The Traitors stars praise Rachel as a ‘brilliant’ traitor after leaving show

The Traitors stars have praised Rachel as a “brilliant” traitor with her latest murder victim saying he thinks she could make it to the final.

Sam and Adam were the most recent contestants to leave the hit BBC reality show, after a tense episode on Thursday night saw Adam murdered by the traitors, while Sam was voted off the show by his fellow contestants.

Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine, the pair said they think Rachel is a “phenomenal” traitor with a “big following” in the castle, giving the 42-year-old a strong chance of winning the game.

Adam, 34, said: “She’s brilliant at what she does. She’s got a really big following in there.

“People follow her around, and I can see her going to the final.”

Sam said: “I think she’s playing a phenomenal game.

“You saw my reaction when I left and I found out it was Rachel, I was honestly blown away.

“It’s really difficult watching it back and thinking ‘how did I miss that?'”

Rachel, from Newry, County Down, was chosen as a traitor by presenter Claudia Winkleman when the new series of the show kicked off earlier this month and largely remained under the radar before successfully seeing off two recent challenges.

Rachel, who works as a head of communications, was last week accused of being a traitor in front of the group by fellow traitor Fiona, who was later voted off the show after a dramatic confrontation between the pair.

In Wednesday’s episode, former barrister turned author Harriet, one of the faithfuls whose aim is to hunt out the traitors, was banished from the castle after she said she thought Rachel was a traitor.

Her public challenge at the breakfast table backfired and made the others suspicious of her instead.

Rachel remains in the show and did not receive a single vote at Thursday’s round table which decided Sam would be the latest to be banished.

Adam, a builder from Essex, said he found his experience on the show difficult, adding: “I was way out of my depth. I felt like I was drowning.”

Sam, 34, an account manager from North Yorkshire, said: “You’re second-guessing yourself, triple-guessing yourself, and it just becomes an environment where you’re so unsure what to do, what to say, who to look at.”

The banished faithful said his behaviour during the day’s task, grabbing the only shield available to grant protection from that night’s murder by the traitors, put him under suspicion.

“I think that was my downfall. I really do,” he said.

“I just thought, you know what, I haven’t had a shield so far. I just need one now.”

He added: “I wish I could just talk to myself in that moment and go, don’t grab it. It looks weird. Take a breath.

“But I can’t tell you how stressful that environment is in there and what it does to your head.”

Following Adam and Sam’s departure, the traitors Rachel and Stephen decided to murder another player after once again declining to recruit a faithful.

As Thursday’s episode ended, the fate of three shortlisted contestants – Jessie, Matthew and Faraaz – was hanging in the balance.

The Traitors next victim will be revealed when the show continues on BBC One and iPlayer on Friday at 8pm.