Meet The Traitors final five: The highs and lows of Harry, Andrew, Jaz, Evie and Molly as TV’s most dastardly game of deception comes to an end

The Traitors is set to reach an explosive conclusion on Friday night, bringing an end to weeks of paranoia, backstabbing and own goals in TV’s biggest game of psychological warfare.

After three weeks of gripping television it will finally be seen if the Faithful can weed out all the Traitors and split the prize pot between them, or if any Traitors will remain undetected and take the winnings for themselves. 

Thursday’s episode saw Jasmine Boatswain become the latest Faithful banished from the game, with Claudia Winkleman announcing to Harry Clark, Andrew Jenkins, Jaz Singh, Evie Morrison and Mollie Pearce that they had made the final. 

With just one more round table standing in the way of grasping the winnings, it is yet to be seen who will leave the castle victorious. 

Now MailOnline takes a closer look at the final five. 

The Traitors  

Harry Clark 

Within a few short weeks, Harry has gone from being a dependable and much-liked military engineer into a ruthless, back-stabbing killer.

The British Army Corporal, 23, is the favourite to win the show after deploying a dazzling range of Machiavellian tactics on the programme.

At the beginning of the second series, Harry was selected as one of three ‘Traitors’ tasked with ‘killing off’ the remaining 19 Faithfuls but flew under the radar as he followed self appointed head Traitor Paul Gorton’s lead. 

In astonishing scenes, he burst out of his shell to overthrow Paul and threw him under the bus during a round table, going on to become one of the most ruthless players the show has ever seen. 

Harry’s military training has ensured he remains calm under pressure while he has previously experienced a brush with fame owing to his girlfriend Anna Maynard.

Anna, 23, is a children’s TV presenter and social-media star with 150,000 Instagram followers – partly thanks to having famous brothers: pop star Conor and vlogger (and former I’m A Celebrity star) Jack.

Harry already has an impressive 25,700 followers on Instagram, despite having posted just 16 photos, and is represented by leading television PR agency Plank.

However, despite his strong run in the show he could soon meet his downfall after banished Traitor Paul planted seeds about him to Jaz. 

Paul revealed information had been passed onto him by Harry, with Jaz deducing that they must have conferred during a Traitors meeting. 

Andrew Jenkins 

Initially in over his head when he was late recruitment by the Traitors, Andrew has gone from staunch Faithful to savvy Traitor. 

The 45-year-old insurance broker came into his own when he realised he needed to throw fellow Traitor Ross Carson under the bus just hours after they’d recruited him to the dark side. 

In BAFTA-worthy scenes the Welshman left Ross incredulous when he insisted he hadn’t relayed his comments that Harry was acting ‘elusive’, going on to suggest he didn’t even understand the term.  

During Thursday’s episode he opened up about a life-changing experience when he was pronounced dead on the side of the road after a car accident. 

He explained: ‘I’ve been on a huge journey. I was given a second chance at life. I was involved in a serious road traffic accident 23 years ago.

‘They said I was dead initially on the side of the road. I was in a coma for then for five weeks and then got told I had severe brain damage.

‘The injuries I had were horrific and I was told after my accident that I wouldn’t walk ever again. And I told the doctor that I would walk again and I did it.’

With the final of the BBC show within reaching distance, Andrew continued: ‘I’m not going to fail, I can’t get give up on anything.

‘So if somebody tells me I can’t do something I am very determined and competitive. I strive to be the best I can and win.’

However, his cards could be marked by Mollie, who despite not voicing her concerns, has clocked the fact he’s not been his usual bubbly self since being recruited.  

The Faithfuls 

Jaz Singh 

Dubbed ‘Jazatha Christie’ by viewers for his elite detective skills, Jaz has managed to see through all the Traitors. 

However, his downfall has come in being unable to convince his fellow Faithfuls. 

The 30-year-old national account manager initially kept himself at arm’s length from his fellow contestants as he feared getting ’emotionally involved’ would cloud his vision. 

However, he soon found himself able to open up, speaking candidly about his family woes and sharing his hurt at discovering his father had a secret second family. 

He confessed: ‘That level of betrayal is just difficult to experience at a young age, so then you start to think “can you trust people?” like that’s my dad. That is painful. 

