{"id":110166,"date":"2025-10-31T06:09:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-31T06:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/110166\/"},"modified":"2025-10-31T06:09:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-31T06:09:13","slug":"the-celebrity-traitors-episode-eight-recap-and-player-rankings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/110166\/","title":{"rendered":"The Celebrity Traitors episode eight: recap and player rankings"},"content":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s the point in being a national treasure if you can\u2019t even have a mini-break in a beautiful Scottish castle without worrying about your personal security? The traitors<\/a> have really done it this time. \u201cWhat a mean one!\u201d Celia told us after learning she\u2019d been murdered in plain sight. \u201cIt\u2019s been gorgeous and I\u2019m devastated,\u201d everyone\u2019s favourite former faithful added, but imagine how she\u2019ll feel when she realises she was taken down by a goblet-brandishing, Shakespeare-quoting Alan Carr. It\u2019s simply beastly. <\/p>\n

But Celia wasn\u2019t the only casualty of this penultimate episode. Still high on the excitement of catching a traitor in a big-dog trap last night<\/a>, the So Gullible Crew returned to their default position at the round table and banished another faithful, this time the long-suffering Kate. She was either the greatest traitor of all time or an obvious faithful in the headlights \u2014 once again, the gang called it wrong and \u201ccuriosity Kate\u201d shuffled off, all smiles and wonderful memories. <\/p>\n

The episode started with the castle-mates sitting down on a full stomach to a fire hazard of a banquet with wine, cheese, wreaths and candles all over the shop. They say if you notice incidental music it\u2019s too loud, and we were almost deafened by OTT strings and woodwind as we endured the saccharine-sweet \u201cwhat a journey it\u2019s been\u201d sequence designed to make viewers feel everyone has grown by playing the game. David told us he had been changed by his time in the castle. Kate felt truly inspired, and Celia said they\u2019d all really been themselves. Life-affirming stuff, I\u2019m sure. <\/p>\n

\u2022 The Traitors is rigged, just not how you think it is<\/a><\/p>\n

After watching a scenic car ride beside a loch, we found out why yesterday\u2019s challenge (crossing a bridge with a sack) was so lo-fi: the BBC had been saving up for \u2014 yes, you heard it \u2014 lasers! And not only had the production team recreated an iconic scene from the 1999 Sean Connery action movie Entrapment in a shed somewhere in Inverness-shire, they\u2019d bought a load of mannequin heads that in some cases vaguely resembled castle-mates past and present. And while Alan Carr<\/a> slinked through the lasers \u00e0 la Catherine Zeta-Jones (minus the catsuit) in the movie, while holding a rubber effigy of himself, we all collectively told ourselves this is a thinking man\u2019s reality show. It\u2019s high-brow. It\u2019s all OK. <\/p>\n

Back at the castle, Joe reverted to staring at people for a few seconds longer than is considered polite in order to see the traitor in their soul, and the group started to realise that both Cat and Alan could be traitors. However, as is customary, they didn\u2019t act on their instincts and went off on a new tangent, which involved narrowing down the banishment to one of two faithful: David or Kate. <\/p>\n

At the round table David delivered a devastatingly calm and polite attack on Kate, which perhaps sealed her fate. Nick<\/a> and Joe strengthened their alliance, and Cat and Alan looked a little wobbly when the finger of suspicion turned to them. <\/p>\n

We left our final five summoned to the darkened castle gardens by the sound of a cloaked cyberman drumming. Met by Claudia<\/a>, they were told that they were the finalists and from there on in it will be all about instinct (good luck with that), as there will be no reveals when players are banished. <\/p>\n

And so the die is cast. The final (which is next Thursday, confusingly) is on a knife edge. Joe and Nick seem to have sussed it out, leaving Alan and Cat in seriously hot traitor soup. But what will David do? The mild-mannered historian is about to play the most important role in BBC1\u2019s most watched show of the year. His agent must be delighted. <\/p>\n

But as we count down the days to the final, there\u2019s nothing left for me to do but wheel out my devastatingly accurate and informative player ratings before hibernating for six days.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The secrets of The Traitors\u2019 success \u2014 by its unlikely Dutch creator<\/a><\/p>\n

