The Traitors’ first victim speaks out after shocking opening episode

‘The rug was pulled from under my feet,’ said eliminated contestant

The first person to be murdered in BBC One’s deception game The Traitors has spoken out after a premature exit.

On Tuesday night (1 January), presenter Claudia Winkleman welcomed a fresh batch of contestants to the Scottish castle as the game of deception began its third season on BBC One.

*Warning – spoilers for the first episode of The Traitors season three are below*

During the episode, Winkleman selected three Traitors – Armani, Linda and Minah – while the rest of the players currently remain as Faithfuls trying to work out who they are before someone is killed overnight.

The Traitors chose 34-year-old communication scientist Yin for their first murder. When the Traitors found out Yin is an expert communicator with a PhD in communications from Oxford, they realised they needed to eliminate her before she cleverly worked out who they were.

Traitor Armani remarked that Yin was “very intellectual” and could become “a threat later on”.

Speaking after leaving the show, Yin said: “Honestly, I’m still half in denial that it’s happened.

“It’s a lot sooner than I expected but I did know for a fact that if I was chosen as a Faithful, which is more likely given the odds, that this was a very real possibility, so I did mentally and emotionally prepare myself for the worst possible outcome of leaving first.

“The rug was pulled from under my feet and I just had to accept that this was the situation.”

Yin was the first contestant to be eliminated from ‘The Traitors’ (BBC)

She said her experience on the show had been “so unique”, describing the series as “a form of therapy and mindfulness”.

On whether she would do anything differently next time, Yin added: “I think it was unfortunate the people I was closest to in those first few hours happened to be chosen as Traitors.

“Had other people been chosen, I honestly think I’d have been absolutely fine. Looking back, I must have come across as observant and definitely an intellectual person just by the way I speak.”

“I was debating putting on a bit of a persona, speaking a bit differently, using different vocabulary and syntax to hide the intellectual side of myself, but I chose not to do that. Even though I know for a fact that would have helped me out, even now I still wouldn’t do it.”

Claudia Winkleman in ‘The Traitors’ (BBC)

Speaking on the BBC Sounds podcast Traitors Uncloaked, Yin explained that she had packed multiple outfits – 51kg of luggage – to convey a certain personality to her fellow contestants through her clothing, and had planned on creating a colour-coded chart tracker using post-it notes to monitor each contestant as part of her game strategy.

“I had a whole scarf collection and 10 pairs of shoes, that was so deliberate to have a full arsenal of communication throughout the game,” she said.

However, Yin admitted she was shocked to learn that she had no idea about who the Traitors actually were, and that they made a mistake by eliminating her so early on.

Elsewhere during episode one, Winkleman announced a change to the show’s format that will change the trajectory of the game. Winkleman revealed that the few who make it to the final this year will no longer reveal whether they are a Faithful or Traitor as they are banished. Instead, the finalists will have to rely only on their instincts about whether or not any Traitors are left in the castle. It’s expected that the twist will make the game even more tricky.

This year’s contestants, revealed in full here, include a priest, an ex-soldier and two sisters.

The Traitors continues tonight at 8pm on BBC One.