It’s been a few days since the latest series of The Traitors came to an end and our heart rate has only just returned to normal after that intense final that saw Faithfuls Jake Brown and Leanne Quigley walk away with the prize money.
The last remaining Traitor, Charlotte Berman, was banished at the final Round Table, with four Faithfuls – Jake, Leanne, Francesca Rowan-Plowden and Alexander Dragonetti – going on to take part in the end game. But, in a savage twist, the finalists believed there was still a Traitor amongst them and voted to banish again, meaning Frankie and Alexander were banished with the game and ended up with nothing.
Following his big win, heat recently caught up with series three winner Jake and he explained what the nail-biting scenes were like in real life.
‘My legs were shaking the whole time walking out by the fire pit, obviously looking everyone in the eye and knowing that this is now make or break. It was so intense, especially with Frankie saying mother to mother and everyone's really fighting for fighting for their survival. It was such a stressful environment,’ he told us.
As for why he decided to banish Frankie and Alexander, Jake explained, ‘I had a lot of trust in Minah [Shannon]. Me and Minah were close in the castle, so when Minah stood up there and said she was a Traitor, the paranoia kicked in and I thought, ‘I put a lot of trust in someone and she ended up being a Traitor.’
‘I felt like I couldn’t trust anyone again, so it took me back to square one.’
Despite being 100 percent Faithful, Alexander had raised suspicion after being reintroduced part of the way into the game and Jake admitted made him ‘hard to trust’.
‘Alexander was in an unfortunate position where he did come into the game later on, after the train he was in the death match. There was a lot of doubt around him for a lot of people, so it was hard to trust him. Had I got The Seer, I would have chosen Alexander as the person I would have picked to see what his identity was,’ he continued.
‘Frankie, at the time, we didn’t know if she was telling the truth or not with Charlotte because they both came back into breakfast with different stories and then she didn’t speak to me on the last day, she was speaking to Leanne and I had a feeling she was going to go against me.
‘I think the paranoia sets in towards the end, especially with the whole Seer introduction. No one knew anyone's identity, so I think that added to the reason why everyone banished again, because no one was 100% confident. I had to go with the gut and the only person I felt comfortable ending the game with was Leanne.’
Jake revealed the banishment of Frankie and Alexander had left him feeling ‘really bad’ and ‘really guilty’ after it was revealed they were Faithfuls.
‘Hindsight’s a wonderful thing and it would have been nice to share it four ways, but I wasn’t to know. I do feel bad because they’re both amazing people.’
WATCH would the heat team be Faithfuls or Traitors?
Nathan Katnoria is heat and Closer online’s senior digital writer. He’s been a huge fan of The Traitors since series one and has interviewed contestants including Paul Gorton, Diane Carson and Minah Shannon.