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CASTLE EXILE
The Traitors’ Diane Carson breaks silence on savage poisoned chalice ‘murder’ plot which saw her axed from BBC show
The series is now averaging almost six million viewers per episode
THE Traitors’ sweetheart Diane Carson has broken her silence on the savage plot which saw her “murdered” by a “poisoned chalice” on tonight's explosive episode.
The retired teacher, 63, was the latest player taken down as part of the BBC murder mystery after fans spent the last five days awaiting her fate following a cruel cliffhanger last Friday.
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Viewers have feverishly shared memes and theories online after seeing the Traitors tasked with “killing” a Faithful by handing them a drink.
We were on tenterhooks to see if Diane sipped the fizzy rosé wine that villain Miles Astari handed her.
Now she has spoken for the first time about being slayed by the pink plonk.
Diane, from Lancashire, said: “It just feels amazing that I got this far. I really thought I was going out after a three-way tie at the round table earlier on in the game.
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“I did a lot better than I expected.”
Diane is underplaying what became a huge TV moment, the like of which we have not seen in years.
As the BBC has taken the decision to show the programme on traditional television, instead of uploading it on iPlayer to binge, anticipation for tonight's episode was feverish.
Viewers took to social media to share memes and theories.
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The series is now averaging almost six million viewers per episode.
Those millions would not have been disappointed by tonight's scenes, which saw host Claudia Winkleman theatrically prepare Diane for her death.
Viewers saw Claudia tell the group the poisoned chalice did not kill immediately, but instead enacted a slow death.
During an elaborate funeral procession, the group had to try to guess which of their number had been secretly bumped off.
Now Diane thinks her undoing was forming friendships, just like the one with Miles that saw her take the cursed wine.
She said: “My strategy really was just to be myself and make sure I didn’t make hugely deep friendships.
“But there were some people whose personalities I was really drawn to, and that detracted from any sort of gameplay I had in mind.
“When you’ve made friends and you’re chatting and sharing bits of your life with somebody, it’s actually then really difficult to think they’re playing a really clever game, because you have made a connection and an assumption that they’re nice people.
“There’s like an inside voice saying, ‘Oh, if they can behave like that in this game then maybe they’re not great human beings’, which, of course, is not true. They were just playing a good game.”
Miles unwittingly became her murderer after volunteering to hand out the vino while plotting with his fellow Traitors, Paul Gorton and Harry Clarke.
The move saw him thrust into the spotlight and, on last night’s episode, the Faithfuls guessed he was a Traitor and he was banished from the castle.
Being the bartender is now something he regrets.
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Veterinary nurse Miles, 36, said: “Giving out the drink during the poison challenge, being the one that self-nominated to do that, knowing how that was going to play out, I would definitely do it differently.
“I think it probably should have been more of a collective decision as opposed to just me, myself and I doing the actual task because it did highlight myself. I put myself on the chopping block really.
“I probably would have made it more of a collective Traitor move as opposed to just me.”
Fans of the show loved Diane for her savage takedowns, quick mind and razor sharp sleuthing.
They also enjoyed sharing her secret — that her son Ross was also part of the Faithful cast.
They decided to keep their link to themselves so had fun with jokes about his mum’s awful roast dinners.
She was also shocked to find her son could be so sneaky and has now revealed one unseen moment where Ross almost gave the game away.
Diane said: “I would have loved to have more fun with Ross, telling stories about my son and him telling stories about his mum.
Jaw dropping
“I think when Ross said he had deliberately got rid of Sonja was probably my biggest surprise.
“He was getting rid of her because she came from Lytham in Lancashire and that might blow our secret — he’d already started the secret incorrectly because he was supposed to tell everybody he came from Blackpool, but he immediately told everybody he came from Lytham!
“That threw my plan because I was going to tell people I was from Lytham, so I said that I came from Ireland.
“So, when he said that about Sonja, I remember my jaw dropping.”
Miles is also smarting from his demise.
It came about when his fellow traitors Paul and Harry turned on him at the final round table, joining the other players by sharing theories as to why Miles was suspicious and ultimately voting him out the game.
Miles, from Birmingham, said: “I knew that we’d probably have to turn on each other at some point but I wanted to see how far we could go together and pick other people at random, cause a bit of confusion, do it that way round.
“I was surprised how quickly Traitors turned on Traitors.
“I knew it might happen but didn’t realise it would happen so soon and I obviously wasn’t the first so to see that play out I thought, ‘This game is savage’.”
The conclusion of the game has already been filmed, having wrapped in August, but on departing Diane was adamant she’d have backed her son Ross even if he’d been the baddy that voted to send her home.
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She added: “I would be voting for my son [to win] because blood is thicker than water.
“I did think about what would happen if I was put in the moral dilemma of being a Faithful right at the end if he was a Traitor, would I say anything?
“I decided sadly I wouldn’t, and I am a girl who likes good winning over evil.
“I read fantasy adventure and I only enjoy the book, or in fact a good film, if there’s a happy ending or if good wins over evil.
“However, I decided that blood is definitely thicker so if that had been the case, if it had been Ross, I wouldn’t have said a thing and would’ve just let him win.”
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At the end of last night’s episode, Paul and Harry were challenged to recruit a new member of their dastardly crew to replace Miles.
- The saga continues tomorrow night at 9pm on BBC One.
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