Paul Gorton: ‘The Traitors’ is over and it’s time for me to take my bow

So that’s it, then. The Traitors is over for another year and I’ve been forced to put my hooded cloak back in the wardrobe for the next 12 months. That’s unless there’s any castles or stately homes across the UK looking for a bloke who can hang around ominously in a turret and kill people under the shadow of darkness. I’ve got plenty of experience in that department.

Let’s talk about the final then. Season Three may have felt like a slow burner at times, but my god that final bloodbath – RIP Charlotte, Francesca and Alexander – was the moment we’d been waiting for. It’s always good to see people squirm and state their case, and there was no shortage of that here.

As for the winners, I’d always considered Leanne to be one of the strongest players in the game and I find it astonishing that no one had killed her. She wasn’t too heavily involved in finding Traitors, but she was excellent at building a community around her and I think that really helped. What also helped is the idea – shown from the last two series – that vulnerable Traitors in the final will give the Faithful a win. And vice versa.

And as it happens, Faithfuls don’t come much stronger than Jake. They called him the Traitor Hunter and that’s exactly what he was. He was sharp, alert and that helped him secure the win. I met him earlier this week on the set of BBC Morning Live and he was exactly how you’d expect. A nice, down to earth northern lad who just so happens to have won fifty grand.

They’re both going to get a lot of attention in the coming year and I’ve seen a lot of the comments that have been levelled at them on social media. Leanne, in particular, is getting a lot of disgusting abuse thrown her way for simply being herself and a tough player of the game. To see someone from the show getting vile comments thrown at them is disgusting and it needs stamping out. It’s never acceptable. It makes those throwing abuse appear especially pathetic when they’re getting riled up at a gameshow. Solidarity with her.

Charlotte and Francesca are already rightfully popping up around the place too and Alexander, well, he’s so smooth and charming isn’t he? I can see him becoming a solid housewives’ favourite for the next decade and fronting an excellent Radio 4 show about international diplomacy.

It’s also been confirmed that nearly £50,000 has been raised for Mencap after Alexander spoke about his late brother’s experiences of living with a learning disability. That’s an incredible thing and it shows that his heart is firmly in the right place. I wish him all the best.

As for next year, there’s every chance you could be reading this and hoping to put in your application for Season Four before they close early next month. Do it. Just do it. My only bit of advice would be to stand out by hiding, if that makes sense. If you watch all the seasons so far, you’ll find that the strongest characters are the one who do their thing subtly and only choose to stand out for the right reasons. I think the key to success in the show is about building friendships where you can be trusted rather than finding Traitors, so maybe take the subtle approach and you could be whisked off to a Scottish castle for the adventure of a lifetime.

It’s been a pleasure sharing my thoughts with you over the last weeks, but it’s now time for me to do what I do best and take my bow. Cheers for having me!

As told to Nick Reilly