The moment the winner of The Celebrity Traitors was announced in last night's (Thursday) final show – and their true status was revealed – will surely go down as one of the best TV moments of the year.
Nick Mohammed practically collapsed with shock at the revelation, while the actual out-right winner of the game – don't read any further if you're still avoiding spoilers – Alan Carr burst into tears as he revealed keeping his guilty secret had been "tearing him apart", and in incredible scenes, Nick and the other faithful, David Olusoga then rushed to comfort him.
But while the series – the first with an all-star cast – has hit the heady heights of being branded instantly iconic by fans, nothing is perfect, and we think there are a few ways that the show could be made even better.
Bumping up the episodes from nine to the non-celebrity Traitors' 12 would be a start, as would demanding at least one traitor's recruitment. (This series was crying out for a switch-up in the turret, and a terrible moral quandary for one celeb.)
And there's more: here are our ideas for new rules that need to be brought in for the next series. Producers, you can thank us by getting to work on s2 ASAP:
1. Traitors don't recruit automatically when one is banished – they have to earn powers of recruitment
Some of the high points of this series have been seeing Alan have to kill in plain sight, and this idea could be applied to recruitment. Namely that the traitors have to earn the right to get fresh blood for their team. The side quests and missions would bring a new energy – and desperation? – to the villains, which would obviously make for great viewing for the fans. At the moment the missions are fun but relatively inconsequential. Producers could even go one step further and demand that traitors have to earn the right to kill, too.
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2. Shields can protect the shield-holder OR their nominee
Here's a thought: what if the shield could be utilised in more than just one way? By being able to pass on the powers of the shield – either in secret or out in the open – it could be used to form more alliances and bring an extra level of game-playing to the show.
3. "I think you're a traitor as you'd be such a great traitor" reasoning needs to end at Round Tables
There needs to be a moratorium on this phrase as it shouldn't be an accepted reason for voting for someone. Ban this insipid explanation!
4. One faithful is given the names of the traitors, but is unable to tell anyone
Adding another layer to the deception and lies, one faithful would benefit from finding out the traitors, but by being unable to tell the others, would need to use their powers of persuasion to get the other faithfuls to vote them out. But would their convictions end up seeing themselves in the firing line as a result?
5. One of the traitors is a secret to the viewers
By only revealing two of the three traitors, it'd allow the audience to play a little bit alongside the actual players, with them not finding out until they left that they were the traitors.
6. The traitors have to sabotage one mission
They can pick and choose which mission in the series they choose to hijack – potentially making them look suspicious to the faithfuls – but the terrible three need to bring chaos to one of Claudia's tasks.
7. Have the murdered faithfuls come face to face with the traitors
It's always fun on the spin-off show, Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, watching footage of the murdered and banished contestants finding out who is the real traitors. But this could be added in to the actual show, where the person comes face-to-face with the people responsible for them crashing out of the game.
Screaming, crying, throwing up: it'd be a real firework display of emotions.
The Traitors (non-celebrity version) returns to BBC1 in the New Year.
The new edition of Living Legends is here! Buy Ariana & Witches in newsagents or online, priced at just £8.99.
