The Traitors: The Edinburgh contestants starring in new BBC psychological show hosted by Claudia Winkleman

The Traitors will air on BBC One and three of the contestants are from Edinburgh.

A brand new psychological game show The Traitors will air on BBC One tonight. Twenty two contestants from across the UK will venture to a beautiful castle in the Scottish Highlands to take on the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust - including three from Edinburgh.

The BBC show is hosted by Claudia Winkleman and hidden among the group of strangers are ‘The Traitors’ whose job is to secretly ‘murder’ a player every night without getting caught. But it’s up to the others, ‘The Faithfuls’, to try to detect who the traitors are and banish them from the game before they become their next victim.

The contestants who survive to the end, have the chance of winning the  life-changing cash. But if a Traitor remains undetected, they’ll take the entire £120,000 cash prize.

In the 12 episode series, three contestants from Edinburgh will be among the group. Here’s who they are and what their plan of action is to make it to the end.

Alyssa

Age: 21

Job title: Business Student

Savvy business student Alyssa grew up in rural West Cork but now lives in Edinburgh. She applied for the show to challenge herself and “push her boundaries” but also says this show “was made for her due to her suspicious nature.

Alyssa is competitive at heart and hopes that her business negotiation skills along with her part-time roles in sales and real estate will help her in her quest to sway the truth to get her own way if she needs to. She hopes to buy her mum a cottage with the prize money and will do “whatever it takes to win”.

John

Age: 49

Occupation: Spa Therapist

Spa therapist and actor John has recently moved back to Scotland from London after performing on that stage, but says he would love to take on the role of ‘King of the Castle’ if he wins. He said he only applied for the show because he saw an advert as he was scrolling on social media and the title “grabbed him”.

He liked the fact it was being filmed in Scotland but he never thought he would appear on the show. He said he doesn’t have a “game plan as you just don’t know what will be thrown at you” but he wants to make sure he is his outgoing self, and part of the team throughout.

If he wins, he would like to use the money to go travelling.

The Traitors contestants

Meryl

Age: 25

Occupation: Call Centre Agent

Meryl, who says she has a ‘bad habit’ of telling the odd white lie, hopes that she will be able to “pull the wool over the other contestant’s eyes” to propel herself to the end of the series. She explained that she sees the world differently as she has dwarfism, which she can use to her advantage and bring out her personality.

Although she’s a “nice person and doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings” she’s determined to give it her all. If she wins, she wants to spend the money on her newly bought house, and treat family and friends.

How to watch The Traitors

The first episode of The Traitors will air on BBC One at 9:30 pm on Tuesday, November 29. New episodes are due to be broadcast every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday over the course of the next two weeks, with episode dates past the sixth episode not yet known.

There will be 12 episodes in total. The first three episodes will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from 10.30pm on November 29, 2022.