Dramatic Celebrity Traitors conclusion analysed by University of Chester Psychology team
Having recovered from the dramatic closing episodes, the University of Chester’s Psychology team has unpacked all the developments which happened in the climax of this year’s Celebrity Traitors series.
In the latest instalment of The Psychology Of… podcast series – which is available to listen and watch on Spotify – host Dr Kevin Hochard is joined by Dr Connor Pell, Dr Ross Stewart and Dr Nic Lasikiewicz discuss the celebrities’ tactics as they fought to be crowned winners.
The 45-minute episode sees Connor discuss how James Acaster’s ‘faithful Traitor’ positioning was a case of self-discrepancy, which Nic said led to the comedian buckling under authoritative questioning from Michael Sheen. The team also speculate what happened behind the scenes amid James Acaster’s confession and subsequent exit from the show, the public and press reaction to that, and tackling misconceptions when someone has an anxiety attack or autistic meltdown.
For the TV show’s finale, the team discuss how the traitors’ tactics came apart, as King Kenny’s self-preservation saw him turn on fellow traitor Maya Jama, before he subsequently misjudged a voting round. Also examined is James Blunt’s late blunder which forced his exit at the final hurdle.
Finally, given the huge ratings hit of the second series, the team speculate on which star names should take part in the third celebrity series, and if the series should move slightly away from comedian contestants in favour of athletes and journalists.
Dr Kevin Hochard, Head of Psychology at the University of Chester, said: “The final two episodes of this season have generated a lot of talking points for the press and public, particularly as a result of the high-pressure atmosphere at the round table votes. The fallout from that has made this certainly one of the most interesting conclusions to any Traitors series.
“It has been a pleasure to speak about Celebrity Traitors with my Psychology colleagues throughout this season. I’d also like to thank the various BBC stations who’ve been kind enough to invite me, over the past few weeks, to talk about the show and promote our podcast.
“We’ll be keen to record more Psychology Of… podcasts for when the fifth civilian series is shown on TV, hopefully early next year.”
Catch up on all the episodes from the Psychology Of… series on Spotify.
More information on studying Psychology at the University of Chester can be found here.
Image 2: Clockwise from top left, Dr Kevin Hochard, Dr Ross Stewart, Dr Connor Pell and Dr Nic Lasikiewicz.