At the round table Traitors goes live... but is it 100% faithful to the hit TV show?

Things are not going well. Halfway through my attempt to play the real-life version of smash-hit BBC reality TV show, The Traitors, I realise something: I may be less charming than I'd hoped.

- Alexi Duggins

"I don't trust him," intones a player to my left, scowling at my face as though she has just found it on the bottom of her shoe.

"Yeah, he seems shifty!" exclaims her friend.

I try to defuse the tension by smiling winningly.

"Look at that smirk. He's definitely a Traitor."

In retrospect, this should not have come as a surprise. Since The Traitors first burst on to our screens in November 2022, it's become obvious that it's not easy to convince people that you're telling the truth while under suspicion.

Watching contestants go head to head as either traitors (who lie, scheme and "murder" fellow contestants by night) or faithfuls (who try to banish traitors so they can share a cash prize with fellow honest players) has united the UK around its TV sets.

It's also what made Neil Connolly, the creative director behind The Traitors: Live Experience decide to replicate the interior of a Scottish castle in Covent Garden, central London, and invite players to roleplay the TV show in groups of up to 12.

"I wanted to make people's hearts race," he tells me on the phone the following day. "That moment when you feel your heart pounding in your chest, I know that I've done my job correctly."

Well, as I play the game, his wishes are coming true. Largely because I am a faithful, and doing a terrible job of convincing anyone.