Maya Jama and Jerry Hall were at the centre of a tense TV moment on Celebrity Traitors, after a heated roundtable exchange. Body language expert Judi James has highlighted a confrontational exchange that could have far-reaching consequences throughout the remainder of the series.
Maya's 'attack' on Jerry
As accusations flew around the roundtable, with Maya working to shield newly recruited Traitor Professor Hannah Fry, she turned her attention towards model and actress Jerry Hall, sowing seeds of doubt amongst the Faithfuls.
Speaking to Paddy Power, Judi revealed: "It was the way Maya tried to take down Jerry during the roundtable discussion in a way that went beyond the normal 'soft' banter and led to a genuine 'moment' between the two women that looks like triggering the possibility of some lingering 'model on model' beef that showed she will happily rise to another level of combat for almost no reason than to power-pose."
Signs of escalation
Judi added: "Most roundtable accusations on the show can leave some lingering resentment, but this moment between Maya and Jerry showed visible signs of going beyond that stage.
"Jerry acts as though she's not one of the more strategic players this series, but she can project an aura of supermodel steeliness that might make some of the Faithfuls feel slightly intimidated and not keen to 'poke the bear' just in case. But Maya went straight for the attack last night in a way that the others avoided."
As Jerry was being called out by the others she 'finished' with a signal to end the argument. But this is when Maya stepped in and stepped up with what she clearly saw as the 'chef's kiss' moment.
Intensity of the confrontation
Judi described: "She began with a controlling use of 'Jerry!' to command attention in an authoritative way, leaning out over the table to get her head closer for combat and performing a hard blink of authority. Her hands were both placed out flat on the table to announce decisiveness in a debate.
"As Jerry made another excuse, Maya elevated her level of 'attack', making her voice louder and adding a 'singing' mocking note emphasis on the word 'confusion'. Her head became further out, and she flapped her hands onto the table. Her next act was to raise her hands to reveal her long nails like baring claws.
"It was Miranda's response that showed the intensity of this confrontation though. Sitting between the two women her smile looked embarrassed, but when Maya moved in closer Miranda leaned back in her seat as though getting out of the way of the battle that is likely to bleed over into the rest of the show."
Mood turns 'nasty'
This follows Amol's revelation that the mood on The Celebrity Traitors turned decidedly hostile, as he told Radio Times: "It's an amazing thing, the atmosphere goes from extremely nice, one thing about this year's show which I think is great, everyone is really nice.
"I'm sure the previous series is the same and maybe the civilian series as they call it is the same. But I can say, hand on heart, everyone in there is so nice until the Traitors are picked.
"Because then it goes from nice to nasty, because then suddenly, all these people you've been getting to know a little bit, having a bit of breakfast and downtime with and chatting to in the castle, suddenly, they're like, 'Are you trying to kill me?'
"So there is this sudden atmosphere, sadly I didn't get to experience very much of it but in my time, there is this very sharp moment when nice becomes really nasty. And I would say that nastiness is quite evenly distributed, because even people that you think of as really nice, the Romeshs, the Robs, the Joannes, even then, you suspect that maybe they're trying their best to kill you."
The Celebrity Traitors continues tonight at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
