Viewers saw a very different side of Claudia Winkleman when The Traitors burst onto our screens at the end of 2022.
Gone was the sparkly, shiny, entirely lovely Strictly co-host. In her place was a much darker, bossier Claude clad in tartan and cosy knits – and viewers loved it.
Now, speaking exclusively to ED!, The Traitors series 1 winner Hannah Byczkowski has revealed exactly what Claudia is like off screen, and that the cast fear not finding a Traitor because they really don’t want to upset the host…
The Traitors host Claudia Winkleman under a lot of ‘pressure’
Hannah was full of praise for Claudia. She told us: “Claudia is so good and she’s very supportive. She’s very kind of present with you which is really nice. She’ll give anybody support that needs it. But she does kind of keep in character though,” she revealed.
As a result, the Faithfuls are a little nervous of not finding a Traitor at their round tables.
“Every time we didn’t get a Traitor I was like, Claudia’s going to be so angry. It felt like we were at school,” she said.
“She is very supportive but she is in the game as well. It feels very much real. It is real, the whole thing is real. And there is a lot at stake. So it’s very similar to what you see.”
It felt like we were at school. She is very supportive but she is in the game as well. It feels very much real.
Hannah also revealed that Claudia has to keep a “total poker face” when she’s around The Traitors stars. This is so she doesn’t give anything away.
“It’s a lot of pressure on Claudia really to not give anything away or gasp in horror or astonishment or anything like that. Those round tables, you can’t really predict what’s going to happen in them,” she said.
“The main thing is, we have to make sure that everything is covered, that everyone gets their turn. We have to make sure the game is played fairly. But there’s nothing outrageous that happens that you don’t see – there’s no crazy editing.”
Claudia Winkleman really does pick who becomes a Traitor
She also said that it’s Claudia who really decides who’s a Traitor and who’s a Faithful.
“It’s a totally different programme to anything that’s been on before. As far as we know, Claudia makes the decisions about who becomes a Traitor.”
However, when ED! comments that Claudia has so far made lots of good decisions, Hannah quips: “I disagree! I wanted to be a Traitor.
“I think I might have won £100k if I was. I believe I would’ve won as a Traitor but you never know.”
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What Hannah did next…
Hannah told ED! that being on The Traitors “changed her life”. She won £30k on the show, and still keeps in touch with “everyone” in the cast, including Meryl, Wilf, Theo and Alyssa.
However, when she meets up with the Traitors who were booted out ahead of her win, the drinks aren’t on Hannah: “It’s £30k,” she giggled. “It’s not enough to be buying rounds in London!”
Hannah revealed what she did with her winnings “was so boring”, telling us it “basically paid for me to change my life”.
A stand-up comic before entering the castle, Hannah paid her gas and electric bills, bought a car so she could drive to gigs and invested in her career. Now she runs a successful podcast, Ghost Huns, with her comedy pal Suzie Preece.
“We released it at the exact same time as The Traitors came out. Suzie and I tell ghost stories and try and contact the dead on every episode. It’s a comedy podcast above all else but we’re both so interested in the paranormal. Not that we’ve seen a ghost, but we go on ghost hunts once a month. We’ve been to castles, haunted pubs…
“It’s very surprising how successful it’s been in a short space of time. It’s been going for a year and we’ve had over a million downloads and it’s now a full-time living for both of us,” Hannah said.
‘The Traitors has changed my life’
She added: “It has really taken off and we’re going on tour in February which is really exciting. This will be the first time we’re touring it properly. It’ll be a different show every night.”
Hannah concluded: “I’m just grateful that The Traitors has accelerated my career a bit in terms of people paying a bit more attention to me. Now they’re letting me on gigs that before I wouldn’t have been allowed on. It really has changed my life and I’m very, very grateful.”
The Traitors is on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 9pm on BBC One.
Listen to the Ghost Huns podcast on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. To get tickets to the live show visit the website here.
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