An army veteran from North Wales is taking aim at a possible jackpot prize of up to £120,000 in the hit BBC TV show The Traitors – which started its third UK season on New Year’s Day. Leanne Quigley, 28, from Holywell, Flintshire, has been picked to play a Faithful, as she looks to weed out the Traitors, before they “murder” her, or she inadvertently gets banished by her own team.
And if she is successful, Leanne could be in for a big pay day, with a very special idea about what she would like to spend the winnings on. In Season One, three Faithfuls – Aaron Evans, Hannah Byczkowski and Meryl Williams – shared a £101,050 prize. But in season two, it was lone Traitor Harry Clark who walked away with £95,150.
Speaking about why she applied, before the new show got underway, Leanne said: “It just looked like so much fun. I remember watching series one when I was pregnant with my partner, Sophie, and she said to me, ‘oh, you’d be so good at this’, because I tend to get away with a lot.
“I tend to tell a few white lies to my boss for a couple of days off work, and I somehow always seem to get away with it. And she said you’d be so good at getting people wrapped around your finger. Sounds awful, doesn’t it?! And I applied in January.
“I remember we were watching an episode, and she fell asleep on the sofa with the twins, so I obviously had to pause it, because I would have had to end up watching it twice because we can’t watch anything without each other. And I thought, how funny would it be if I went upstairs and applied, and by the time she woke up from her nap, I could have been like, ‘I’ve just applied to be on The Traitors’. So, I did it.
“I ran upstairs, and I didn’t realize how much was on the application and the video! I was trying to do the video as quietly as I possibly could.”
Talking about what she thinks she can bring to the game Leanne said: “I think I will bring a lot of enthusiasm. I’m a really enthusiastic person. I always, even if there are things I don’t want to do, try and do it with enthusiasm, because it’s best to bring a bit of light into a dark situation.
“I’ve rewatched the show again this week, and I’ve been looking at it in a different light and trying to understand how stressful it is, how stressful it is going to be, and just trying to process that and understand it. So, I just think, if I can be my enthusiastic self, it can just try and make that situation a little bit brighter for everyone else as well. Hopefully. I’m actually lying about my job in there as well, so I’m not telling anyone I was a soldier.”
She added: “I’m going to say I’m a nail technician, and I work in the salon that’s down the road from my house. I’m in that salon all the time.
“I might as well work there, because my sister-in-law owns the salon with her best friend, so I’m always in. I know a lot about the salon, I do feel like I’m part of the team anyway and that’s how I feel like I’ll get away with it.
“Harry won last year. Obviously, he was a soldier, and he bare faced lied his way to the end. I feel like it would put me at a bit of a disadvantage to divulge my previous job because people are automatically going to assume anyone in the military is smart and strategic.”
Commenting on the last series, she said: “I think they were great. It was gripping and Harry played it amazingly. Series one was good, and then series two was even better,
“Mollie was really sweet and herself. And as much as I’m going to go in lying, I’m also going to go in and be myself. I’m going to be really honest about my life experiences, apart from things like deployments, of course.
“I’m just going to be my happy self, and I’m hoping there’s not too much talk about our work but if there is I’ve got my story covered. I just admired how down to earth and lovely she [Mollie] was. And to be honest, Harry was as well. He was just a good liar. I think they all played it well.
“I’m just going to be a friendly person. As friendly as I would be if it wasn’t a game, and I wasn’t going in to try and win money. I’m just going to be everyone’s friend, not talking too much about people behind their backs, because I want my name brought up at the Round Table as little as possible.”
Leanne admitted she is competitive and so is her mum and they can cheat, driving each other “mad”. But she also thinks she’ll be an asset on missions, which builds the prize pool up.
“I think I’ll be great at the Missions. I’ve been in the Army for 12 years. I’ve done a lot of physical exercise. However, I have had children very recently, so I’m also really hoping my physical side won’t let me down. I’m really looking forward to the Missions. I can be a bit bossy, but I’m going to try and hold back from giving out instructions and be a really big team player.”
She elaborated on her game plan, if selected as a Faithtful, saying: “I’m going to look out for the signs of people who may be a little bit extra tired in the mornings, because obviously, the Traitors stay up a bit later. I’m going to be on the lookout for any couples or mothers and sons, daughters, you know?
“People who are giving each other the eye or people who are purposely trying to stay apart.” She added: “I think they just need to come across genuinely, which I hope I will. Obviously, I’m lying about my job, but other than that, I’m going to be totally honest about everything else in my life.”
Leanne thinks she is a good judge of character and if she wins the money, she said: “I would love to go through IVF again. I went through IVF with my boys, and I was very poorly throughout my pregnancy, and then I went into early labour at six months.
“The boys were only 26 weeks when they were born. Because I was so poorly at the time I feel I missed out on enjoying that newborn stage. I’m so so grateful to have them, and I’m so lucky that they’re alive.
“When they did come home from hospital after three months, they come home on oxygen, and it was a struggle to take them out. I would love the opportunity to have another baby, hopefully have a bit of a better experience. And to make our family a bit bigger.”
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