Twenty-two people in a castle, a number of silly challenges, a chunk of money sitting at the centre, and human nature laid bare. To try to pick apart exactly what makes The Traitors – the TV game show which has just concluded its second series in the UK – so compelling would be to miss the point, like trying to analyse the ingredients in a Krispy Kreme doughnut.
As enjoyable as it is, though, the show gets more infuriating with each episode: why are most of the contestants so stupid? Why can’t they tell when they are being lied to? It’s so obvious! I asked three experts how to spot a lie – and why most people can’t. First, Dr Linda Papadopoulos, a psychologist, author and broadcaster, who as the resident psychologist on the first season of Big Brother added an almost superhuman level of insight into the contestants’ feelings; she was like a mind-reader.
