Date published: 21 April 2026
Comedian Alan Carr won £87,500 for the childhood cancer charity Neuroblastoma on The Celebrity Traitors in December 2025. We ask a psychiatrist what the programme tells us about human behaviour.
Sparking a national obsession with cloaks, castles and Claudia Winkleman’s fringe, BBC’s The Traitors is TV gold.
The nation held its breath as bubbly comedian Alan Carr lied and betrayed his way to victory in the first celebrity version of the reality TV competition in 2025.
Originally created in the Netherlands, Faithfuls pitch against Traitors to build up a cash prize. Secretly, a small number of players are chosen to be Traitors. The aim of the remaining Faithfuls is to identify and remove all Traitors from the game while the Traitors work together in secret to eliminate other contestants, without revealing their identities. All contestants openly debate who might be a Traitor at round table discussions.
According to Traitors fan, Mersey Care consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr John Crosby, the show is a fascinating snapshot of human behaviour.
“We are social animals – we like and trust people who seem to have the same values and experiences.”
“From hunter gatherer times we are hardwired to be suspicious of people who seem like ‘outsiders’. Successful Traitors quickly become one of the group and when that happens, it’s difficult for people to vote them out.”
He thinks that Alan Carr’s ability to live up to his chat show title Chatty Man was the TV star’s invisible shield. “He knows how to entertain and make someone feel heard - we felt safe with him. Making people laugh is a great way of creating a bond and then it’s very difficult to be disloyal.
“In contrast, it’s easier for the group to mistakenly banish Faithful contestants just because they stand out from the crowd. Contestants form impressions of one another based on very limited cues - confidence, tone of voice, facial expression and even their day job.
“These judgements feel like 'intuition', but they're actually the psychological shortcuts our brain uses to cope with uncertainty. When people are loud or confrontational, they don’t fit in with the herd mentality and this can result in an early exit from the game.”
Ultimately, The Traitors is high stakes entertainment which exposes how socially influenced our thinking can be - even without the distraction of gold coins. People’s charm and agreeableness and the power of ‘groupthink’ works outside the castle too.
As Dr Crosby sums it up, “Being wrong together often feels safer than being right alone.”
