The Traitors' Paul Gorton: 'I didn't see banishment coming'

For eight episodes, viewers have been on the edge of their seats as they watched Paul Gorton fly under the radar as he deceived, plotted and manipulated in the latest series of BBC One's The Traitors.

But the 36-year-old business manager, from Manchester, signed his own death warrant on last night's episode when he was banished from the castle after a standoff with a fellow traitor.

"I didn't see it coming," he told BBC Breakfast.

"Harry [Clark - who is also a traitor] is obviously playing an amazing game. He's played it so well.

"It was the Paul and Harry show and then I dipped off. I couldn't keep up with the character."

The Traitors, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, sees 22 strangers gather in a Scottish castle for the chance to win up to £120,000.

A handful of contestants, who are selected as traitors, must pick off their fellow players, who are known as faithfuls, with nightly "murders" while remaining undetected if they want to snatch the prize fund.

"When I was auditioning, I wanted to be a traitor," said the father-of-one.

"I thought that the only way I can participate in the game is by being a traitor and by being able to dictate the play and get involved in the strategy.

"So when I went and sat with Claudia [who selects the traitors], I made sure to pitch myself as being a traitor.

"I picked 'cruel' as one of the three words to describe myself."

But what Paul did not expect was how difficult it would be to maintain his villain persona as the game progressed.

"It lasted for eight episodes and I was deteriorating," he said.

"For the past couple [of episodes], I started getting more emotional.

"My brain started kind of working in overload and I just thought 'I'm done here'.

"I think Harry probably might have felt that as well and thought 'I'm gonna dip in here and get Paul out'."

With an 18-month-old baby at home at the time of filming, Paul said all the signs were there.

"I just couldn't keep it up and started kind of being myself," he said.

In Thursday's episode, Paul and Harry decided to recruit Andrew Jenkins to join them as a traitor.

Andrew saw no option but to accept their invitation, anxious of the traitors' track record of sacrificing their previous accomplices.

But it was at the round table where Paul's fate was sealed when Harry turned on his fellow traitor.

Paul was in disbelief as Harry didn't hold back, reeling off a list of guilty traits and instances that could categorise Paul as a traitor.

Paul later received the most votes and was banished from the game.

But what does he think of the comparisons being drawn between himself and "Nasty Nick" from the first series of Big Brother?

"I think the whole Nasty Nick villain character was something that I was thinking 'Oh, this is obviously how I'm gonna come across', he said.

"But the difference is this show is called The Traitors.

"I had to say to Claudia Winkleman, I will lie and I will deceive people in order to win, whereas in Big Brother you don't have to lie and deceive people, you have to be yourself.

"So if I went into Big Brother, I wouldn't have been doing traitor-related behaviour put it that way."

With his flare for deception on view for the millions watching, has there been a few awkward conversations around the family dinner table?

"Everyone that I know that has watched it, they have found it the funniest thing in the world," he said.

Watch new episodes of The Traitors on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 21:00 GMT on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights.

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