Who won The Traitors last year?
15 December 2023, 08:44 | Updated: 2 January 2024, 13:14
A whopping 1.5million viewers tuned into the nail-biting final – and weren't left disappointed.
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The Traitors gripped fans in 2022 with its mind-bending challenges, dramatic banishings and deceitful co-conspirators, ending with one hell of a finale.
The cruel and clever show pitched Faithfuls and Traitors against each other for 12 episodes in a jacked up game of Wink Murder.
Series one's nail-biting final racked up a staggering 1.5million viewers as one dishonest contestant was unmasked and three were crowned as winners, each taking home an equal cut of the £101,050 prize pot.
But who won The Traitors UK last year? Here, we refresh your memory ahead of series two in January 2024.
What happened in The Traitors series one final?
The Traitors UK series one culminated in an incredible final, which saw the final Traitor - Wilfred Webster - uncovered by his fellow competitors.
After playing an incredible game in which he almost stole £101,050 from the Faithfuls, the content creator, whose cloak-and-dagger skills were frankly impressive, was thrown under the bus by his teammate Kieran Tompsett in the show’s most dramatic round table power move yet.
The charming salesman voted for Wilf in a shock tactic just before he was voted off the show, leaving Aaron, Hannah and Meryl questioning his motives.
In the final showdown, in which the remaining final four had to banish the party they felt was untrustworthy, Wilf was chosen and eventually uncovered as the last remaining Traitor, much to the shock of his friends.
After Wilf was ousted, the chest-hammering conclusion finished with everyone in tears, including Claudia, and the final three – Aaron Evans, Meryl Williams and Hannah Byczkowski – splitting the well-deserved prize pot.
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Aaron Evans
Property agent Aaron, then 25, was told he had won a share of the prize pot by host Claudia Winkleman at the end of the explosive final.
When asked how he felt about his win, he told the BBC: "I think it still hasn’t sunk in yet, but when I go back home and get back to normal it will probably sink in.
"I didn’t really know how to feel at that point in time, but I think you can see by my reactions on the show, I was just overwhelmed. It was crazy."
The Portsmouth resident, who was continuously accused of being a Traitor himself, explained he was hoping to use the money to put a deposit down on his mum's house.
Once the show had wrapped, he revealed he had kept his promise, telling Portsmouth paper The News: "I have taken £3,000 from the winning money so I can go travelling and the rest of the money mum’s taking so she can wait for the property market to dip and then she can hopefully buy the house that she wants to buy."
Meryl Williams
Ex-customer services agent Meryl, then 26, was thrilled to take home her share of the winnings, but felt even more proud to be flying the flag for disabled women on TV.
"I think I might be the first person with my condition to win a reality show which I’m so delighted about. Overall, I can’t believe it. I still genuinely can’t believe it."
The Scottish star is 4ft 2in tall and has achondroplasia.
Speaking about her win, she told the BBC: "I feel very grateful. I feel ecstatic. It feels very surreal. I never in a million years thought I was going to win the show. I never went in there to win the show. I went in there for new experiences, to meet everyone. I feel still pinch me about it!"
When asked about how she planned to splash the cash, Meryl said: "I might make a career change. I might do a little travel. I’d like to try doing new things. I feel like the money gives me a bit of a safety blanket to take some time out and try new things."
Hannah Byczkowski
Stand-up comedian Hannah, then 32, was arguably the most gobsmacked to discover Wilf's deceitful ways as the two had built a close friendship during the competition.
Describing the whole experience as "insane" and admitting she often questioned her place in the group, she reassured fans that at least the tasks taught her to be more "resilient"
"I felt like a complete and utter intruder," Hannah confessed after taking the crown in the 2022 series.
When asked about the glorious winning scenes, she said: "It literally felt like someone in that moment had just said all my dreams had come true. It was like someone had said ‘okay, you can do whatever you want to do.'
She added it felt like "someone had got it wrong, like someone was going to turn round any second and say no, sorry we messed it up, it’s not you!"
"This prize is a life changing amount of money. It’s an opportunity many people will never have, and I feel so lucky and happy and just completely grateful to the whole process."
Revealing what she had learnt about herself on the show, she added: "I obviously trust people too much. I won’t be trusting Wilf any time soon! I like that quality about myself, actually. In the end it didn’t matter if he was a Traitor or not. We built up a friendship and we’ve seen each other since quite a lot."
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