‘When your dad is your idol, you don’t want to be told that he’s not what he was supposed to be…

‘My father was a central piece of the jigsaw, so when you take that central piece out, it’s almost like a Jenga block that comes crashing down. And slowly but surely I’m in the process of building up my family because that was absolutely devastating.’

Jaz also brought everyone on side after being the only Faithful to be suspicious of popular Paul being a Traitor. 

He saw through his fellow players’ crocodile tears, fake shakes, and masterful behaviour control, leaving viewers thoroughly impressed.

Jaz is now one of the only players to be suspicious of Harry and he has been wrestling with voicing his fears as he’s concerned it could backfire. 

It remains to be seen if he’s left it too late to win over his fellow Faithfuls.  

Evie Morrison 

Evie has slowly but surely come out of her shell after viewers spent the first few weeks mixing her up with fellow Faithful Charlie Bees. 

The 29-year-old veterinary nurse may have spent the first few weeks flying under the radar but she recently revealed to fans that she was far from clueless when it came to working out who were the Traitors. 

It may have been Harry who was the leading force in Paul’s shock demise, but Evie also had a part to play in exposing him as a Traitor. 

Before Paul was banished he had a hand in getting rid of fellow Traitor Miles Asteri as he insisted murdered Faithful Diane Carson had claimed Miles was to blame. 

Fighting back at the round table, Miles argued that Diane wasn’t around to back up the claim, as she was only standing next to Paul and Evie, who said she hadn’t heard anything.

With suspicion starting to build around Paul, Evie insisted she hadn’t heard Diane and couldn’t back him up, leading to a tense stand-off between Paul and Miles.

Yet taking to X, formerly Twitter, after the show had aired Evie dropped a major bombshell as she shared: ‘I OBVIOUSLY HEARD DIANE. I just wasn’t gonna be a pawn in Paul’s sneaky game looool.’

She has credited her job as a veterinary nurse in helping her adapt to The Traitors, explaining that she has to quickly switch up between the emotional moments such as putting animals down to excitedly seeing children bringing their pets in for check ups. 

However, Thursday’s episode could have sparked the beginning of the end for Evie after the group were torn on whether she or Jasmine were Traitors. 

Zack sparked the theory as the group believe the Traitors tried to murder Harry without knowing he had an immunity shield. 

With only Jasmine and Evie unaware that he had the shield and Jasmine since revealed to be a Faithful, the suspicion returns solely to Evie.  

Mollie Pearce 

Popular among her fellow castmates, Mollie has not been targeted by the Traitors or accused of being one. 

Conversely, the 21-year-old disability model also hasn’t been forthcoming with her ideas on who the Traitors could be. 

However, she has had a massive increase in confidence since childhood, as she explained that three years ago she couldn’t even leave the house. 

Mollie was born with missing fingers on her right hand and was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis when she was 11 resulting in an ileostomy to remove her colon.   

She explained: ‘I really struggled to get my head around the fact that I was going to have a stoma.

‘I wasn’t prepared for it at 18 years-old you kind of just want to be out enjoying yourself with your friends and not having this life changing surgery.’

She continued: ‘Since my surgery I’ve got my life back. I realised I could wear what I wanted. I could go out, I can enjoy myself. It completely changed my life.

‘I had so much of my life taken away and controlled by my illness I want to live and I don’t want to regret not going travelling.

‘I’ve kind of spent most of my life since I was 11 quite unwell. I kind of wanted to advocate for people with limb difference and a stoma.

While Mollie hasn’t actively voiced any of her suspicions she is one of the Faithfuls who has grown wary of Traitor Andrew, which could stand her in good stead in the final. 

However, she has remained completely convinced that Harry is Faithful and this could be to her detriment. 

The Traitors finale airs at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer  

Hidden secrets from The Traitors: How much players get paid, what show memorabilia do they get to keep and how the producers increase tension at round tables with music and air con 

The Traitors has taken the UK by storm with its constant twists, betrayals and mind games.

The finale is set to air on Friday and will see the remaining Faithfuls and Traitors try and suss each other out in a bid to win the cash prize.

But for many fans, there are still several questions to be answered about the show itself and its behind-the-scenes secrets. 

