John was accused by viewers of ‘bullying’ his co-star (Picture: BBC)
The Traitors star John McManus has opened up on how he felt watching some of the intense arguments he was involved in on Claudia Winkleman’s new BBC One murder mystery show.
The West End actor, 49, was ‘murdered’ by the real Traitors, Wilfred, Alyssa and Amanda, after he managed to convince his fellow contestants that he was a Faithful.
However, he left us with plenty of dramatic moments from the roundtables and challenges he was a part of during his stint on the reality show.
During one roundtable, in which the contestants all vote on who they believe the Traitor is before the person with the most votes is ‘banished’, co-star Aaron Evans left the room in tears and was filmed being comforted by BBC crew.
Later that night, John grilled a tearful Aaron, questioning: ‘Why did you leave the room? It’s a competition, it’s a game. It’s a tad dramatic.’
‘I just didn’t know where it came from and I got attacked from every single angle,’ Aaron replied, as John interrupted: ‘Well that’s the point of it, everyone’s going to get attacked.’
John was ‘murdered’ by the real Traitors (Picture: BBC)
Crew members were caught comforting Aaron after he had to step outside (Picture: BBC)
‘Why are you shouting at me again?’ Aaron asked as the other contestants remained silent, to which John replied: ‘Because, it doesn’t matter, because you’re putting my back up, everyone’s going to get attacked at some point okay?’
‘I think he’s quite a nasty person,’ Aaron later told the camera, having already explained that his ADHD makes him ‘invested in what people have to say.’
Talking about watching himself on screen, John admitted to Metro.co.uk it was ‘weird’ and sometimes ‘cringe’.
Aaron left the roundtable in tears (Picture: BBC)
Aaron opened up about his ADHD on the show (Picture: BBC)
‘Watching myself being a version of myself was hard to watch,’ he exclusively told us, adding that it was ‘surreal’.
‘I cringed, I had some funny moments, I’m very vocal, and so overall it was quite positive. Yeah, there’s things that you see or do, the way that it’s slightly edited that I think, “Oh gosh, I looked a bit like a tyrant,” in those moments.’
John added that knowing about Aaron’s ADHD would have changed how he acted during their intense argument, saying: ‘I’m not privy to that – [his medical condition] is none of my business, had I known that information, I would have acted completely different’.
Tensions were high around the roundtable (Picture: BBC)
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John shared that his suspicions about Aaron rose when he began questioning him ‘seven times in one day,’ leading John to think he was being ‘tricked’.
He continued: ‘And so of course, you know, it got heated as it always does on those things, and it’s not personal, but then I found out that he had ADHD and I felt awful, I genuinely felt awful.’
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John also opened up on how ‘intense’ the roundtables became, saying: ‘Everyone’s gunning for people, accusations are flying, it’s not comfortable to be in that situation, considering 90% of the time you’re all having a lovely time trying to do missions and trying to earn money, and then you’re thrown into that lion’s den, and it’s fight or flight really.’
Having now watched the show, despite being ‘murdered’ early on in the game, John admitted he has ‘no regrets at all’, and was stunned to see Alyssa be the first banished Traitor.
But will Wilf or Amanda be caught next?
The Traitors continues tonight at 9pm on BBC One and is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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‘I would have acted completely different.’
