It’s A Wicked Game | Traitors 2026 | Thread 9 | Spoiler Free!

[CaveMum]

Link to previous thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/5476221-everybody-wants-to-rule-the-world-traitors-2026-thread-8-spoiler-free?page=1

Welcome to Thread 9 of Traitors 2026.

This thread runs at TV pace so do not read any further if you are not up to date with the live broadcast. Whilst most discussion will be on the current series, inevitably people will refer to previous series/players/winners so reader beware if you’ve not seen the 3 previous editions, or the celebrity version.

While we welcome posters discussing their theories and speculating on relationships/connections between players, please don’t post spoilers from elsewhere that may ruin things for those of us who like to see things unfold over the course of the series.

The story so far <spoiler warning if you haven’t seen the start of episode 9>

Traitors
Hugo
Rachel
Stephen
Fiona (Secret Traitor)

Murdered
Netty
Ben
Maz
Reece
Adam
Jessie

Banished
Judy (Faithful)
Hugo (Traitor)
Ross (Faithful)
Amanda (Faithful)
Fiona (Traitor)
Harriet (Faithful)
Sam (Faithful)

The floor is yours…

How does it work from here? There are 8 left; are there two more round tables and 1 more murder to go into a final with 5?

I think that’s right.

I don’t know whether Stephen and Rachel will have another opportunity to recruit, rather than murder. We seem to have skipped more murders than usual, but perhaps that’s because they haven’t recruited.

That’s lovely news for Roxy.

I was hoping that and someone like Ellie might be playing that game without the producers giving anything away in the editing.
But in Uncloaked she was surprised by Rachel although she did mention Stephen as Traitor before the reveal. I thought she was going to go for Stephen and can’t understand her switch to Jade.

I was watching on catch up and had to fast forward because I couldn’t deal with her sulking, defensiveness and complaining about having suspicion on her, and as to said it was uncomfortable viewing, all the while totally missing the fact that she’s actually done really well to have got down to this last small group.

There will always be someone getting more heat on them than the others at certain points of the game, that’s just how the game is. Regardless of what has happened in your life, even though it’s sad this is the game and if you know you are going to get defensive whenever anyone says your name then this is not the game for you.

At this point I would love Stephen only to win I don’t mind if James or Faraz win and the rest I don’t particularly want them to win but I suspect Stephen and Rachel will and I think she will share with Stephen and not screw him over as they actually seem to genuinely have each others back

I am mostly a bit obsessed with Rachel’s yellow dress from tonight. Anyone know where it’s from??

I don't get the Rachel hate. She is an excellent Traitor, hasn't thrown Stephen under the bus (yet) and doesn't really come across as smug to me at all. Sure they use a few 'dastardly' sound bites of her in the edit, but broadly, she seems like a normal and nice person who has to lie and deceive because that's the game.

I think that two things are helping her popularity:

1. Her lovely accent (subliminal, but it's warm and trustworthy to my ears)
2. Her clever gameplay. If you watch her carefully, you'll see that if anyone is upset/crying/cornered - especially at the Round Table - she will quietly lean close to them and give them a quiet affirmation "well done" / "you've got this" / "you handled yourself so well". It makes people think that they have been picked out by her as someone she feels an allegiance with and creates a bond that in turn creates trust. I mean.... this might be Ellie psycho-babble, but that's what I saw tonight.

Assuming she keeps defending Stephen as much as she can, they deserve to win. It would be interesting to see two Traitors NOT turn on each other for a whole game.

Failing that, James. I am almost certain he and Jessie are linked after the way she talked about him in her defense of him taking the shield at yesterday's breakfast. She spoke about him in a way you'd talk about someone you knew fairly deeply and for a long time.

Finally. Roxy. Stop banging on about how James taking a shield is deceitful and that must mean he is a Traitor, it's boring and stupid. Get in the bin.

I don't think they get the money till after the show airs

I think she has since Amanda pointed the finger at her. Just rewatched the clip when Sam was banished and Rachel calmly turned to Jade beside her and said something along the lines that now she felt for Jade because Amanda had pointed at Sam and Jade. Treacherous!
And Jade just sat there looking mortified 😂

Jessie confirmed on Uncloaked that she was not related to James or anyone in the game.

