Traitors fans hail brutal twist minutes into first episode before Claudia Winkleman reveals another MAJOR change to the format

By William On Jan 1, 2025

A brutal twist greeted Traitors fans minutes into the first episode before host Claudia Winkleman revealed another big change to the game.

The third series kicked off in the Scottish Highlands on Wednesday evening when the first three Traitors were selected.

But the drama started before they even arrived, when they took the train to the castle.

The 25 players were divided into three wagons and each wagon received a huge jolt when the train suddenly stopped.

The train then began to move backwards as Claudia told them that each carriage had to choose one person to leave the train and the show.

Jack, Alexander, and Fozia eventually volunteered to leave, but it remains to be seen if they will return to the show later or if they are actually gone for good.

Traitors fans greeted a cheeky twist minutes into the first episode before host Claudia Winkleman revealed another big change to the game

The third series kicked off in the Scottish Highlands on Wednesday evening when the first three Traitors were selected

Later in the show, Claudia revealed another big change to the show when she told the contestants that when people are eliminated, they will no longer reveal whether they are a traitor or a believer.

In the show, several Traitors are picked at the beginning of the series, while the other participants are Faithfuls.

Over the course of the game, the Traitors must convince the rest of the players that they are loyal in order to ultimately steal the entire prize pool for themselves.

At the first round table, Armani, Minah and Linda were selected as the first three traitors. On the first night, they killed Yin, who was then eliminated from the show.

It comes after Claudia dropped a huge new clue about how The Traitors is chosen as the fans’ favorite show.

Claudia said this week about how The Traitors came about: ‘I’m not a goddess and I don’t choose them myself.’

Claudia added her chats with each player to the first episode (which viewers see on screen) and is just the start of the choosing.

Then she and a group of five to six others debate who to choose – which Claudia describes as ‘very stressful’.

When asked if she believed the right Traitors had been chosen for series three, Claudia replied: “I have faith and whether I was right or wrong we will find out.

‘It’s always the right three.

“It could have been other three, but it was those three and after you spoke to them all, it felt like the right three.”

It’s coming after her revealed her fears about the hit show’s return.

Ahead of the first episode, she said she was “absolutely terrified” that it would go as well as the first two series.

“I don’t breathe until January 24, I wake up at four in the morning, even on strictly Saturday,” she said.

“I was talking about people’s Cha Chas, but in my head I’m thinking, ‘do they like The Traitors?’

‘We are terrified because the success of the first one has blown us away. We didn’t expect it.

“And I just have so much fun making it.” It’s such an honor to sit at that round table and watch it unfold.

‘So I feel incredibly lucky. I think it’s great, and you just don’t want people to be disappointed.”

She went on to talk about how she stays in touch with ex-contestants from the first two series, with most calling her ‘mum’ towards the end of filming.

“They look like my children, to whom I am sometimes incredibly mean,” she said. I love them, every single one of them. I texted Maddie from series one the other day.

‘I messaged Charlotte’s aunt, Matt from series one, wanting to show me his new skill. It was skateboarding. They call me Aunt Claude or Mom at the end, which is weird.

“So I stay in touch with all of them because yeah, I’m so grateful to them for playing and playing the way they do. I actually cried when someone got banned this year, but cried in the right way and in a way that I thought was probably unhealthy.

“And two of them came out, and they were great. The three of us just cried together. We’re going deep.’

Claudia teased a ‘new format’ for the third series, which will have people on the edge of their seats.

After such a success of the British series, which is filmed at Adross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, an American version was also launched.

Presented by Alan Cummings, she says she struggles to watch it because she is territorial about the castle.

“I’m not saying anything bad, but I can’t look at him because he’s in my castle,” she said.

‘So, what are you doing? It was so weird. He’s not weird. He is absolutely magical. But I looked a bit, and no.

‘He’s so much better. And I love his outfits, but it’s a different way of doing it because it’s the same location, I’m like ‘get out of my castle.’

Last week, Claudia revealed on The Midpoint podcast that she had initially turned down presenting the show because she didn’t want to film in Scotland for more than three weeks.

The star was offered the job but turned it down because she didn’t want to be away from her family.

But after watching the original Dutch version she became ‘obsessed’ and quickly sent an email to BBC bosses who changed her mind.