From blindfolded car journeys to sleeping locations: The secrets of The Traitors

The Traitors is 1 of the fewer things getting america done a miserable January. For 3 nights a week, it feels arsenic if the full state is surviving and breathing the cloaks-and-daggers drama.

For the different 4 painstaking days erstwhile the amusement isn't connected air, we're sharing our opinions and theories with everyone from colleagues to strangers online.

But it's not conscionable tactics and contestants viewers are talking astir - my radical chats are incessantly pinging with questions astir what happens down the scenes, wherever the formed spell erstwhile they permission the castle, and whether Charlotte volition ever uncover her existent accent.

Luckily, we nary longer request to ponder most of these questions, arsenic erstwhile contestants person been speaking to BBC News astir the concealed workings of the Traitors castle.

The bid successful which the contestants get astatine meal is simply a root of hostility and speculation connected the show.

Series 1 faithful Maddy Smedley explains that contestants are kept successful abstracted holding rooms erstwhile they travel to the castle successful the greeting and are called to spell into meal individually oregon arsenic a group.

Similarly, successful the evenings, contestants hold successful a holding country until a runner comes to individually escort them retired of the gathering and into a car.

Traitor and bid 2 champion Harry Clark says determination are nary clocks successful the castle and contestants person nary consciousness of time.

"You get picked up successful the greeting and erstwhile filming is over, you get dropped backmost to the lodgings," helium explains.

"I don't cognize what clip the ngo starts oregon erstwhile luncheon is - we trust connected the accumulation squad to nonstop america and successful between, we each conscionable beryllium astir and chat."

Unlike the hour-long episodes we see, Harry says the days aren't filled with wall-to-wall traitor speculation.

"I spent astir the time talking to Paul astir Liverpool and Chelsea oregon uncovering retired if everyone believes successful aliens and evidently that worldly doesn't marque the last edit due to the fact that it's not applicable to the game."

Series 1 faithful Dr Amos Ogunkoya describes his days successful the castle arsenic "a truly bully vacation camp, until the roundtable".

"Most of the time we're conscionable learning astir each others lives and truthful you go truly adjacent to everyone there."

Matt Harris, different faithful successful bid one, says that, portion the castle is huge, "you're not allowed retired of show from the cameras truthful you can't locomotion astir the grounds".

"They acceptable up the rooms similar the room and barroom particularly for the amusement and you're told by producers which rooms you tin spell into."

The deficiency of clocks marque it hard to cognize precisely however agelong anything lasts but the roundtable surely acold surpasses its 10 minutes of surface time.

"At the beginning, determination are 22 people," says Harry. "Even if everyone lone speaks for 10 minutes, that's much than 3 hours."

As viewers, it tin beryllium hard to recognize wherefore contestants are truthful affectional during and aft the roundtable, but Harry says it's "really intense".

"Everyone has their ain communicative and you're taking someone's accidental of winning wealth distant if they are banished."

Maddy says she cried truthful overmuch connected the amusement that "the information guards would springiness maine crystal each greeting to assistance the puffiness of my look spell down".

The nonstop determination of contestants' lodgings remains a enigma to us, and seemingly to the formed arsenic well.

"It's astir a 30-minute thrust from the castle but you're blindfolded arsenic you approach, truthful you can't spot the car successful beforehand oregon fig retired precisely wherever you are," Maddy says.

She explains that the full accumulation squad and formed enactment successful backstage lodgings but you're kept isolated from everyone "with subject precision".

"You're allowed to spell for a locomotion but you person to beryllium accompanied by a runner and each level is manned by 2 information guards who guarantee you don't permission your country unaccompanied.

"At first, I was truly frightened of them due to the fact that I had watched the Dutch mentation of the amusement and successful that, the faithful are murdered successful their edifice country truthful each clip the defender knocked connected my doorway I thought I was going to permission the game," she says.

Harry explains helium felt lonely astatine times successful the accommodation, particularly arsenic contestants person their phones taken away. "But I can't kick due to the fact that I slept casual each nighttime knowing I'd beryllium turning up for breakfast!"

Every present and past viewers get a speedy glimpse of a vessel of effect astatine meal oregon idiosyncratic piling carrots onto their sheet astatine meal time.

The contestants we spoke to gave the nutrient provided connected the amusement mixed reviews.

Dr Amos says "the meal was horrible, you decidedly would not privation to devour overmuch of it" but Matt was much generous and described it arsenic "decent".

Harry says "there was a batch of Scottish nutrient similar haggis" adding that arsenic a fussy eater, helium "wouldn't interaction it".

But luckily for Harry, determination was the enactment to petition food.

During the day, helium says helium ate "a batch of chickenhearted nuggets and chips" and, successful the evening, helium would inquire for the "perfect traitor fuel" to beryllium delivered to his lodgings - a crisp sandwich.

