Winning Claudia Winkleman’s murder mystery series The Traitors may seem like all fun and games but it turns out it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The much loved BBC show came to an end on Friday with Leanne Quigley and Jake Brown being crowned the winners.
While they earned a life-changing £94,600 in prize money and landed the highly sought-after title of winners, they have since revealed they had to attend therapy to deal with their ‘paranoia’ as a result of being on the show.
The show, which was filmed way back in spring last year has meant the winners have had to keep their success a secret from their friends, family and other loved ones for months.
‘It was filmed back in the springtime so it’s been a long time to keep it quiet. It’s been really difficult,’ Jake told The Sunday Times.
‘I mean, I was paranoid in my head because before the show even came on, I kept thinking people were looking at me, but obviously at that point no one knew who I was.’
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Jake, who recently opened up about his cerebral palsy diagnosis, continued to say he initially took the secret so seriously he hadn’t even let on to his better half, Shannon, that he had competed.
However after a couple of weeks, he decided to tell her in an effort to make it easier on himself.
Jake joined Francesca Rowan-Plowden, Leanne, Alexander Dragonetti and Charlotte Berman in the series finale last week, which saw an excruciating round of endgame and a conclusion to a season that Metro described as ‘an endurance test for the show’s most loyal following’
Thankfully, the show is well equipped for intense emotions and works with a chartered psychologist, Victoria Plant and psychotherapist, Tanya Taylor-Wright.
Jake said when the show came to an end, the team continuously checked in and offered him and Leanne, as well as the other Faithfuls and Traitors, ‘all the support we need.’
‘There’s not one thing that I’ve been unsure about. It’s been like a military operation, like they’ve constantly been checking in,’ he said.
He added: ‘It’s taught me how resilient I am. I always thought I was like a cool, calm, collected person, but it’s really taught me I actually am more resilient than I thought.’
It comes after Jake spoke about his cerebral palsy diagnosis with Metro, admitting he has received so many nice messages from viewers of the show since winning.
‘I wanted to go on and spread awareness, but to do it in my own way. I didn’t want it to be in people’s faces, I wanted to be myself and just let people see the real Jake and then just naturally bring it into conversation as and when I thought was necessary.
‘So it’s quite nice how authentic it came across, just in a mission with Alexander, and the comments have been so nice. I had some lovely messages, and it’s from people with disabilities themselves, or they’ll have a family member, maybe a son or daughter.’