Many are clamouring to know how the series is filmed, how contestants get chosen and what involvement the producers have.

MailOnline has answered all of the questions and revealed the biggest hidden secrets behind the beloved series. 

Are contestants paid?

One question many have asked is whether the contestants get paid to appear on the show.

The players are not given a fee to take part, but since they have to take time off work to film, they are reimbursed for lost wages with around £100 a day.

One of the series one winners, Aaron Evans, explained in a YouTube Q&A: ‘They don’t technically pay you, they subsidize what you would have got for work with the show, it’s roughly like £100 a day.’

He added: ‘It’s not that much […] but it’s definitely worth it.’

Aaron generously gave the most of his share of the £101,050 jackpot to his mother, so that she could buy a house.

Where do players stay?

Another mystery surrounds where the players stay during filming, with the show giving the impression that they stay inside the castle.

The Traitors is famously shot inside the 19th Century Ardross Castle, which boasts 30 bedrooms and is located 25 miles north of Inverness.

The series often shows clips of the contestants in their rooms, with luxury four-poster beds and elegant free-standing bathtubs.

However, the stars actually stay at a £70-a-night airport hotel, The Courtyard by Marriott, which is a 40-minute drive from the castle.

Alan Cumming, who hosts the US version of the series, revealed the shocking deception, saying: ‘They [the contestants] all stayed in the airport hotel in the Inverness airport. How glamorous – you come to Scotland, and you stay in the Inverness airport hotel! 

‘I stayed in a little house in Inverness. But I had a room in the castle where I would get made up and dressed. It had a huge bed in it. So I did actually sleep quite often, but not overnight.’

The players are also surrounded by security guards prowling the premises to stop them conferring.

One guest recalled: ‘They had guards on each corridor by all the lifts checking on people leaving their rooms.’

Contestants are also not allowed to roam freely around the Highland castle, only having access to the library, the small bar, kitchen and the billiards room.

The other rooms are packed full of all the equipment and crew members, with Claire Barratt from series one describing the castle as full of ‘gaffer tape and wires’ with ‘production staff, filming crew and sound crew all running around’.

Is the show scripted?

When it comes to reality shows, there is also a question around how much is ‘reality’ and how much is scripted.

While there are some series that do rely heavily on scripted scenes, The Traitors is very much real, with the players given no direction.

Series one finalist Wilfred Webster even said that the contestants ‘forgot about the cameras’.

Aaron added that the very heated arguments that viewers love come about naturally, and insisted the producers never got involved in their discussions.

He shared: ‘We were never pushed into the drama, it just happens, the producers would never control anything, we had complete control over what we said and what we did.’

Instead, the producers help to build tension behind-the-scenes, mostly by maintaining the secrecy around the Traitors’ identities and the upcoming tasks and twists.

Contestants are never allowed to be alone until they are in the hotel rooms and are constantly supervised so they can’t have conversations off-screen.

They are also not allowed access to the outside world, with no Internet so they can’t Google each other and learn potentially important information.

Even the remote controls in their hotel rooms are sometimes confiscated, while each contestant is blindfolded and taken to their room individually.

Producers also use clever tactics to increase the paranoia and tension, such as keeping the air conditioning on full blast in the round table room, to make it freezing cold.

Ahead of each banishment, they also play the contestants the song The Hanging Tree from the Hunger Games to keep them on edge.

Maddy explained: ‘It puts you in such a state – the whole time you’re on edge. They play The Hanging Tree from The Hunger Games before you go into the round table, and each time we were like uhhh! Everything is stripped back and it’s scary actually.’

Who picks the Traitors? 

The Traitors begins the all the contestants being blindfolded at the round table while host Claudia Winkleman goes around and picks the Traitors, by tapping them on the shoulder.

Many viewers questioned whether it is the beloved presenter who is making the choice, or if the producers actually make the decision. 

However, it has been revealed that it is Claudia that chooses who is a Traitor and who is a Faithful, though she may also consult with the producers.

The series starts with her interviewing each player to learn about their tactics and mentality, as well as inquire whether they want to be a Traitor or a Faithful.

Aaron explained: ‘It ends up being Claudia, when you initially go into her room in episode one. 

