On to Friday’s mission, as the dwindling group arrived in a “field of screams”, as presenter Claudia Winkleman aptly put it, full of scary-looking scarecrows.
“This is like the Wickerman,” said Joanne. “A solo scarecrow is sinister enough. A gaggle of scarecrows is terrifying.”
The task involved them attempting to retrieve bags of gold from inside the straw men with a pitchfork, in a bid to add thousands of pounds to the charity prize pot.
Joanne’s knot-tying badge she claimed to have been awarded in her youth didn’t seem to help her much, though, as she struggled initially to grab any gold.
“I have a newfound respect for the farming community,” she declared.
But it wasn’t only gold on offer, it transpired. An as-yet unrevealed game-changing power would be bestowed upon one player, but only after they had to blow up the proxy pumpkin scarecrow heads of all but three of the most trustworthy contestants.
Things got a bit awkward when poor Sharon “got so mad at the boys” – James B, Michael and Kenny – over which heads should roll.
In the most remarkably stupid moment of the series since Richard E Grant told everyone he was a traitor, the group chose to preserve the heads belonging to Maya, James A and Kenny.
“I had to hold in my laughter,” said Maya, privately afterwards. “Of all people, you saved us. I just thought, ‘oh my gosh, have we completed this game already? We are trusting. We are unsuspecting. We are killing you all’.”
With the others en route back to the castle, Winkleman quipped to the traitors: “This is like an outdoor turret.”
The special power was revealed to be a double dagger enabling “the trustworthy trio”, as James A is now calling them, to award two banishment votes to whoever they wanted to hold it.
King Kenny became King Arthur being crowned keeper of the special blade.
“I think it’s in the right hands,” declared James B back at the castle, now colder than ever in terms of catching a traitor.
“I feel like whoever it is, they are five sreps ahead of us,” noted a befuddled Leigh-Anne. “We don’t have a clue!”
Romesh then had to remind Joanne that her policy of not voting off Michael because he’s “great company” is not really how the game should work.
With the double dagger in play and time running out for the faithful, Michael declared that he had to catch a traitor tonight.