At its core, The Traitors is a study in deception and strategic falsehood.
The celebrity edition of the BBC’s acclaimed series debuted this week, ushering in a new wave of intrigue. The first casualty: Alan Carr, implicated in a dramatic kitchen elimination.
Mirroring the structure of the original series, contestants navigate a complex social landscape, discerning truth from fabrication while facing the constant threat of elimination.
This week’s episode saw singer Paloma Faith ousted, expressing surprise at the betrayal of Carr, a supposed friend.
The show’s widespread appeal begs the question: what does it reveal about human nature?
Richard Wiseman, Professor of the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire, suggests that the show’s treachery “feels a bit like everyday life.”
“You’re trying to figure out which of your friends and partners and colleagues may not be entirely straight with you,” he told BBC News.
Deception, he asserts, is “in our DNA,” emerging as early as age three. “As soon as children master language, they start lying,” Prof. Wiseman added.
“If we were radically honest with one another all the time, then we’d probably break apart as a society fairly rapidly. So on one level, deception holds us together.”
However, it can also be used in an “exploitative way,” as evidenced by the machinations of Celebrity Traitors Alan Carr, Cat Burns, and Jonathan Ross.
“It absolutely fascinates us… you’ve got that microcosm, you can see all of that being played out in a rather fun way.”
According to Prof. Wiseman, an expert in the psychology of deception, the greatest challenge in detecting lies lies in understanding an individual’s baseline behavior.
“What we’re quite good at is, when it’s friends and partners, we know their truthful behaviour,” he says. “And you’re looking for people departing from that.”
When TV presenter Kate Garraway faced accusations due to her overly dramatic reactions, she defended herself by stating she’s always been “a ham.”
“Now, you have to know her to know how she behaves normally to know whether this is deceptive or not.”
Prof. Wiseman believes the faithful are misdirected by focusing on words and actions, suggesting that “the best signals are what people don’t say and don’t do.”
He notes that “liars tend to be pretty quiet,” a challenging dynamic within a cast of celebrities “used to being centre of attention.”
Singer Burns, a designated traitor, expressed her intent to “lay low” and “go under the radar,” a strategy that seems effective thus far.
Wiseman also notes that effective liars are often intelligent, citing salespeople, politicians, and performers as “pretty high self-monitors.”
“Alan Carr and Jonathan Ross are very used to interviewing people,” he says. “And used to interviewees who will be somewhat elusive.”
This raises the question: are actors and performers inherently better liars?
Stephen Fry, actor and presenter, and a current faithful contestant, told the Radio Times that “Actors are terrible liars! It’s not an actor’s job to lie. It’s an actor’s job to tell the truth.”
But was he being truthful, or employing a deceptive tactic?
Jake Brown, joint winner from series three, told BBC Breakfast he thinks professional performers “know how to deceive, they know how to be someone else”.
Series three finalist Alexander Dragonetti tells BBC News that anyone hoping to rely on their acting skills to win will have to be “incredibly consistent” and do it “perfectly day after day”.
“If anyone sees even a small chink in your armour, they’ll think you’re playing a game and they’ll get rid of you,” he says.
“So if you do act, this is going to be the test of your life. You’re going to have to do it perfectly day after day.
“And the days are long, the pressure is huge, and holding up that kind of act for any period I think is going to be incredibly hard.”
In the latest episode, veteran actress Celia Imrie declared to her fellow contestants: “People think I’m nice, but I’m not.”
Clinical and forensic psychologist Dr. Susan Young suggests that the celebrity edition adds layers of intrigue, stemming from the pre-existing personas and “impression management” skills of its participants.
Viewers “project pre-existing beliefs” onto the stars because “these are people who we feel we know,” but in reality, we “can’t tell where the performance ends and where it begins.”
As “voyeurs of morality,” she says, “we can’t wait for the nice person to do something unexpectedly.”
Dr. Young is most intrigued by the group dynamic, highlighting the inherent “double bind”: “Everyone must lie,” because “to be honest is dangerous,” yet “lying corrodes the team,” which is crucial for completing tasks.
“What the show does here, it exposes the illusion of co-operation and that’s in so many systems. It’s in our workplaces, it’s in politics, it’s in friendships under stress,” she says.
“At the end of the day, given certain circumstances and under certain pressures, altruism will thin and self-interest surfaces.”
She adds: “It’s almost like a social experiment, it’s mirroring how quickly loyalty will collapse when incentives change.”
Caroline Frost, TV editor of the Radio Times, predicts The Celebrity Traitors will be “one of the biggest shows of the year.”
She recalls attending an industry seminar two years ago where producers expressed their reluctance to include celebrities in the original series, believing it more compelling to feature individuals without established public images.
But that was then, and this is now.
The paradox of a celebrity edition, she notes, is that careers and reputations “don’t count for anything come nightfall.”
“The further they get into the game, the more of the celebrity trappings get left behind and the less important their fame becomes, which means it really doesn’t matter that they’re celebrities at all.”
Frost considers the decision to cast Carr as a traitor “incredibly ingenious,” given his “giggly and extrovert” persona, seemingly incapable of keeping secrets.
“Making him a traitor has really upped the stakes.”
She believes Carr’s reputation as a bubbly, chatty man has been “weaponised” to enable him to get away with murdering his mate in plain sight.
He did seem a bit cut up about it afterwards, mind you, when he met up again with his fellow traitors.
But as Ross reminded him: “You’re not a bad person. You’re a good traitor.”
The Celebrity Traitors airs on BBC One on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 21:00 BST and is available on BBC iPlayer.
Additional reporting by Chris Gibson.
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