The Traitors: Welshman spurred by near-fatal crash

A Welsh competitor in the new series of BBC One's The Traitors says he hopes surviving a near-fatal car crash will inspire others.

Andrew Jenkins, 45, is among 22 contestants joining host Claudia Winkleman in a Scottish Highlands castle for the hit show's return.

The first series catapulted another Welsh contestant, Amanda Lovett, to TV fame.

She encouraged Andrew to use his Welsh charm to help him win.

The programme sees some of the group cast as faithfuls trying to find the traitors among them - while the traitors try to stay undetected and escape being banished.

Andrew, an insurance broker from Talbot Green, Rhondda Cynon Taf, was pronounced dead at the side of the road after a car crash 23 years ago.

"My parents were told I'd never walk ever again," he said. "I had brain damage and that there's a chance of me not waking up from my coma."

But he recovered, explaining how doctors called him a "miracle patient".

He got a chance last year to say thank you to the man who saved his life in a story he said inspired hundreds of people.

"That's led them to open up and start talking to their family," he said.

"I want to inspire people, I believe I can inspire thousands and hopefully, with this exposure, millions of people... who've maybe had a traumatic experience or suffered with their mental health.

"To tell them that if you keep fighting and believing you will get to your dreams," he added. "You only have one life, and I know that more than anyone."

The Traitors format sees the players gathered at Ardross Castle. Upon arrival, three of them are told secretly that they are traitors.

The aim is for the other contestants - the faithfuls - to root out the traitors, provided they can survive themselves. The traitors can "murder" one player every night, removing them from the game.

A possible jackpot of £120,000 can be won by the faithfuls who make it to the end. However, if any traitors make it to the end undetected, they take all the money instead.

Andrew said he loved the game play of the last series and thought at the time he would be good at it.

"I never thought I'd get on the show in a million years," he added.

He also liked Amanda in the first series. She used her Welsh lilt and kind nature to initially mask her bloodless backstabbing as one of the competition's three traitors.

Andrew said in fact she was was "quite ruthless".

Welsh comedian Rob Brydon told BBC One's Graham Norton Show on New Year's Eve that the Welsh accent is "very trustworthy".

"You find a lot of Welsh people in call centres because people like to talk to them," he said.

"She was the sweetest loveliest… all the other contestants loved Amanda because she was lovely," he said, adding jokingly: "Turns out she was the most scheming cow you could ever meet."

Amanda, 55, is a retired estate agent from Pontardawe, Neath Port Talbot.

She made such an impression she has gone on to have other TV appearances, including on Homes Under the Hammer.

Her appearance on The Traitors also won her an invitation to the Baftas.

"My life's changed so drastically," she said. "I've had the best fun year."

She attributes her success to her Welsh accent, and coming across as a motherly figure.

"As middle-aged women we do go under the radar a lot," she said. "People think that we wouldn't have anything else to be deceitful and lying. We're mother figures and I think I use that to my advantage."

She is excited about the new season, and thrilled about another Welsh competitor.

"We need representation, us Welshies need to stand up," she said. "We need that dragon up there."

So what advice does she have for Andrew?

"I think, just go in there, be yourself, have fun because it is a game," she said. "But if you want to win it I would definitely be a little bit more ruthless than I was."

Amanda said she made the mistake of being too much "team traitors" over working for herself, and if Andrew is a faithful his best bet is to "be quite quiet".

That might be difficult for Andrew, however. He believed his large stature and scars make people think he is "quite intimidating until I smile and start talking".

As for being ruthless, he is up for the challenge.

"I'll do whatever it takes, within reason," he said. "I don't mind throwing people under the bus, it's me or them at the end of the day.

"I'll just think of my family, my son, I want to make them proud and I want a better life for them."