Nick Mohammed \"A<\/p>\n

BBC\/STUDIO LAMBERT\/EUAN CHERRY<\/p>\n

Rating: 9.1
I\u2019m calling it. I think the faithful are going to win, and when they do it\u2019ll be because of the persistently excellent gameplay of Nick. In the first episodes he perhaps overplayed his intelligence and general nice guy credentials, but as the game has gone on he\u2019s settled into his role as Mr Reliable for the faithful, contributing to every task and earning himself the title of Joe\u2019s most reliable \u201chundie\u201d. His bold move to team up with Joe and admit that he\u2019d thrown the chess game has paid off, earning him a pivotal ally as we enter the endgame. Nick has been suspicious of Cat for some time, and broke cover late in the game; now it\u2019s too late for her to murder him. He doesn\u2019t think that David is a traitor, which should leave him to follow Joe to the Cat and Alan conclusion. There is a slight wrinkle, though. Does he trust Joe as much as he claims? Could there be one last twist in that relationship that plays into the hands of the traitors? <\/p>\n

Joe Marler\"Two<\/p>\n

David Olusoga with Joe Marler<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Rating: 8.8
Joe has grown and grown as a character throughout the game, using his big personality and influence to cement himself as an arch-faithful and traitor hunter-in-chief. His decision to be brash, confrontational and bold has panned out brilliantly, as he has made himself unmurderable by the traitors because his demise would almost certainly have led back to them. He was the only person who suspected Jonathan<\/a> from the start, and finally managed to get his man. Despite a wobble with the banishment of Kate in this episode, the penny has now dropped and Joe realises that Cat and Alan are a team. He\u2019s been close to Cat up until now and so it might still be a surprise for her when he finally turns on her. He\u2019s asked David face-to-face to follow him, so if David follows and Nick doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s being played, Joe should pull off a fantastic faithful victory. <\/p>\n

\u2022 Why we\u2019re all copying Claudia Winkleman\u2019s Traitors style this autumn<\/a><\/p>\n

Cat Burns<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.6
Cat has managed to keep below the radar throughout the entire game despite being allied with two of the biggest characters in the castle. This is a great skill that\u2019s got her into the final, but could this now be her downfall? The fact that she\u2019s been so quiet and noncommittal at the round table and tried to stay out of the drama is now coming back to haunt her. Her greatest ally on the faithful team, Joe, now thinks she\u2019s a traitor, and Nick has his suspicions too. Once again it will probably come down to which way David swings as to whether or not Cat gets caught. There remains enough division among the faithful that Cat could still be left in the group at the end of the game, but it feels less likely now than at any point in the game previously. Could she end up being a cat with nine lives, like her traitor colleague Jonathan? <\/p>\n

Alan Carr\"Comedian<\/p>\n

The remaining traitors, Alan and Cat<\/p>\n

BBC\/STUDIO LAMBERT\/EUAN CHERRY<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.3
Despite no one quite connecting Alan with the plain-sight murder of Celia, he is the traitor with the most heat on him going into the final. The arch-traitor-hunter Joe has had his eye on Alan for a while, and Nick seems to have moved into the same orbit of thought. When Alan was asked to vow his faithfulness with Claudia at the end of the episode, his inability to look everyone in the eye without laughing won\u2019t have helped his case. Alan has played a brilliant game and has shown the most development of character in the series; from gibbering wreck on day one to smiling assassin by the end \u2014 if anything he has become too confident. The other players have realised he deflects using humour and they\u2019re on to him. It\u2019s hard to see him making it through the final banishments. <\/p>\n

David Olusoga<\/p>\n

Rating: 7.1
It\u2019s so hard to place David in the rankings because, despite his being so quiet and considered, he really is the pivotal piece in this final puzzle. If we assume that Alan and Cat stay unified in their treacherous alliance and that Joe and Nick go for them, David\u2019s decision will shape the game. Remember, only one traitor needs to remain standing at the end for them to win, and so he must block-vote with the faithful to avoid catastrophe. David has stated that he doesn\u2019t think the traitors are working as a team, which means he may go for the offbeat choice of Joe and throw a spanner in the works \u2014 especially after Joe\u2019s late attempt to bring him into the circle with Nick. His propensity to overthink the strategies and alliances could send him down a dead end. It\u2019s too close to call. Good luck, David \u2014 you\u2019re going to need it!<\/p>\n

Banished<\/p>\n

\u2022 Kate Garraway
\u2022 Jonathan Ross
\u2022 Stephen Fry
\u2022 Mark Bonnar (by tie-break)
\u2022 Clare Balding
\u2022 Tameka Empson
\u2022 Niko Omilana<\/p>\n

Murdered<\/p>\n

\u2022 Celia Imrie
\u2022 Lucy Beaumont
\u2022 Joe Wilkinson
\u2022 Charlotte Church
\u2022 Ruth Codd
\u2022 Tom Daley
\u2022 Paloma Faith<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the point in being a national treasure if you can\u2019t even have a mini-break in a beautiful…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":110167,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":{"0":"post-110166","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110166"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110166\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}