BBC Traitors’ Paul Gorton: ‘I could say I was booted because I’m GINGER

But while he’s no stranger to sharing his thoughts on what unfolds on-screen, Mr Gorton told GB News what he made of the current row engulfing the BBC programme off-camera.

Earlier this month, debate surrounding the show’s format erupted when banished Faithful contestant Myha’la Herrold claimed “unconscious racial and cultural bias” was “prevalent” within it.

When asked whether he felt “unconscious racial or cultural bias” played a role in the game, Mr Gorton admitted he wasn’t convinced.

“It’s unconscious bias, so when you’re talking about unconscious things, there probably are things that we all do in day-to-day life that have unconscious biases (but) whether that plays a part inside of The Traitors, I don’t think it does,” he said.

Mr Gorton did concede there are some elements to the gameplay of the celebrity series which may be perceived as bias, however.

“You can have almost an unconscious bias in the celebrity one because if you think about ‘The Big Dog Theory’, they were kind of unconscious biases,” he began.

“‘I think it’s you because you’re such a big superstar and I think it’s Stephen Fry because you’re such a big personality and you’re so clever.'”

Mr Gorton went on to suggest that the high-pressure environment of the game show means that “rules of reality and general decency are suspended”, making it difficult to describe behaviours as indicative of society.

“You have murderers, and you are told that you can lie and cheat and deceive and coerce and all of these gruesome things, and that’s part of the reality that you live in and it’s all fine. So people are gonna be doing things that they wouldn’t do in normal society.”

And as a result, Mr Gorton thinks any suggestion of “unconscious bias is way down the rung when compared to up-front lying in someone’s face.”

So why do these claims and disputes arise? “I think a lot of TV series, and especially in these more extreme circumstances, you can find a narrative and fit a narrative to fit anything,” Mr Gorton told The People’s Channel.

“I could say because I was such a big personality people came at me. I could say it was because I’m ginger, I could say it because I’m really tall, I could say because I was voted most popular… You can find anything that comes back to you.”

The season two star even went on to suggest that being banished from the show, as Ms Herrold was, is actually a “compliment”.

“It’s a game… In my opinion, the biggest compliment you can pay to a Faithful is killing them; it’s getting rid of them,” he explained.

“So if someone’s got rid of you, or someone’s murdered you, it’s the biggest compliment because they’re scared of you. They see you as a threat, and they think you’re gonna catch them.

“It’s not an offence to be killed or banished; it’s actually people think you’re too smart, you’re too clever, you’d be amazing at it. Almost every big vote and every murder is almost complimentary. ‘You’d be great at it.’

“It’s never, ‘You’re actually a rubbish person and no one likes you. So I’m voting you for a Traitor.’ I don’t think that’s actually ever happened.”

With all that said, who does Mr Gorton think stands the best chance of winning this year’s celebrity edition?

“Well, I think the Traitors will win it because so far, I don’t see any threat from the Faithfuls,” he predicted. “They’re all still individuals. They haven’t developed a pack yet.

“So, I still think Maya (Jama) will not get caught if she carries on the way that she’s going. I don’t think (King) Kenny’s gonna get caught because of the way that he’s carrying on.

“These kinds of characters – he’s a big YouTuber, she’s a huge TV personality – they’re so likeable and watchable. It isn’t happenstance; they are there for a reason, they’ve got their careers for a reason.

“I see them two going through to the final, and I think James (Acaster) is going to get caught because he’s the weakest out of the Traitors.”

Mr Gorton was speaking to The People’s Channel on behalf of BetWright Casino.