The Traitors’ producer reveals brutal ‘psychological tests’ applicants are put through

Missing The Traitors? Same. But if you’re already eyeing up the next series, here’s some news that might make you feel slightly less bored: Casting is well under way, and the process is absolutely unhinged.

According to executive producer Lewis Thurlow, getting on The Traitors isn’t just about vibes or a good audition tape. It’s a six-month psychological obstacle course designed to work out who’s brilliant at lying, who cracks under pressure, and who might enjoy messing with people’s heads just a bit too much.

Speaking to the Observer, Thurlow explained that recruitment starts with a “very complex questionnaire” focused on truth, lies, and moral boundaries. Applicants are asked things like their biggest fear, their biggest lie, and, crucially, whether they got away with it. You also have to explain whether you’d rather be a Traitor or a Faithful, and why, before submitting a video showing how you interact with people.

From there, things only get more intense. Shortlisted applicants go through Zoom interviews, multiple rounds of casting, and full psychological testing. Psychologists literally sit in the production studio with a whiteboard, slowly filling it up with names of people they think would play the game in totally different ways, strategic masterminds, chaotic fast-players, alliance builders, and wildcards.

“There’s a lot of careful manipulation of the truth right from the word go,” Thurlow admitted, which feels extremely on brand for a show built entirely on paranoia.

BBC

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In fact, producers actively reward people who prove they’re capable of psychological tricks early on. In one previous season, a contestant deliberately faked a black eye during a Zoom interview, then casually rubbed it off halfway through the call. The move worked. They were cast, partly because, as Thurlow put it, “anyone that’s into messing with people’s minds is an interesting character for the show”.

And that’s just the mental side. The physical and medical checks are just as serious. This series’ banished contestant Amanda Collier revealed that a CT scan carried out during casting diagnosed her with a “quite serious heart disease” before filming even began.

Meanwhile, series three contestant Yin Lu described the psychological checks as “having an MRI scan, but full-body, full-heart, full-brain, even full-soul MRI scan”. Casual.

BBC

What’s wild is just how competitive it’s all become. Around 20,000 people applied for series one. That jumped to 130,000 for series two, then exploded to 300,000 for series three. Applications for series four are reportedly even higher, though production company Studio Lambert won’t reveal the final number.

Casting for the next series has already started, but filming won’t begin until summer, giving producers around six months to carefully engineer the perfect mix of chaos.

And if you’re hoping to copy your favourite player from last year, don’t bother. Thurlow says each cast is built “from the ground up”, with producers deliberately avoiding carbon-copy contestants. Even if certain characters go down well, repeating the same formula is a mistake.

Sounds exhausting. But also… kind of tempting.

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Featured image credit: BBC