If a contestant is banished astatine the roundtable, they "really bash permission immediately", according to Maddy.

"You're taken to bash an exit interrogation consecutive distant and past driven to your edifice to battalion your stuff. The adjacent day, I was escorted by information successful the greeting to the airdrome and was fixed my telephone back."

Maddy says the much stressful mode of leaving the amusement is done murder.

"You crook up successful the greeting similar you're going to meal and you are each waiting successful these holding rooms. Eventually, you get called arsenic if you're going to meal but instead, they instrumentality you to different country wherever the execution missive is sitting connected a chair.

"It was truthful stressful."

"The biggest daze was however unscripted everything is," Dr Amos says.

Maddy says the lone clip producers intervened was to archer her to denote that she was an histrion implicit breakfast.

She explains she'd already shared this with her chap contestants erstwhile they were waiting to beryllium taken backmost to the edifice and had taken their mics off.

Matt says determination were immoderate moments that were guided by producers.

"Occasionally, radical were pulled retired and told to spell and talk to immoderate different radical - it's earthy that they usher you into a presumption to marque bully TV."

"It's weird astatine archetypal due to the fact that determination are cameras successful your look but aft a while, you hide they're determination and producers don't ever measurement in," Harry adds.

"Most rooms besides conscionable person cameras successful the country and you person a mic attached to you truthful sometimes, you don't spot immoderate of the producers until the extremity of the time erstwhile they cheque successful connected you."

Mike Cotton, originative manager of the workplace that makes The Traitors, explains that determination are cameras "dotted astir each azygous room".

"I'd accidental there's astir apt astir 50 oregon 60 of those passim the the surviving abstraction wrong the castle."

He says a squad of camera operators works successful pairs to travel the formed astir into antithetic rooms - but astatine a distance.

At the roundtable, helium says the cameras are hidden and immoderate are built into the array itself.

"The contestants can't spot immoderate cameras and that's to support them immersed arsenic they tin lone spot each other," helium explains.

"When I met Claudia, I was truthful tense due to the fact that she's truthful powerful," says Harry.

"I wanted to beryllium a traitor truthful severely and I thought she'd instrumentality nary announcement of america but actually, she knew everything astir everyone.

"She gets truly progressive and makes you consciousness truly comfortable."

How overmuch does Claudia Winkleman cognize astir the challenges?

"Very little," according to Harry.

"There's a squad that make the missions and everyone other is successful the acheronian astir them. I would effort off-camera to get them to archer maine astir it oregon I'd springiness them ideas but they wouldn't listen."

Claudia precocious said her biggest fearfulness is accidentally giving distant the traitors' identities portion filming the roundtables.

"I americium perfectly paranoid astir ever looking astatine the traitors, truthful I benignant of look conscionable supra everybody's head," she explained.

Speaking to BBC News and different property past month, Claudia explained there's a squad of radical who marque the decision.

"We speech to each of them, and past six of america spell up to a room, the superb casting people, and we get done 7 packets of biscuits.

"I'm the smallest dependable successful the room, but you determine portion having had those chats who it's going to be."

The squad instrumentality the players' wishes into information and if idiosyncratic asks not to beryllium a traitor, they wouldn't beryllium picked.

Dr Amos says helium made it precise wide that helium wouldn't look connected the amusement if helium wasn't a faithful.

"I wanted to instrumentality portion successful the amusement but arsenic a doc I deliberation being a traitor and lying to radical has real-life consequences arsenic my patients mightiness not spot me."

One happening that's wide from speaking to the contestants is applying for the amusement is hard work.

After firing disconnected your archetypal written and video applications, you person a fig of audiences with producers.

"They inquire you to chiefly archer them stories astir yourself and your life," Dr Amos says.

"Eventually, if they similar you, past you get a telephone telephone a fewer weeks earlier [filming starts] to accidental you're disconnected to Scotland," adds Harry.

The Traitors is filmed successful Ardross Castle, a 19th Century gathering astir 30 miles northbound of Inverness.

It is acceptable successful astir 100 acres of gardens and parkland and has been owned by the McTaggart household since 1983.

Fun fact: its erstwhile proprietor was Charles William Dyson Perrins whose grandfather, William Perrins (in concern with John Wheeley Lea) created the look for Worcestershire Sauce.

Mike Cotton says the unit connected determination is made up of much than 200 people.

"It sounds perfectly immense but we movie 1 occurrence a day," helium says.

He explains that this squad includes everyone from producers and camera operators to the creation section who enactment their magic connected interior designing the rooms.

He likens the accumulation to 1 you mightiness find connected acceptable for a Hollywood film.

Dr Amos says that each subordinate of the unit knew who the traitors were.

"It looks similar the faithful are successful the bulk connected the amusement but successful reality, you massively consciousness successful the number - everyone down to the scientist who is determination to enactment you knows who the traitors are."