Matthew was the ninth player banished at the round table

Was the castle as you expected, and how did it feel walking in for the first time?

It was as I expected, but then immediately, Netty jumped on Ross and I was right next to them, and it really shook me up. You’re travelling in the car, and then you get out of the car, and I've never felt more of a pressure to make a first good impression because you need people to like you in the game, and then that happens and I was just like, ‘Wow. It’s started - the game is on!’ I just didn’t believe it. What are the chances?

What were your first impressions of your fellow players?

Everyone was just so nice. People think the aim of the game is to find the Traitors, but actually my game was to stay in as long as I possibly could. So, I was very focused on building relationships naturally, the way I would anyway without being too concerned about whether I was making friends with a Traitor or not.

Were you happy to be a Faithful?

No, I was gutted, but I think the overwhelming feeling was okay, because although I really, really wanted to be a Traitor, and I would have owned it, there was a real sense of relief. But then obviously, I still went big on my play to try and become a Traitor. 

What was your thought process behind asking the Traitors to recruit you?

I just wanted to be a Traitor! I was also so certain that I was going to be murdered. So, as things played out and I got voted the fairest, and then got the power to meet the Traitors, I then thought I was really at risk.

Do you think that talking to the Traitors helped you figure out who they may be?

No, not at all - I just saw that as an opportunity to give myself at least two more days in the game. People don't get how hard it is. The Traitors is a murder mystery, and there's little breadcrumbs being left all the time. 

Would you have asked them anything differently?

I had considered asking them who they were going to recruit next instead and then created a deal. You can ask the Traitors questions, but they can lie. So, I was raking my brain, like, there must be an answer here. It was like a cryptic crossword, but there has to be a solution to this problem. So, I thought that if I ask them who they're going to recruit next, then I can say, well that person is currently a Faithful, and then when you recruit them, I'll know, and then I can bring that information to the Round Table and get them banished.

If you were successfully recruited, would you have worked in a team with Rachel and Stephen, or do you think you'd have thrown them under the bus?

Now that I know who it is, I don't know. I had a plan in place that if I got recruited, I would have come down to breakfast and then told everyone that I was sitting on some information, and that the Traitors had told me they were going to recruit Rachel next, as I would have known Rachel was a Traitor, and it would have had to have been Rachel. But I loved Rachel and Stephen. Although; I also love Jessie, and I would have loved to have won as a Faithful with Jessie. I didn't ask them to murder Jessie, I asked, ‘who are you going to murder next and why?’ and they said Jessie, so that was really hard, but you have to play the game.

How does it feel to be leaving the game now?

I'm really proud of how I got on, to be honest. I wouldn't have entered it if I didn't think that I could win it, and I was playing to win, so it’s obviously disappointing because I was so close.

Would you have done anything differently?

Yes, there are a few mistakes that I made near the end, particularly at the final Round Table. I should have gone all guns blazing against Stephen. My rationale was good, but it was the wrong decision in the end. I understood that by the Traitors giving James the dagger, they would have to vote for me because of the numbers for it to work, and my initial instinct was I can't go after Stephen, because then he will definitely vote for me, and then I'm gone. However, on reflection, he was always going to vote for me because he was a Traitor, and I thought he was a Traitor.

Then the other thing that I should have done is that if someone doesn't like me, I'm not going to beg them to be my friend, but in the game of the Traitors you have to kind of do that. James had obviously suspected me since day one, so when he got the dagger he was always going to vote for me, so I should have spoken to him and desperately tried to get to him and say, ‘Look, Stephen is a Traitor, he's going to vote for me tonight. Please just listen to me on this one occasion, and if I'm wrong, then banish me the next night,’ I should have tried to convince James, but I just didn't even bother trying.

What will you take away from your time on The Traitors?

I genuinely have made some really close friends, Me, Rachel and Harriet have formed this lovely group and we're in a WhatsApp group together called ‘The Confessional’. Me and Rachel, because we're from the same place, and me and Stephen, because we've had a lot of the same experiences, so that's really special! I keep laughing because how wild is it that it was through playing the Traitors that we became friends. It's really mad.

Do you have a standout highlight of the experience?

interview supplied by BBC. 

Picture credit: BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry