The Traitors star Paul Gorton has hit back at comments he ‘used his own child’ to manipulate and lie his way past the Faithfuls’ suspicions.

The 36-year-old business manager became the latest banished player, and left two Traitors behind after a blistering betrayal.

He’d caught the attention of viewers days earlier, after some epic gameplaying and some rather emotional moments, including one where Paul burst into tears at the roundtable and claimed he was ready to be voted out because he missed his child.

At the time, viewers branded Paul ‘evil’ for using his own child to manipulate the Faithfuls with ‘fake tears’, and while fellow Traitor Ash Bibi defended him, he’s now opened up to Metro.co.uk about the emotional moment.

‘To be honest, if you ever ask about it I’ve only got one genuine answer, and that is, literally I was upset,’ he said.

‘But then, what do I do? Do I say that I’m upset because I’m a Traitor and I’m finding this difficult? I had no choice, the cry is there, tears are coming out of my eyes and I can’t stop, so I have to try and use it.

‘The aim of The Traitors and being a Traitor is to manipulate and lie and get yourself through the game and not get caught, so whatever you’re going through at the time, whether it’s happiness or sadness, you have to use it to your advantage.’

He went on: ‘It was what happened – boys can cry, I have absolutely no shame in that, on a more serious note, if more fellas expressed those kinds of feelings to people then maybe we’d be in a bit of a different place when it comes to men’s mental health, maybe, so I’m happy about it, and I don’t need to defend it, a man can cry, it’s okay.’

Paul Gorton faced an emotional roundtable where he managed to manipulate past the Faithfuls’ suspicions (Picture: BBC)

The Traitor became the latest banished player after a blistering betrayal (Picture: BBC)

Talking about the accusations online of him using his own child to manipulate the Faithful, Paul went on: ‘To be honest, the way I see it, people have thoughts and feelings and they’re so involved in the game, and it’s so funny that the bits of me where I’ve been my most genuine self is what people thought, “He was acting and he’s using that,” but I think most people have seen that that is a genuinely upset man.

‘Parents out there, they’ll obviously connect with it a lot more because, my son was 18 months old, and not only do I miss him, but my partner has to just look after him every day and family are there to support but it’s a very emotional thing and it’s the longest period of time I’ve been away from him.

‘So no, he wasn’t used, that did come out, it was a genuine expression. Afterwards, I just needed to recover and try and make it so that I didn’t give the game away.’

That tense roundtable saw Paul save himself for banishment after a particularly difficult day down in the dungeons.

Recalling that challenge, he told us: ‘I was in the dungeon all day, it is dark, it is cold.’

Paul went on: ‘We got emotional, when you’re spending so much time you telling family stories and talking about your home life, so I got a bit upset and felt a cry in my stomach ready to come, and then you’re marched out of the dungeon straight to the round table.

‘Everyone’s staring at you, it’s so intense you can hear a pin drop, and you sit there and immediately get called out, “You’re a Traitor, you’re this.” Oh my god!

‘So I got emotional at that table, I found it so difficult.’

Paul elsewhere admitted he was ‘relieved’ to be banished, despite The Traitors being ‘the most amazing thing that I’ve ever done in my life’.

‘It was just so far beyond what your expectations would be, it’s the greatest thing I’ve ever done,’ he said.

Paul admitted it was a ‘relief’ to be banished (Picture: BBC)

‘I couldn’t do it anymore’ (Picture: BBC)

‘Every episode, I feel like I’m watching a film. I laugh my head off, I cry, it’s the best thing I’ve ever watched.’

However, he added: ‘I was getting more and more overwhelmed as the show was going on, as I’m trying to keep up the character and play the game, and be dastardly and all that type of stuff.

‘I couldn’t do it anymore, I found it so difficult. So when I went, it was like a relief.’

Despite the relief, Paul still admitted he was ‘blindsided’ by Harry’s betrayal, after the fellow Traitor turned on him at the last minute and voted him out.

‘I had no idea that Harry was going to do that,’ Paul admitted, saying that he had sensed the vote was coming after feeling a sense of ‘disconnect’ that day from the other players.

He was betrayed by his own Traitors (Picture: BBC)

But he won’t be throwing Harry under the bus (Picture: BBC)

Nonetheless, he still sticks by Harry to win the game after the Traitor had ‘seeds planted’ to him by a mistaken Faithful, according to Paul.

‘When he heard that I’m planting seeds of him, he has to go for me.

‘At that point, it’s dog eat dog, so when he did do it, I was fine with it.

‘There was not one part of me that was going to throw him under the bus. I never thought about that for a second.

‘All I thought was that this is my time. I’m going to play with people a little bit more and keep the emotion and try and line them up to that big kind of crescendo moment.’

‘It was just the best banishment’ (Picture: BBC)

‘It was just the best banishment,’ he added.

Despite his downfall and Harry hitting the final ‘nail in the coffin’, Paul has no regrets from the game and admitted he ‘wouldn’t have changed anything’ about the strategies the pair cameup with together.

‘The Faithfuls have underestimated him,’ Paul warned. ‘He’s the best Traitor that’s every existed.’

The Traitors continues tonight at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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‘Being a Traitor is to manipulate and lie and get yourself through the game.’