The BBC has responded, following claims that a key moment from season four of The Traitors was staged. In a statement shared with Digital Spy, the broadcaster denied that a confrontation between contestants Rachel Duffy and Fiona Hughes had been orchestrated and intensified by producers.
"To suggest any staging, scripting, player preference, or interference otherwise is categorically untrue," a spokesperson for The Traitors said. "Players each have their own strategies, and we follow their interactions and the game play as it unfolds."
The confrontation in question occurred during last week's episodes, when Fiona accused Rachel of lying about a conversation that she claimed to have had with banished contestant Amanda Collier.
Rachel explained that before Amanda had left the castle, Amanda had confided in her about having been "a detective for years", a story which Fiona struggled to believe.
Culminating in a secret discussion between Traitors Fiona, Rachel and Stephen in the turret, the episode was hailed as "tense", with the turret scene branded a "TV moment of the decade" by viewers.
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Later, when Fiona accused Rachel of being a Traitor in front of the rest of the Faithfuls, she failed to convince the group of her own innocence and was eventually banished from the castle.
Joining Ed Gamble on The Traitors: Uncloaked, after her exit, Fiona explained: "I had my suspicions about Rachel, and I thought if anyone was going to throw me under the bus, it was her. And in poker, when you have a rubbish hand, you throw the hand in.
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"I thought that's what I'm going to do here, I'm going to throw a grenade in the room and see who comes out unscathed. Unfortunately, it was me, but I felt it had to be done. It would have been lovely if the three cloaks had gotten to the end, but that was never going to happen."
Set to play out across six more episodes, fans will soon learn which Faithfuls and which Traitors have made it to the grand finale on Friday, 23 January.
The Traitors season 4 is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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