The Traitors is rigged, just not in the way you think - The Sunday Story
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 9 November 2025
⏱️ 24 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
It’s the most watched TV show of the year, but The Traitors is much more than just entertainment: it’s a psychological experiment. How did a game, born out of Cold War Soviet roots, become a mirror of modern power, politics, and trust? Why do we value charm over logic? And can you ever really trust anyone? Not according to Times feature writer Helen Rumbelow.
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Spoiler alert: Reveals the winner of the Celebrity Traitors from the start.
Guest: Helen Rumbelow, feature writer and columnist, The Times.
Host: Luke Jones.
Producer: Dave Creasey.
Read more:
- The Traitors is rigged, just not how you think it is
- The Celebrity Traitors final review — epic duplicity and backstabbing
- Who should be in series two of The Celebrity Traitors?
Clips: BBC, Network 10.
Photo: Cody Burridge/Studio Lambert/BBC
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is The Story. |
| 0:08.3 | I'm Luke Jones. |
| 0:14.6 | Alan. |
| 0:19.5 | The best series of arguably the best programme on our televisions |
| 0:22.5 | came to an end this week. |
| 0:24.6 | Now please reveal, are you a faithful or are you a traitor? |
| 0:32.9 | I am and have always been. |
| 0:38.8 | Millions of us watched Alan Carr charmingly and wittingly lie and murder his way to victory. |
| 0:47.5 | A traitor. |
| 0:48.7 | Oh, fuck. |
| 0:57.0 | I'm so sorry. It's been tearing me apart. I'm so sorry. |
| 1:02.0 | You did brilliantly out. |
| 1:05.0 | He did brilliant. You did brilliant. You did brilliant. |
| 1:08.0 | It's a game. And you played it brilliantly. You did brilliant. You did brilliant. You did brilliant. You played it brilliantly out. You did brilliant, you did brilliant, you did it. It's a game, and you played it brilliantly. You did brilliant, you did it. |
| 1:11.6 | You played it brilliantly, wow. Well done. You did brilliant. You did brilliantly. It's right, you did absolutely brilliant. It's amazing. No, I know, no, no, no, come on, it's a game. It's such great thing. You've done it brilliant. done brilliant in who wants. |
| 1:26.6 | Don't be stupid. |
| 1:27.6 | Think about the charity. |
| 1:28.6 | It's amazing. |
| 1:29.6 | I know, I know. |
| 1:30.6 | No, come on. You've done it brilliant. You've done brilliantly and you've won't. Don't be stupid. Think about the charity. |
| 1:28.3 | It's amazing. |
| 1:29.3 | I know. |
... |
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