If there’s one guarantee on any series of The Traitors, it’s that the faithful will be quick to pick up on any behaviour as an outright clue – and the brand-new celebrity version is no different.
For three series, the original format has seen eagle-eyed members of the public watching their peers and judging them as traitors, all based on the most trivial of words, looks and, for the most part, innocent decisions.
Given several of the 19 celebrities playing along here have encountered each other before, you’d be forgiven for thinking they might know who is fibbing and who is being entirely authentic.
Yet, to their detriment, there’s no such luck.
And, as for those who had never met before they gathered in the Scottish highlands, it seems they’re destined to fall into the same classic trap as their predecessors: repeatedly voting off the wrong people based on completely spurious reasoning.
Even before these well-known faces were told which category they fell into, some were suspicious.
Celia Imrie mistakenly wondered if Nick Mohammed had an ulterior motive for winning her a protective shield. Then, mere minutes after Claudia Winkleman selected her traitors, Clare Balding and Charlotte Church covertly threw the spotlight on Kate Garraway for… wait for it: expressing a little too much enthusiasm after the big event.
Paloma Faith, meanwhile, spotted Celia and Clare talking at the bar and decided they might be up to no good in the name of the game, rather than, you know, having a drink together.
For Niko Omilana, it was more about the likelihood that at least one young person would be a traitor, and he encouraged Ruth Codd to go with any hunches she might develop.
Obviously, this is essentially a guessing game for the faithful, so it’s understandable that they’re latching onto whatever they witness as the key to solving this puzzle.
The problem lies in every tiny moment being dissected and referenced as something it isn’t, right down to an awkward look or being lucky enough to simply survive the night.
On top of that, as Kate confidently declared bona fide traitor Alan Carr to be a faithful despite his cheeky, coy look in response, this is not the first time we’ve heard the faithful branding genuine traitors as trustworthy members of their team.
Remember series two’s Mollie and her absolute certainty that Harry was on her side, only for him to reveal he had fooled her all along to become the champion?
As the celebrities worked together to build the prize pot, Clare accidentally locked in a crucial answer too early, causing Charlotte to give up her own shield for the cause.
The consequences of the incident were two-fold, as Tom Daley, having already been hailed as a possible traitor “because he’s clever”, shared the huge, incorrect theory that the traitors had planned to deliberately strip others of their shields to place them back in the firing line.
Egged on by mischievous Alan, Tom couldn’t help questioning whether Clare had messed up on purpose, while others pondered whether Charlotte’s sacrifice came about because she could be a traitor who didn’t have to fear being bumped off.
In fact, poor Clare had wrongly believed that they had multiple chances to guess – an innocent blunder anyone could have made – while Charlotte was simply being a team player.
While at times fun to watch, these continuous assumptions are a frustrating pitfall, seen increasingly more frequently in the third season of The Traitors earlier this year.
Contestants were convinced that Leanne was a traitor, yet she was one of the faithful all along. And, despite knowing first-hand that someone’s behaviour might not be all it seemed due to lying about her career as a tactic, Leanne cast doubts of her own over Alexander.
He had joined the group late, and suspicion heated up when he survived the “death game”. But Alexander was, of course, a faithful and a particularly mourned, untimely loss from the show.
Time and again, the faithful have collectively banished one of their own and failed to learn from it.
Now, ahead of the first round table, we’re expecting history to repeat itself – unless the celebrity Faithfuls can band together, recall the errors made in past episodes, and deduce that not everything they see is a hint.
Celebrity Traitors is on BBC1 on Wednesdays and Thursdays. You can also catch up on BBC iPlayer.
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