Alex Gray’s strategy went out the window as emotions became heightened throughout the game (Picture: BBC/Studio Lambert Associates/Ma)
The Traitors is the show we’re all obsessed with and, as we watch along, we have an idea of how we might play the game… but Alex Gray is glad she got out when she did.
Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the thrilling BBC gameshow sees 22 strangers enter the game of a lifetime in the Scottish highlands, all on a mission to win £120,000.
But with the aim being to identify the Traitors before they murder you in the dead of night, the stakes are high… as are emotions.
Unfortunately for presenter Alex, she was murdered in episode 8 after declining to become a Traitor following Alyssa Chan’s banishment.
And while the 26-year-old admits not becoming a Traitor was probably her ‘downfall’, since it led to Wilfred Webster and Amanda Lovett killing her off after it became clear to the group she was Faithful, Alex doesn’t have any regrets.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk, she explained that the whole game atmosphere felt like a ‘boiling pot’ and, after living under constant scrutiny, she was ‘relieved’ when it was her time to go.
Alex describes the gameshow as a ‘boiling pot’ (Picture: BBC)
‘There’s a lot online like, “Oh why are people being so dramatic? It’s just a game!”, and yes, in theory, it’s just a game but, for us, it was our reality,’ Alex began.
‘We were immersed in this world of paranoia and mistrust and anxiety and complete heightened emotions. It was a real boiling pot.
‘You’re not just spending an hour or two at the Christmas table playing Monopoly with your family – this becomes your life.’
She adds that the constant ‘personal attacks’ and ‘really emotional moments’ ate away at her and the very long filming hours, plus a lack of sleep, made the whole experience incredibly ‘tough’.
The presenter and actress was put through the ringer during her time on the show (Picture: BBC)
‘It’s way harder than I think anyone could ever imagine unless you’ve done it. Even when I turned down the recruitment, at that time, I knew that was the right decision and I knew what it was like being there and feeling everything and it just wouldn’t have been plausible for me to have been a Traitor at that point, so I sacrificed winning for my own sanity, really, and my own integrity.’
Of course, one of the ‘personal attacks’ came after that dramatic breakfast scene, which saw her boyfriend, Tom Elderfield, reveal to the group that they were a couple – and oh boy, there were tears!
‘If we’re not invited to the Baftas, I’m telling you now, I’m gonna throw hands! Whoever is in charge of that, we were responsible for creating some TV gold!’, Alex joked.
Who could forget that dramatic breakfast, when Tom Elderfield made the announcement of all announcements (Picture: BBC)
Alex was too stunned to speak (Picture: BBC)
Consequently, Alex was put ‘through the ringer’ as fellow players jumped at the opportunity to use their secret keeping against the pair.
‘We didn’t have any evidence whatsoever to know who the Traitors were, so that’s why everyone jumped on me and Tom, because finally! People had something to go off! Like, “They’ve lied, they must be the Traitors,” there’s no logic there! Because there was no logic in the game because there was no evidence, so you’re literally trying to find the tiniest details.’
She admits that she and Tom ‘definitely wanted to tell people’ about their romance, but they planned to hold onto the card until it was the ‘right time’.
‘It’s way harder than I think anyone could ever imagine unless you’ve done it’, she says (Picture: BBC/Studio Lambert Associates/Llara Plaza)
Alex felt a sense of relief when her game came to an end (Picture: BBC/Studio Lambert Associates/Llara Plaza)
Of course, that never came, and their plan to use their secret alliance as a means of sussing out Traitors quickly went out of the window, due to all the ‘twists and turns’ in the game.
Despite her initial shock (who could forget her face!), Alex did feel a sense of relief once their relationship was out in the open.
‘We definitely knew going in as a couple was an unfair advantage. But it also wasn’t, because look what happened – Tom got voted out! So, it’s swings and roundabouts having a secret alliance.
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‘Before our relationship was announced, we hadn’t even spoken at all, there’s no footage of us talking because it didn’t happen!’
She admits there was a ‘worry’ that one of them might be a Traitor and the other a Faithful, which could’ve given them an ‘upper hand’, but Alex knew all along that Tom was being genuine.
‘We couldn’t have told each other who we were but, when you’re in a relationship with someone on the outside world, you know when someone’s telling the truth. We were both very relieved when we were both Faithfuls.’
The Traitors is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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‘In theory, it’s just a game but, for us, it was our reality.’
