Stephen Libby for The Traitors UK S4 / BBC
Age: 32
From: London
Occupation: Cyber Security Consultant
Why did you apply to take part in the show?
“It’s one of those games that you can’t watch without putting yourself in it. There are certain shows where you’re screaming at the TV with every single decision that’s made, thinking why have you done that? Or why have you said that? Or I could do better than that. I genuinely love this game. Maybe I’ve got a bit of a delusional kind of a sense that I can do really well in this.”
Would you prefer to be a Traitor or a Faithful?
“I can be a bit of a control freak, and I feel like as a Traitor, it really is the best way to take control of the game. Your chances of going home are slashed by 50% because you can only go out by banishment. Whereas if you’re a Faithful, you’ve got two chances of being banished or murdered. Watching it, you sometimes think, ‘oh my God, the Traitors have to hide who they are the whole time’ but you have to walk a difficult line as a Faithful.
“Make connections but don’t be too loud, contribute ideas but don’t be suspicious. As a Faithful, I’d have to find that middle ground. One of the things that I really want to make sure I’m doing when I’m in there is having as much fun as possible. I don’t want a voice in my head saying, oh, act like this now, or do this now, or try and do this now. I’m hoping that it will come naturally. Depending on the role I’ve been assigned, I’ll just hopefully fall into that.”
Do you have a good poker face?
“I do have a good poker face, I think. My lip doesn’t quiver; I don’t give much away. However, I can go quite red faced. Being from the north of Scotland, you only need to take a walk outside on a rainy day, and you’re burnt to a crisp!”
Are you competitive when you’re playing games with friends and family?
“Funnily enough, I was an ‘it’s the taking part that counts’ kind of person. And then I met my partner, and him and his family are vile when it comes to games. There are no holds barred, and it gets a bit heated. I had to learn to be equally committed and now they’ve awakened something in me that I never knew was there before! I could never have pictured myself six years ago applying for something like this.”
How would you spend the prize money?
“Firstly, I really want to give back to my parents. I was the first person in my family to go to university, and we weren’t a university family at all. Financially, it wasn’t something that we would really be able to do but my parents really gave up a lot to push me through. I would love to be able to give back to my dad who is the most incredible artist. He’s a butcher by trade but I would love to be able to just give him a chance to get away from that and really have more time to work on his art as much as possible.
“For myself, I’ve been in London now for eight years, and I’m getting to the point now where I’d like to be able to get on the property ladder.”
The Traitors continues Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 8pm on BBC One.
