It was a twist designed by producers to upend the game.
But the identity of The Traitors’ long-rumoured ‘Secret Traitor’ will finally be revealed in the next episode – much sooner than the show’s millions of viewers had anticipated.
Following the shock banishment of barrister Hugo – the first Traitor to be voted out of the game – the Faithful may have believed momentum was shifting.
But instead, remaining Traitors Stephen, 32, and Rachel, 42, were handed a mission designed to wrestle back control from the unseen Traitor who has been operating alone since the opening episode.
They successfully managed to complete the task meaning that viewers will find out who they are within days.
In a nerve-shredding twist, the pair were tasked with shortlisting nine potential victims for murder ‘in plain sight’ using the castle’s family tree painting.
The identity of The Traitors’ long-rumoured ‘Secret Traitor’ will finally be revealed in the next episode – much sooner than the show’s millions of viewers had anticipated
They were told to dip their fingers into the blood-red ink and leave a fingerprint beside each of the nine names they wished to target before the night was over.
If successful, one of those nine would be murdered the following day – and the Secret Traitor would finally join them, with all three ‘united as equals.’
The setting alone made the task perilous, with Stephen revealing he was left ‘in a blind panic’ as the Faithful constantly drifted past the painting which was located in the middle of the castle.
‘My heart is just pounding,’ he said. ‘I’m praying and praying no one walks through this castle right now.’
Rachel took charge of the fingerprinting while Stephen kept watch – and in a calculated attempt to deflect suspicion, she even included Stephen’s own name among the shortlisted nine.
Also marked for potential murder were Sam, Jade, Amanda, Reece, Maz, James, Jack and Faraaz.
And against the odds, the pair completed the task without being caught.
Host Claudia Winkleman, 53, later revealed that the remaining Traitors had successfully chosen their murder shortlist ‘in plain sight,’ regaining their power and setting the stage for their first meeting with the Secret Traitor.
Traitors Stephen, 32, and Rachel, 42, were handed a mission designed to wrestle back control from the unseen Traitor which they completed meaning that viewers will find out who they are
But unity among the villains is still far from guaranteed.
As the episode drew to a close, Rachel voiced doubts about the unknown recruit, as she told Stephen: ‘Whoever walks through that door, we don’t need them.’
It comes after Stephen ruthlessly betrayed fellow Traitor, Hugo, at the roundtable in a bid to protect his own position.
Stephen later admitted that he had not expected to turn on his former ally, but that he felt he was left with no choice.
‘This is crazy,’ he said. ‘I hadn’t expected to be throwing a fellow Traitor’s name around this early in the game. However, Harriet jumping in the way she did with such an eloquent monologue it meant that I could only take one path.’
Rachel, who told Stephen she was ‘delighted’ at Hugo’s banishment, said the barrister had ‘dug his own grave.’
The pair then made a pact, vowing never to write each other’s name down as they set their sights on reaching the final together and splitting the £120,000 jackpot – something no pair of Traitors has managed before.
The Traitors continues on January 7 at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
