Celebrity Traitors fans believe the show’s editing may have given away the identity of the winner, with one star seemingly receiving a telling advantage ahead of Friday’s final
Celebrity Traitors fans are convinced they have spotted a major clue about who will be crowned the winner of the BBC series, with one contestant seemingly being given the perfect edit to secure victory.
As the remaining stars prepare for Friday’s final, viewers have been analysing everything from screen time to the way contestants are portrayed, with some believing the show’s editing could have already revealed the outcome.
And according to one theory, Maya Jama could be the celebrity to walk away with the prize, having been given what fans of reality TV call the ‘winner’s edit’.
Writing in The Times, Chloe Hamilton explored how viewers are increasingly using a technique known as Edgic, which combines editing and logic to predict the winners of reality television programmes.
The method originated among fans of the American series Survivor, which first aired in 2000, and involves examining how contestants are presented to audiences throughout a series.
Michelle Ellman, who posts on social media about the psychology behind The Traitors, explained that a winner’s edit is all about making sure audiences feel satisfied when the eventual champion is revealed.
She said: “You’ll be taken into their mindset,” explaining how viewers are shown a contestant’s strategy and emotions through their appearances and confessionals.
She added: “It’s very hard to like someone if you don’t understand what they’ve done.”
The theory suggests that producers will give potential winners enough screen time to explain their decisions, allowing viewers to understand their motivations and become invested in their journey.
And Maya has been identified as the star receiving that treatment in the current series.
Described as the “coolest of cucumbers”, she is the only original Traitor still remaining and has been at the centre of the group’s turbulent dynamics in the turret.
Her portrayal has also been compared with previous winners of the civilian series, with Rachel Duffy and Stephen Libby’s successful partnership in series four providing an example of how a carefully developed storyline can lead to a satisfying ending.
However, fans have been using other clues to try to work out who could win, including the amount of screen time contestants receive.
Writer Ed Jefferson has even used facial recognition software to measure how frequently players appear on screen, using the information to look for patterns.
He said: “With any story, the audience is naturally going to try and work out what happens next. What I’m doing is adding a rough quantitative element to something you probably get a sense of watching the episode.”
His approach correctly predicted comedian Rob Beckett’s departure after his screen time increased in the episode before he was murdered.
Not everyone is convinced that the editing offers a reliable way of predicting the result, however.
Ivan Brett, who appeared as a Faithful on the first series of The Traitors, believes producers are more concerned with creating an entertaining programme than deliberately misleading viewers.
“The fundamental purpose of the edit is not to mislead you about who’s going to win,” he said. “It’s about creating protagonists and making narrative through-lines that are compelling.”
Meanwhile, Thursday’s penultimate episode saw comedian James Acaster banished from the castle after he admitted he had been made a Traitor despite wanting to be a Faithful.
Explaining his position at the roundtable, he said: “I’m really proud to say that’s what I’ve been able to do, under the circumstances. I am, reluctantly, a traitor.”
The Celebrity Traitors final will air on BBC One at 8pm on Friday.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
