As if finding out who is lying to you amongst a group of game players wasn’t hard enough, The Traitors contestants didn’t even know how many Traitors and Faithfuls there were, it has been revealed.

Claudia Winkleman’s new murder mystery programme sees three Traitors try and ‘murder’ Faithfuls before being ‘banished’, as 22 contestants slowly whittle down and play for a cash prize.

While the viewers know from the beginning that Amanda Lovett, Wilfred Webster and Alyssa Chan were always the Traitors, the other contestants, the Faithfuls, had no idea.

And the game was made even harder by not knowing how many Traitors they were on the lookout for.

At one point, eliminated contestant Alex Gray admitted they all thought ‘there were none’ and that the programme had become a ‘sick social experiment’.

Amanda has them all fooled (Picture: BBC)

Wilf is still in the game (Picture: BBC)

Alex explained on TikTok, replying to a question that read ‘Were you told how many Traitors there would be?’: ‘So this is one thing that made the game particularly difficult because we had no idea how many Traitors there were.

‘We were told there could be up to five.

‘At one point, we thought maybe there were none and it was just some sick social experiment to make us all turn against each other.

‘So yeah, we had no idea there were three, at no point were we told exactly how many there were.’

Alyssa Chan became the first Traitor to be successfully banished after being double-crossed by Wilf (Picture: BBC)

Alex said she couldn’t bear the burden of being a traitor (Picture: BBC)

On Thursday’s episode, Alex became the latest Faithful to be ‘murdered’ after turning down an offer to join the Traitors following Alyssa’s banishment.

Amanda and Wilfred opted to expand their alliance and decided to extend an anonymous invitation to the presenter and actor, based on her ‘intelligence and charisma.’

But the 26-year-old, after a short time deliberating, decided not to swap teams, explaining she’d seen ‘how heavy the crown of being a traitor weighs.’

Two Faithfuls still remain (Picture: BBC/Studio Lambert Associates/Mark Mainz)

She continued: ‘And after experiencing how intense it is just to be a faithful, I don’t think I’d be able to do it.

‘I may end up regretting the decision but as a faithful I believe could stay all the way. For that reason will politely decline the offer.’

Having stunned fans at her decision, she later opened up about her decision on Twitter, writing: ‘So, my time on #TheTraitors draws to a close. One of the most psychologically challenging things I’ve ever experienced.

‘I danced with regret this week about turning down the role of Traitor, as I knew I had signed my death warrant.

‘However, at that moment in time, my gut screamed at me to turn it down. Ofc my logical brain spelled out the “m o n e y” to me, as I felt like I could have sweeped through till the bitter end unscathed. “Bitter” being the pertinent word here. What the viewer doesn’t see is the immense.

‘Pain seeing other human beings, who consequentially all became friends, tear eachother apart. The extreme exhaustion from sleepless nights, long filming days, constant anxiety + serious paranoia. It soon ceased to be a game & the ruthlessness blurred into our reality.

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‘I entered the game believing that strategy, game theory + logic would reign. However, the “strangers” that were once pawns in my plans, soon became real, living, breathing sensitive individuals with pain + tears in their eyes. Emotion + exhaustion avalanched me…

‘…ultimately being my downfall in this ‘game’ of strategy, deception and lies. I appreciate all the love & support, you have all made me smile from ear to ear and laugh out loud at your wit. I wish the best of luck to the remaining contestants.’

The Traitors continues tonight at 9pm on BBC One and is available to catch up on BBC iPlayer.

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It’s even more difficult than we thought!