It’s been a massive week for The Traitors, Network Ten’s latest competition reality series. After four Banishment Ceremonies in a row where the Faithfuls accidentally eliminated their own, this week saw the tables turn. On Monday, Traitor Angus was banished by the Faithfuls (with a little help from the especially traitorous Traitors Nigel and Marielle), and on Tuesday, Marielle doubled down and voted to banish Traitor Claire, as well.
Chatting to The Latch following her blindside elimination from series, Claire said that as a longtime fan of reality television, she knew she wanted to apply for The Traitors from the moment she first saw it advertised.
“I love all reality TV, I’m a massive follower of Survivor, Amazing Race, you know, all of those amazing shows,” she said. “When this one got advertised, I remember the trailer said ‘if you like Survivor, you’ll love this new show!’ and I went ‘yep! That’s it, I’m in!’”
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Another reason she wanted to apply, though, was that she wanted to help break down stereotypes around the kind of person who can compete on reality shows.
“I’m just a mum,” Claire began, before stopping herself. “I say ‘just a mum’ — I’m a mum, and I really wanted to experience something different, and also to prove to people out there — I’m 53, you know, I just wanted to prove that if you’ve got something that you really want to do, it doesn’t matter about age, doesn’t matter about what you do for a living, you should just go for it.”
Claire, who works at a supermarket for a living, said it’s a profession that can “sometimes be stereotyped”, with people sometimes underestimating their capabilities.
“[People sometimes think] maybe that’s all we’re capable of, where actually we’re capable of so much more,” she said.
Related: ‘The Traitors’: Claire Is Ready to Deceive Everyone for the Win
Related: The Traitors’ Angus on Being a Traitor and Who He Thinks Will Win
Having made it halfway through the game, Claire said that she’s thrilled with how far she got in the series, despite finding life as a Traitor more challenging than she anticipated.
“The hardest thing about the game was the absolutely continuous mind games that I had to do — the strategising, continuously,” she explained. “I mean, it got to the stage where I don’t think I slept for nearly a whole week and a half, ‘coz you can’t just shut off.
“Your mind is just continuously going, and because the game was flipping so much, you’re literally hopping from one thing to another,” she said.
Although she was thrilled to be selected to be one of the show’s Traitors, and set out to “ready to lie, steal, cheat, the whole kit and caboodle,” Claire said that she soon realised that being a Traitor was no joke.
“It just wasn’t me!” she said. “Yes I played a Traitor, yes I deflected, yes I may have told some white lies, but at the end of the day, I kept honest. I may have said all of that in the beginning but when it boiled down to it, I couldn’t actually go through with it!”
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As for where the remaining Traitors, Nigel and Marielle, will go from here, Claire said that she’s “not sure” if they have what it takes to make it to the end undetected.
“They’re playing an amazing game at the moment, but there are some amazing players in there,” she mused. “I mean, you take Mark. Mark is so amazing and he’s pretty on the ball with Marielle there, so it’ll be interesting to see if they can actually deflect his thinking onto someone else.
‘They are going to have to stick together now, they have no choice,” she said.
As for what’s next for Claire? Well, she’s got her fingers crossed that Australian Survivor will give her a call.
“Oh my God, PLEASE,” she gushed. “I would love it, I would love it! And you know why? Because I would just stick on a pair of shorts and a singlet and I would be happy as anything. There you go!”
The Traitors airs at 7.30pm, Sunday – Tuesdays, only on 10 and 10 Play on Demand.
Want more The Traitors? Click here to read all our content, and check out the stories below:
- ‘The Traitors’: When Will the Games Begin?
- ‘The Traitors’: Will Midy Have to Compromise His Values for the Win?
- Teresa Knows How to Control a Crowd, But Can She Win ‘The Traitors’?
- ‘The Traitors’: Claire Is Ready to Deceive Everyone for the Win
- ‘The Traitors’: Will Criminal Lawyer MK Make It to the End?
- Rodger Corser Spills on What We Can Expect From ‘The Traitors’
- ‘The Traitors’: Can Financial Investigator Paul Banish the Traitors?
- ‘The Traitors’: Puzzle Queen Olivia Is Ready for a Challenge
- ‘The Traitors’: Hostage Negotiator Nigel Is a Traitor With an Edge
- ‘The Traitors’: Real Estate Agent Matt Is One of the Good Guys (He Swears!)
- ‘The Traitors’: Competitive Mark Is Ready to Win
- ‘The Traitors’: Traitor Marielle Is Ready to Take Out the Faithfuls
- ‘The Traitors’: Cheeky Lewis Is Ready to Lie to Everyone’s Faces
- ‘The Traitors’: Kate Is Ready to Be Devious for the Win
- ‘The Traitors’: Will Law Student Kashindi Defeat the Traitors?
- ‘The Traitors’: Justine Won’t Let Anyone Take the Win From Her
- ‘The Traitors’: Fiona Is Expecting to Be Underestimated
- ‘The Traitors’: Ethan Is Ready to Burn Bridges to Win
- ‘The Traitors’: Hotel Concierge Dirk Is Ready to Lie for the Win
- ‘The Traitors’: Body Language Expert Craig Is Ready to Find the Traitors
- ‘The Traitors’: Clairvoyant Chloe Can See Herself As the Winner
- ‘The Traitors’: Traitor Angus Is Excited to Be the Villain
- ‘The Traitors’: Will Miss Universe Finalist Alex Charm Her Way to the End?
- Everyone Who’s Been Banished or Murdered on ‘The Traitors’
- The Traitors’ Angus on Being a Traitor and Who He Thinks Will Win
- The Stunning Hotel Where ‘The Traitors’ Was Filmed
- The Rules of ‘The Traitors’, Explained
- ‘The Traitors’: Chloe Explains Her Decision to Quit the Game
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