Paul Gorton: Bold decisions in ‘The Traitors’ mean that fireworks are on the way

Right, let’s address the elephant in the room right away. In my column last week I made a massive swing and predicted that Linda might just win The Traitors.

And what happened? A week later, Jake’s constant persistence and suspicions eventually paid off and Linda was banished. I’ll put my hands up, I was wrong, I’ll admit it. But I also think this reflects how brilliantly volatile and unpredictable The Traitors tends to be, and the precise reason we love it.

I have to give a shout-out to now dearly departed Fozia too. She told Linda that she’d be next out and she was absolutely right. Linda’s shout of ‘OH GET OVER IT!’ when she left Fozia was iconic, and I’m going to miss that whole arch-nemesis thing that pair had going on together. In footballing terms, they were The Traitors’ answer to Patrick Viera and Roy Keane. BBC executives if you’re reading this, please commission a travelogue with those two. I think the whole nation needs it.

Linda’s departure, of course, led to Charlotte’s recruitment as a Traitor. Now that, in my opinion, is an incredibly risky move for Minah. What I would have done in that situation is recruit Alexander, because he’s had lots of suspicions around him already and that would still allow Minah to be the strongest Traitor. When I look back on Season Two, I already had loads of suspicion around me when Harry and I brought in Andrew as a Traitor. That was a bad call for me because it made me the weakest in that group of three.

Now, I just wonder if Minah has been weakened and Charlotte has been handed the ultimate boost. She’s already a very strong faithful and she spoke last night about how she’s thinking about not telling Minah that other players have some serious suspicions around her.

It’s also going to be hard for Charlotte to fully trust Minah too. She’s now fully aware that Minah voted for Armani and Linda, so that’s two Traitors she has already turned on. You’d be well within your rights to have your guard up a little bit, right?

It’s going to be interesting to see how that one pans out and I think all of this has been building towards a brilliant second half of the season. The Faithfuls are getting a bit prickly and still not managing to get it right – farewell Alex, by the way –  and I want fireworks, explosions and a little bit more bite. I think we could be on the cusp of getting those. There’s just the small matter of which contestant is going to be the one lighting the fuse…

As told to Nick Reilly