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The Celebrity Traitors has been blown wide open... and we’re not talking about Celia Imrie letting one rip.
Among the games’ many murders, banishments and backstabbings, a new key element has been introduced: the “big dog theory”. This theory, about the show’s two most popular contestants, proves that there is an added complexity to the celebrity spin-off that simply doesn’t exist in the civilian version.
Wednesday night’s episode three of the hit BBC show was the most dramatic so far, resulting in both YouTuber Niko Omilana and EastEnders actor Tameka Empson being banished after their fellow contestants suspected them of being Traitors.
Meanwhile, the Traitor trio of presenter Jonathan Ross, comedian Alan Carr and singer Cat Burns decided to “murder” Olympic diver Tom Daley. The episode concluded with the Traitors pointing to actor Ruth Codd, singer Charlotte Church and historian David Olusoga as their next potential victims.
To date, this series’ Traitors have largely gone undetected, having barely been mentioned during the nerve-wracking roundtable votes. The proverbial cat was thrown among the pigeons on Wednesday’s episode, though, when rugby player Joe Marler unveiled his theory to the room.
Earlier in the show, during a conversation with comedian Joe Wilkinson, Marler posited that host Claudia Winkleman had devised a secret war between the game’s two most famous contestants: Ross and Stephen Fry.
“Maybe Claudia picked a war to be had between the Traitor team, led by the big dog – Jonathan – against the Faithful team, led by the Faithful big dog, of Stephen… she’s gone, ‘I wanna see which team’s gonna win now,’” said the burly 35-year-old.
Wilkinson concurred with this theory, agreeing that because of Fry’s world-renowned intelligence, he is possibly one of the only people in the game capable of “breaking the code”, and finding the Traitors.
In a bold move, Marler and Wilkinson both presented this theory during the roundtable. Wilkinson went on to suggest that Ross was a villain hiding in plain sight, but incorrectly presumed he was the person most likely to have “murdered” Paloma Faith in episode two, who of course was given the boot by her best pal Carr.
Wilkinson then voted for Ross, with Codd joining him as the only other person to select the veteran TV host as a Traitor. Confusingly, after coming up with the astute theory, Marler voted for presenter Kate Garraway on Wednesday’s roundtable, an illogical move that ultimately proved to be pointless, as no one else voted for her.
Regardless, the “big dog theory” leaves the Traitors in a bit of a pickle. The fact that Ross is now under suspicion, with Codd staring daggers right through him at Wednesday’s roundtable, means that killing off anyone who suspects him will put a huge target on his back.
However, should Ross be banished, then the Traitors could do a lot worse than recuiting Fry. Not only would Fry be an excellent addition to their team, but it would also scupper the “big dog theory” completely.
Whatever happens, the “big dog theory” shows that The Celebrity Traitors can offer something different to the original version. Although the flagship show has seen its fair share of dominant characters, no one one on the civilian version can claim to be more famous than anyone else, essentially creating a level playing field.
Ross and Fry, however, inhabit a unique space in the history of British popular culture, and therefore hold a degree of power over the others. If this is indeed a contest between the pair, then we could be in for a true clash of the titans.
That said, the Faithfuls have time and time again proven themselves to be a fickle and forgetful bunch, meaning the theory could soon be confined to a footnote in the show’s history. There’s only one way to find out...
The Celebrity Traitors continues on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9pm on BBC One.
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