I've really dislikes Rachel all the way through as she just seemed like she was out for herself and happy for Stephen to be the one putting himself in the difficult positions. However I've warmed to her the last couple of episodes as she seems to be playing more in a team.

Disappointed that no one voted for Stephen at the table though. They are all over the place. How on earth have they voted Ellie out? If anything I thought Matt had more evidence against him.

I feel for Jade. Although she's not the only one to have come under suspicion, it does seem as though the suspicion is mostly because she is introverted/guarded rather than coming from any particular evidence. I think having that criticism of your character must be quite hard to hear.

I truly despair! Roxy is so in awe of Rachel that she voted her best traitor in the box game consistent with the theme when at breakfast and looking for Rachel to come through the door she described her as the strongest faithful 😂
Her head will explode when Rachel is revealed as a traitor!

Despite the tragic backstory I hope Jade doesn’t end up winning any money. The sheer arrogance to feel that you should never ever be challenged on a programme called Traitors doesn’t sit with me. She’s haughty and aggressive and has added nothing to the programme or the game (if the editing can be believed).

Rachel deserves to win. I’m not a fan but no one can deny she’s played an absolute blinder.

@Piknik Someone posted elsewhere Rachel may’ve deliberately seen off other older players so as to take the role of trusted ‘mother of the house’.

Her asking Faraaz if he’d voted off the older players may have been projection. Certainly shows she’s thought about it.

Interesting theory, but I don’t buy it. Judy, Hugo, Fiona and Harriet all behaved in ways to make the Faithful suspicious. Ben was selected from Fiona’s shortlist.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again

Matt and Roxy are as thick as shit the only difference is Matt thinks he’s intelligent.

Most of them are pretty dense. Why on earth have Rachel and Steven gone off the radar?

Christ, poor Jade :( what an awful thing to have happened to her mum and sibling

I really dislike Roxy. I don’t know why but it’s just something about her manner. Also she is so wrong with everything she says it’s laughable.

I'm fairly sure she confirmed she wasn't related to Jack. She didn't mention James in that context.

Wondered why it seems no one considers why Rachel hasn’t been murdered if she is such a popular faithful and unlikely to be banished and therefore suspect her a traitor.
I’m thinking now that people do suspect her but are perhaps terrified to put their neck out on that.
Hopefully if she’s in the final someone will act on their greater suspicions!

I suspect you’re right.

Faithfuls won s1 and s3

I’m hoping some of them have figured out it could be Rachel, but can see she’s a strong player and don’t want to risk murder, so are keeping quiet until that risk’s passed.

Though she’s had some serious heat on her from both Fiona and Harriet. So, maybe they think that’s why she’s not been murdered.

Rachel and Stephen are so far playing a good game together. I suspect that Rachel is contemplating how to get rid of Stephen and claim all of the prize as we get near the end. She always seems so calm, cool and collected. Never giving much away and has so far allowed Stephen to take a lot of heat. On the other hand, Stephen is a good actor as well, looking really surprized at who's been murdered but not over doing it. Just seeming like another sad Faithful. He seems to get how far to act the part just right so I'm wondering if he is more devious than he seems and might aim to get rid of Rachel before the end.

I wonder if Rachel (and Stephen to a lesser extent) is benefiting from a bit of metagaming.

All the Faithfuls actually know at this point is that Hugo and Fiona were traitors. It’s also a reasonable assumption with 8 players still left in the game that there are at least 2 traitors remaining (as in previous seasons they’ve always blackmailed when they’ve got down to 1 traitor).

So they’ve banished two older, white Traitors. If they’re thinking about demographics, they’d probably assume that one of the OG traitors is younger and / or not white - letting Rachel out on both counts and leaning towards Roxy, Jade or Faraaz.

Are there more names on the secret relationships letter that we didn’t see tonight?

We didn’t see them look at Roxy / Judy, which I assume was on there.

But they will have seen that despite heat from Fiona and Harriet no one other than Harriet, I think, has voted for her.
All of that drama should show the traitors that she’s Teflon and need to murder her at some point, no?