Paul Gorton: ‘The Traitors’ final was truly one for the ages
Our star columnist is in awe of Traitors winners Rachel Duffy and Stephen Libby. But he's also got an idea up his sleeve for future series...
By Paul Gorton
Hello for the final time, RS UK readers!
WHAT an almighty final that was. We’re four seasons into The Traitors and it’s still springing surprises that we’ve never seen before. In this case, obviously, Stephen and Rachel proving to be one hell of a team as they went all the way and became the first pair of Traitors to ever win the show together.
I may have had my doubts at times, like when I suspected that Rachel was toast after her dealings with Fiona. But my god, she battled through, and I doubt she’d be standing there as a winner if Stephen hadn’t backed that team. She was battered by Fiona, she was battered by Harriet and still came through. There is no more deserved winner, and I think she played a brilliant game.
As for Stephen, it’s clear that his head and indeed heart is in the right place. The opportunity to vote for Rachel and take all the money was clearly there, but it speaks volumes that he didn’t do that. A triumphant win for a brilliant pair. Their win also harks back to the Dark Forest theory I mentioned last week. Fiona was a huge threat to them and it meant they came together to tackle her together. I truly think that was the moment they were bonded together for good and knew that they could win it together. But shout-out to Jack, Faraaz and Jade for making it to the final too. It takes a great player to get that far, and any one of them would have made a brilliant winner.
Now, we look ahead to the future. I’m buzzing for the return of The Celebrity Traitors later this year and then the sure-to-be excellent season 5. But I have one suggestion: Traitors Raw. Hear me out. I’d be all for an edit where you don’t see the Traitors at the start. You just get a bit of chat, a challenge and a Roundtable. It’s then up to you to deduce who The Traitors are. Which, inevitably, means you’ll end up feeling just as silly as the Faithfuls when you get it wrong.
Oh, and there’s the small matter of the show hitting the West End next year. If they’re looking for a tall, handsome and charismatic ginger man to play a treacherous panto villain, I might just know a guy. Cheers for having me!
As told to Nick Reilly