'They didn't see it coming' - what does it take to be a traitor?

When Minah Shannon felt the tap on her shoulder to signify that she had been selected as a traitor in series three of the popular BBC show, she almost struggled to contain her excitement.

"I literally could have done a back flip. I was so excited," she says.

But thankfully the mum, from Liverpool, was able to maintain her composure to make sure she went undetected until the final week.

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, The Traitors sees contestants split into "faithfuls" and "traitors", with the former looking to find the latter before they are murdered or banished.

The highly-anticipated celebrity version of the show began on Thursday, with stars including Michael Sheen, Jerry Hall, Richard E Grant and Amol Rajan at the round table along with Bella Ramsey, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Maya Jama and King Kenny.

Minah says she was inspired to apply for the show as she was a "massive fan" of the previous two series.

"I am a massive nerd when it comes to The Traitors.

"I'm just a normal girl from Liverpool going and recording this thing that you love and being a part of a show that you're so obsessed with."

During her time on the show, fans watched as she tricked the faithful contestants by banishing fellow traitors Armani and Linda.

Her performance almost took her all the way to the final, but she was voted out just two days before.

But what does it take to be a traitor and trick the faithfuls into believing she is one of them?

"I'm just a happy, smiley person and they didn't see it coming – that was the fun of it," she said.

"When I became a mum, I just felt like I had this massive responsibility.

"My little girl was just about to turn two.

"It felt like I could be a kid and I was allowed to be a bit naughty, a bit mischievous and just try to get away with murder basically."

Minah says she always had her sights set on becoming a traitor when she applied for the show.

"It's funny because people always say to me 'how does your family trust you' and 'have you always been a good liar'.

"It's not that I'm a liar but I just saw it as a performance like I was acting in a film so my role was to be a traitor and I always wanted to be a traitor.

"I just like the control. I'm a control freak, what can I say?

"I just needed to know who else had that kind of power and I needed to be one of those people so I was so excited."

The Celebrity Traitors series two returned on 1 October at 20:00 BST on iPlayer and BBC One. The series will air two nights a week on Thursday and Friday evenings with a spin-off series Uncloaked airing immediately after.

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