‘She kind of has an idea of who she’s going to pick, but you can influence her quite a lot.’

He added that Claudia had originally had her eye on Ivan Brett to be a Traitor in series one, but when he said he wanted to be a Faithful she changed her mind. 

How is the show filmed?

The show is edited very cleverly to amp up the tension and also to ensure all the drama fits into three episodes a week.

However, behind-the-scenes it is actually slightly different to how it appears on TV, firstly with the fact that filming is very long.

The shoots can go on for hours, with some reports saying that there are days the stars will be filming until the early hours. 

The intense schedule also ensures the week is jam-packed from Monday to Saturday, but series one winner Meryl Williams divulged that they do get Sundays off.

Additionally, players are able to speak freely to the viewers when they are in the confessional room, but there are actually more than one.

In order to film multiple contestants’ confessionals at once, there are in fact four or five confessional rooms, that are all identical to each other. 

The dramatic murders are also not quite as they appear, with the players not actually being killed at nighttime, which would mean they would be up all hours or woken in the middle of the night.

Series one’s John McManus revealed that the Faithfuls are instead murdered in the morning after arriving at the castle.

He said: ‘Everybody goes to the castle at the same time in different jeeps and then you’re all put into separate holding rooms. 

‘It’s like a Big Brother diary room with the letter sat on the chair in front of you, and it just says, “The Traitors have murdered you”.’ 

While it is not seen on camera, players are allowed to have smoke or vape breaks, but they have to supervised at all times.

They are allowed to have booze, as seen on the show with fan-favourite Diane Carson being poisoned with fizzy rosé.

There is a two drink limit in place, but Wilf said: ‘They said two but they [staff] always disappeared after one.

‘They don’t want us to mess up and get drunk and accidentally do something.’ 

Is the breakfast spread as delicious as it looks? 

Another perceived deception from the show is the revelation that the breakfast that the players are served every morning at the castle is not at delicious as it appears.

Series one star Ivan shared the truth on Twitter, declaring that the lavish spreads are actually ‘not very nice’.

He dished: ‘I’m sorry guys, it’s time to come clean and leak something shocking about #TheTraitors. 

‘It pains me to tell you, but that breakfast is REALLY DRY AND NOT VERY NICE.’

However, his former co-star Maddy Smedley disagreed as she replied: ‘Oh I really liked the cheese n ham.’

But season two star Evie Morrison quipped: ‘Watch me still eat it though!!! the stress eating is real.’

Viewers were quick to joke that they thought the ‘dry’ food was another sneaky way of causing tension among the group.

One wrote: ‘Of course. Nothing like slightly stale croissants to make people turn on one another. The mind games are happening at every level.’

To which Ivan replied: ‘Orange juice the same temperature as coffee? I will now kill my friend.’

Do players get to keep any memorabilia?

For the players that don’t get to take home any money, they still get to keep a part of the show as a memento of their experience.

Wilf divulged that the contestants were each sent their iconic framed photos that hang in the castle.

Producers also sent every player a copy of The Traitors board game so they can sharpen their deception skills.

How can you get on the show?

For anyone that is keen to have their own turn on the popular series and fancies themselves a change at winning the jackpot, they can apply online.

However, producers also scout cast members for the show, looking specifically for puzzle solvers and logical minds.

They look for contestants in poker and chess playing clubs as well fans of strategy games.

However, unlike the casting process for shows like Love Island, producers have said they do not look for fame-seekers or those with high following, as it ruins the show’s authenticity.

Maddy previously gave an insight into the casting process for the smash hit competition, by revealing exactly how she nabbed a place on the show.

Speaking to Anna Cookson on BBC Radio Kent, she shared: ‘I got a phone call out of the blue because I’d applied for Race Across The World and a previous show, and they must have kept my thing on file.

‘Someone rang me and was like “Are you working in a care home? Are you an actor?” and all this stuff, and they pitched me the show on the phone, and I thought it would be like wink murder or an acting game and I thought “That sounds quite good”.

‘Next thing you know, you do Zoom calls where they ask you loads of questions, and then you do a medical test, and then I was like “Oh my God, I’m in the castle”. Crazy!’