Clare Balding has revealed how contestants on Celebrity Traitors are briefed before the round table, where they vote to eliminate one of the Faithfuls they suspect of being a Traitor. The sports broadcaster, 55, appeared as a Faithful in the first celebrity series last year, finishing fourteenth after being ousted in round four.
Music sets the tone
Speaking on the Inheritance Tracks podcast, Balding explained that music is played to contestants before filming begins at the round table. The purpose, she said, is to stop participants from joking around during that part of the programme.
“The music for Traitors is really interesting because they play you music at the round table before it starts and that music is really important because it makes you take it seriously,” she said. “Otherwise you've got a massive table full of, quite a lot of people, who by their nature, are funny and for a living are funny and they would laugh at it if it wasn't so serious.”
A tricky atmosphere
While this makes for compelling viewing, Balding acknowledged a negative consequence she was not entirely comfortable with. She said: “And that creates an atmosphere, a not always very helpful one if I'm honest, but it's a fascinating psychological experiment.”
Despite this, she praised the programme, fronted by Claudia Winkleman, which has become a huge success for the BBC since its civilian version debuted in late 2022.
Lessons learned
Balding also said that since appearing on the series, she has made a conscious effort to look for kindness in others and to demonstrate greater kindness herself. She explained: “It is a programme that reflects human nature and unfortunately that means human nature is not always kind. And I think it's made me more determined to seek kindness in others and to be kinder myself.”
This is not the first time she has discussed her experience. Earlier, she told Good Housekeeping she had discovered things about herself through the show, saying: “Bigger things are represented by the Traitors even though it's just a gameshow. One of the things I've most definitely learned is humour is the most fabulous shield. It is the most brilliant way of getting away with things but also raising quite serious issues. I thought Alan was magnificent.... I probably wouldn't do reality TV again. But only because, what's the point? I've done the big one.”
Series 2 of Celebrity Traitors starts tonight (Thursday, October 1st) at 8pm on BBC One.
