Inside the Mind of Paul Gorton: The Truth About Jonathan Ross, Betrayal, and Beyond

The parallels between Traitors Paul Gorton and Jonathan Ross

Despite opting for a bold double-bluff by murdering his biggest threat, Ruth Codd, Jonathan Ross somehow evaded suspicion from his fellow Faithfuls with well-practised arguments in the latest episode of the show.

Not everyone was fooled (shout out to Joe Marler), but Ross still seems to be pretty confident. It doesn’t even seem to have crossed his mind that his fellow Traitors, Alan Carr and Cat Burns, have discussed throwing him under the bus if needed, and it’s no wonder, given his ‘big dog’ status alongside Stephen Fry.

Paul completely empathises with how Ross must be feeling: “I think Jonathan is a man after my own heart… And now I almost want to formally apologise to the UK public, because I realised how infuriating it is to watch someone revelling in just such deceit without being caught when it also looks so obvious to the people at home.”

Of course, nobody knows better than Paul about the risks of getting too comfortable in that Machiavellian persona: “I think Jonathan is gonna see his downfall, purely because I did. And he’s playing exactly the same way.

“He’s got loads of attention on him, loads of heat. He’s incredible at deflecting and moving it away. But you can only do that a certain amount of times before it just builds up and builds up.”

Why former Traitor Paul thinks Jonathan has no choice but to backstab

As we can see by Claudia’s scoldings after every Faithful banishment and the sour mood that ensues over drinks afterwards, the fact that the Traitors remain one step ahead will now be getting to the contestants. Paul reveals that the atmosphere is ten times worse in the castle: “It’s almost like the oxygen in the air is heavier, you know? Like the gravity is stronger. It is remarkable when you’re in there and there’s that desperation to find people. So, I think we’re going to see a few people crack.

“We’ve already seen Mark Bonner show a lot more emotion than maybe most people. And you know, Kate Garraway is… flabbergasted.”

That sentiment is only more intense because The Celebrity Traitors has four fewer episodes than the main series. Therefore, the fact that the group hasn’t caught a single Traitor yet puts more tension on the becloaked bad guys, as everyone is going to be more closely examined as a result.

Reflecting on his own experience, Paul is adamant that Ross’s chance of survival hinges on one big move: “I think the only thing he could possibly do is to backstab Alan because Cat Burns is just completely untouchable. She’s an absolute Harry Clark.”

“When you normally do that, you paint yourself as the hero… I think a good Traitor’s trait is being a Traitor Hunter. My God. Try saying that after a few pints.”

Paul believes that Ross can fall back on logic and intelligence to orchestrate Alan’s downfall, something that won’t work on Cat, as she’s flying so far under the radar. “You have to use actual facts. Like, for example, the man who was profusely sweating after a Round Table and couldn’t control himself, which is Alan Carr.