The Traitors viewers have shared their frustration at seeing spoilers for the new series as episodes two and three arrived on iPlayer after the series premiere.
The BBC’s Bafta-winning reality competition series returned on Wednesday (3 January), with 22 new contestants arriving in the Scottish Highlands to play the ultimate game of deception.
There, they were split into two camps. The majority of players are the “Faithful”, while a small number were selected by host Claudia Winkleman to be the titular “Traitors”, tasked with “murdering” their fellow contestants.
It was an explosive first episode, with episodes two and three airing on Thursday (4 January) and Friday (5 January) respectively. However, all of the first three episodes were made available to stream on BBC iPlayer immediately after the TV broadcast of episode one.
This prompted a divide among viewers regarding the sharing of spoilers online, as some fans binged all three episodes while others waited to watch them nightly. For the latter group, spoilers proved hard to avoid online.
One viewer requested: “If you’re going to watch the next episode of #TheTraitors straight away on iPlayer then please either a) don’t tweet about it or b) spoiler tag your posts!”
“I do think it’s incredibly bad form to be tweeting spoilers about the next 2 episodes of The Traitors when many won’t have watched them yet,” one fan wrote. “I’m not sure when etiquette for that kind of thing went out the window!”
Another put it more bluntly, writing: “Everyone tweeting spoilers for The Traitors episodes which are only on iPlayer is going to hell btw.”
“CAN PEOPLE PLEASE STOP WITH THE SPOILERS!!!!!” one viewer echoed, while another wrote: “You evil lot already sharing spoilers / hints about episodes 2 & 3.”
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In one tweet, a viewer made a plea to the BBC: “Please stop putting shows online before their air on TV. I have everything muted, and I’m still fighting for my life all morning trying to avoid spoilers for #TheTraitors.”
“The should’ve left it for us to watch it live together, even though I’m watching the next episode now to avoid spoilers,” another fan wrote.
Even brands got in on the action, with Domino’s Pizza tweeting: “People who share #TheTraitors spoilers probably eat pizza with a knife and fork.”
The official Aldi account wrote: “Next person who gives us a #TheTraitors spoiler is getting sold in the middle aisle.”
‘The Traitors’ returned on Wednesday
(BBC/Studio Lambert/LLARA PLAZA)
In her review of The Traitors’ return, The Independent’s Jessie Thompson wrote that viewers should “stop pretending you’re going to socialise in the evening; cease all attempts at self-improvement” and focus on the BBC show instead.
“The Traitors, one of the biggest runaway TV hits in recent memory, is back on BBC One, and all you have to do for the rest of the month is sit on your sofa and watch it,” she wrote.
The Traitors continues Thursday 4 January at 9pm on BBC One, with the first three episodes available to watch on iPlayer now.