BBC One The Traitors: Who is Leeds contestant Theo Mayne, what he does, and how to watch

A cheerleading coach from Leeds is set to appear in a brand new reality series of nail-biting psychological competition, The Traitors as it debuts on BBC One tonight (November 29). Theo Mayne, 26, who works as a business owner will go against 22 other contestants as the game takes place at a castle in the Scottish Highlands.

Adapted from the Dutch psychological adventure format of the same name, the show will be hosted by Strictly Come Dancing presenter Claudia Winkleman and will follow the contestants as they play the ultimate game of detection and backstabbing in the hope of winning up to £120,000.

Other hopefuls, including a magician, author, pensioner, BMX athlete, spa therapist, and property developer, will put Theo to the test, and they must pick who they can trust. And amongst them are The Traitors whose job is to secretly murder a player every night, without getting caught.

The Faithfuls, on the other hand, need to work to detect who The Traitors are and banish them from the game before they become their next victim. Those who make it to the end have a chance to win the life-changing sum of money. However, if a Traitor goes undetected throughout the game, they will take all of the money.

Speaking about picking the right people to be The Traitors, Claudio said each of them had to go through an interview with her. She said: “I say, ‘do you want to be a Traitor or a Faithful?’ There were some that said ‘Faithful’, and I was like, ‘but you’d be such a good Traitor!’

“I read all their CVs, I watched videos of them, and I knew who we wanted to be the Traitors - but one absolutely changed in that chat, so that was fascinating. We wanted it to be a real mix, because it’s quite a lot to take on. They have to come back at midnight and murder, so we chose people who would enjoy that - basically we picked the people who really wanted it."

Is Leeds contestant Theo a Traitor or a Faithful?

For Theo, who is still not known whether he would be a Traitor or a Faithful, he believed his day job as a coach would work out in his favour. He said: “My game plan is to be myself and let people fall in love with me. To get people to do their best and to help them believe in themselves. I always like to be that strong character and tell people they can do it and make them believe. I’d definitely like to motivate others to help them succeed, that’s my game plan.”

And if he were to be chosen as a Traitor, he said his experience in musical theatre could help put his best ‘poker face’ to deceive others. He said: “I’m used to helping and motivating people so going behind their backs would be hurtful, but at the end of the day, it’s for me as well. My poker face is quite strong, I do a lot of musical theatre so I’d like to say that I can act!”

Asked what he would do if we were to win the money, he said he would invest it into a gym, which he hopes to own one day. He said: “Currently with my business, I rent from another gymnastics gym and I want to have my own unit to be able to provide sessions for all kinds of people, for example LGBTQ family mornings, and for cheerleading and do everything that I’ve always wanted to do. For me, winning the money is an investment in my business that I will be able to touch more lives, reach more people and do good.”

How to watch The Traitors

The Traitors is a 12-part series that will air on BBC One. It will premiere on BBC One on Tuesday, November 29 at 9.30pm, immediately following the men’s FIFA World Cup match between Wales and England.

The second episode will air on BBC One at 9.15pm on Wednesday, November 30, following Poland vs Argentina. The third episode will air on BBC One on Friday, December 1 at 9pm. The first three episodes will be available on BBC iPlayer from Tuesday, November 29 at 10.30pm.