The Traitors’ Paul isn’t a villain but the hero we all need
The Traitors season two spoilers to follow.
The Traitors is the most intense reality tv show on the air right now with each episode ending with thrilling cliffhangers and unexpected twists. This has of course mainly been down to one of season two’s most prominent Traitors, Paul Gorton, who has played his part brilliantly and got the nation hooked.
After many weeks acting like he’s the king of the castle, his Traitors journey came to a spectacular conclusion in episode eight. An explosive round-table session saw Paul’s reign come to an end as his fellow Traitor Harry turned on him.
While many viewers rejoiced in Paul’s downfall, having disliked his overly confident attitude throughout the game, now that Paul’s been banished it’s easy see he was always the true star of the show.
Unfortunately, over recent weeks Paul has been subjected to a lot of criticism online with hateful social media comments picking him apart. Many viewers were desperate to see his lies uncovered by the Faithfuls and have him booted out of the competition for good.
Admittedly he did at times feel like a pantomime villain, even describing himself as "competitive, cruel and traitor," as he pitched himself to Claudia Winkleman in the first episode.
However, it’s clearly all been a magnificent performance and this behaviour was exactly what made him such a delight to watch. While some have branded him as evil, in reality he’s been the saviour of the series.
Despite a few slip-ups, namely his wild decision to place himself in the dungeon and his awkwardly intense one-to-one chat with Jaz-atha Christie, Paul’s played a blinder of a game. That’s right… a game.
Some people on social media seem to be getting too sucked into the invented narrative that Paul is a real-life bad guy that they’ve forgotten it’s a reality game show.
The truth is, Paul deserves praise, because his cocky character was exactly what the show needed. He may have been the villain of the series, but he’s heroically saved us from stale reality TV and given us weeks of memorable edge-of-your-seat viewing.
Paul has been carrying the show with chaotic round-table twists, his hilariously smug talking-head segments and cheeky smiles to the camera. He’s successfully stirred up drama and created some shocking moments throughout the game.
He's guilty of banishing fellow Traitors in brutal fashion and left us all heartbroken with Diane’s devastating poison chalice death (no, we’re still not over it). But, without Paul the series wouldn’t be half as gripping. He’s a reality tv dream.
Even Claudia seemed to adore Paul and smiled with glee when she got to catch up with him and Harry in Traitors tower.
Sadly, Paul’s reign of terror has now officially come to an end, and he’s lost out on the chance of taking home the enormous pool of prize money.
However, maintaining his Traitors persona right to his last second on-screen, Paul went out in style taking a well-deserved bow as he finally revealed the truth.
So, let's raise our chalices in a toast to Paul - thank you for gracing our screens with many moments of TV gold. You will be missed.
The Traitors series 2 airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. For further details, check out the full Traitors series 2 release schedule here.
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