Banished Traitors contestant Alyssa Chan said she knew she had no chance of winning after just three days.
The 21-year-old said she felt “crumbled by guilt” after being picked to be a traitor.
In the reality show, filmed in a beautiful Scottish castle, 22 players take on daily tasks to top up a prize pot.
But three have secretly been assigned as traitors.
Each night the trio meet to decide which of the others – the faithful – to “murder”, ie evict.
The whole group meet during the day to vote off a suspected traitor.
If no traitors remain at the end, the faithful split the prize cash. But any remaining traitors take the lot for themselves.
Alyssa’s close ally Wilfred Webster, 28, voted her out during a daytime “roundtable” voting session.
She said: “I was so shocked. That’s the first time in the game that I was angry, because I was blindsided.
“You genuinely feel like it’s life or death. I can’t tell you how immersed in the game you get. I felt like it was a witch-hunt for me and I was just terrified.”
Alyssa said fellow contestants surprised her by being understanding about her being a traitor.
Half-Irish, half-Chinese Alyssa, who is studying for a business degree, says she has no idea who eventually wins the cash, which could swell to a maximum of £120,000.
Backstabber Wilf has since said sorry for his actions on the show, currently the BBC ’s second most popular after the world Cup.
She said of the fundraiser from Peterborough: “We’re good friends now. Props to him, he played a great game, he did it brilliantly – and I just couldn’t do it. The guilt was just so huge, I couldn’t cope with it, I crumbled.”
Next year’s players will have a better idea of the best strategies in the game, she said, as this year’s 12-parter is the show’s debut.
She advised any wannabe players: “Be emotionally and mentally stable for it because it’s a lot to take on.”
But host Claudia Winkleman, above, was “brilliant, Alyssa said.
The Traitors returns to BBC1 and iPlayer on Tuesday.
