Wakefield Traitors star speaks on being a faithful, Claudia Winkleman and that shocking Celebrity final

Faithful Joe Thewlis (known as Joe Scott), competed in the third series of The Traitors, which aired at the start of the year.

Joe, who grew up in Wrenthorpe and Kirkhamgate, came in eighth place after being ‘murdered’ by traitors Minah and Charlotte.

On participating in such an iconic TV show, Joe said: “It was just a great opportunity and I would recommend it to anyone to take part .

“Where else do you get to play a real life murder mystery?”

Series three saw faithfuls Leanne Quigley and Jake Brown scoop the huge £94,600 jackpot, after banishing traitor Charlotte and faithfuls, Alexander and Francesca.

However, this wasn’t the only series of The Traitors on our screens this year.

The first UK celebrity edition came to an end on Friday (November 6) following four entertaining weeks of scheming, murders and banishments.

The Celebrity Traitors was already breaking television records, with the first episode becoming the most-watched unscripted episode of television across the UK market since 2022.

Now, it has been confirmed that a staggering 11.1 miillon people tuned in to watch the traitorous Alan Carr win and take all the money for his chosen charity, Neuroblastoma UK.

Speaking on the celebrity edition, Joe said: “This is the first series that I’ve rooted for the traitor!

“There was a lot of great people on there, but Alan was definitely my highlight and I really wanted him to win”.

Within series three, Joe became a trusted faithful, helping identify and capture traitor Linda – whilst barely receiving any banishment nominations.

“To me, playing the game was staying in the game and having your team believes that you’re a faithful. And I think that’s what happened.

“But, as a faithful, capturing a traitor was such a great feeling.

“It was nice that I had voted for her (Linda) because I got so many things wrong on there!”

Delving into some behind-the scenes secrets, Joe explained that Claudia Winkleman is exactly like who you see on the screen.

“She lived up to expectations!” Joe explained.

“However, whenever we saw Claudia it was when the cameras were rolling, so when she arrived it kept up the suspense.

“She would always just appear, we’d be at the breakfast table, and then suddenly she’d appear and we’d be like, right, Claudia’s here, here we go!”

The days spent filming are also non-stop for contestants.

“It’s long hours but you do get some downtime.” Joe continued.

“We couldn’t just all sit having a cup of tea and a gossip, because everything that was shown on TV had to be what was said.

“So it was very authentic and very natural in that sense”.

Reflecting on his exit from the iconic castle, Joe shared that he’d rather have been banished than murdered – but he did see his own murder coming.

“I wanted to be able to stand up there and say my goodbyes!

“I knew I was going to be murdered because I thought ‘nobody’s bringing my name up’. So in a weird way, I came to terms with it because I thought there’s not going to be a banishment.”

Despite a dramatic series, Joe has ensured there’s no bad blood between the contestants – and that they actually have a group chat and often see each other.

“We were all genuinely good friends on our cast. So it was very intense at the time, and I think we all helped get each other through it.”

Following the end of the Celebrity Traitors, rumours continue to swirl about an ‘all-stars’ version of The Traitors, which would see former players, from across the past three civillian series, return for another game.

On whether he would return, Joe said: “I’d do it again in another heartbeat.

“But I think I’ve played it as a faithful so I’d love to see how that cloak would fit!”