Traitors fans hail brutal twist minutes into first episode before Claudia Winkleman reveals another MAJOR change to the format

The Traitors fans hailed a brutal twist minutes into first episode before host Claudia Winkleman revealed another major change to the game.

On Wednesday night the third series kicked off in the Scottish Highlands as the first three Traitors were picked.

But the drama began before they even arrived as when they were heading to the castle on the train.

The 25 players were split into three carriages and each carriage were met with a huge shock when the train stopped suddenly.

The train then started moving backwards as Claudia told them each carriage had to pick one person to leave the train and the show.

Jack, Alexander and Fozia eventually volunteered to leave but it remains to be seen if they will later return to the show or if they are actually gone for good.

The Traitors fans hailed a brutal twist minutes into first episode before host Claudia Winkleman revealed another major change to the game

On Wednesday night the third series kicked off in the Scottish Highlands as the first three Traitors were picked

Later in the show Claudia revealed another huge change to the show as she told the contestants that when people are eliminated they will no longer reveal if they are a Traitor or Faithful.

The show sees several Traitors be picked at the start of the series while the other contestants are Faithfuls.

Over the course of the game the Traitors have to convince the rest of the players that they are Faithful in order to try and steal the whole prize pot for themselves at the end.

At the first round table Armani, Minah and Linda were selected as the first three Traitors. On the first night they murdered Yin who was then eliminated from the show.

It comes after Claudia dropped a huge new clue over how The Traitors are chosen as the fan favourite show returned.

Claudia said this week of how The Traitors come about: ‘I’m not a goddess and I don’t choose them by myself.’

Claudia added her chats with each player on the first episode – which viewers see on screen – are only the beginning of picking.

But the drama began before they even arrived as when they were heading to the castle on the train

Jack (seen), Alexander and Fozia eventually volunteered to leave but it remains to be seen if they will later return to the show or if they are actually gone for good

Afterwards, she and a group of five to six others deliberate who to pick – which Claudia has described as ‘very stressful’.

When asked if she believed the correct Traitors were chosen for series three, Claudia replied: ‘I have faith and whether I was correct or wrong, we will find out.

‘They’re always the right three.

‘It could have been a different three, but it was those three and after you’ve spoken to them all that felt like the right three.’

It comes after she revealed her terror at the hit show returning.

Speaking ahead of the first episode, she said she’s ‘totally terrified’ about it doing as well as the first two series.

‘I don’t exhale until January 24, I wake up at 4am, even on Strictly Saturday’s,’ she said.

‘I was talking about people’s Cha Chas, but in my head, I’m thinking, well, ‘do they like The Traitors?’

‘We’re totally terrified, because the success of the first one blew our socks off. We didn’t expect it.

‘And I just love making it so much. It is such an honor to be in that round table and to see how it unfolds.

‘So I feel incredibly lucky. I love it, and you just don’t want people to be disappointed.’

She went on to say how she stays in contact with ex-contestants from the first two series, and that by the end of filming, most call her ‘mummy’.

‘They’re like my children, who I am sometimes incredibly mean to,’ she said. I love them, each and every one of them. I was texting Maddie from series one the other day.

‘I sent a message to Charlotte’s aunt, Matt from series one, wanted to show me his new skill. It was Skateboarding. They call me Auntie Claude or mummy by the end, it’s weird.

‘So I stay in touch with all of them because, yeah, I’m so grateful for them for playing and playing the way they do. I really cried when somebody was banished this year, but properly cried and in a way that I thought was probably but unhealthy.

‘And two of them came out, and they were awesome. Three of us just cried together. We go deep.’

Claudia teased a ‘new format’ for the third series, which will have people on the ‘edge of their seats’.

After such success of the UK series, which is filmed at Adross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, an American version was also launched.

Hosted by Alan Cummings, she said she struggles to watch it because she’s territorial over the castle.

‘I’m not saying anything bad, but I can’t watch him, because he’s in my castle,’ she said.

‘Like, what are you doing? It was so weird. He’s not weird. He’s absolutely magical. But I watched a bit, and no.

‘He’s so much better. And I love his outfits, but it’s a different way of doing it, because it’s the same location, I’m like, ‘get out of my castle’.’

Last week Claudia revealed to The Midpoint podcast that she initially turned down presenting the show because she didn’t want to spend more than three weeks filming in Scotland.

The star was offered the job but turned it down because she didn’t want to be away from her family.

But, after watching the original Dutch version, she became ‘obsessed’ and quickly fired off an email to BBC bosses changing her mind.