipped past the radar, but Harry, dubbed ‘H-bomb’, was the biggest surprise of all.
Anthony praised the Traitors’ performances, remarking that Paul was behaving as if Claudia had chosen him as well.
He speculated that if he had the opportunity to collaborate with Paul and Harry behind the scenes, ‘that would have been incredibly hazardous’.
Nonetheless, he acknowledged who he sees as the competition’s dark horses. conveying his worry that Evie Morrison and Mollie Pearce may pose a greater threat than many think.
The Traitors returns on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.