Viewers of Claudia Winkleman's new murder mystery show The Traitors, which aired on BBC One on Thursday, December 1, have branded one contestant a "bully" after he showed "nasty" behaviour towards his fellow co-star.
The series sees 22 contestants head to a castle in the Scottish Highlands for a "nail-biting psychological" game of deception and discovery, where £120,000 is up for grabs. The contestants must work together as a team to complete various missions to win money.
However, there's a catch - hidden among the group are three Traitors- Alyssa, Wilfred and Welsh contestant Amanda. The Traitors must 'murder' one of their co-stars - called Faithfuls - each night, eliminating them from the game. At the end of each episode, the contestants must come together and vote for who they believe is a traitor - whoever they choose is then banished from the game. Read more on that here.
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The 'bullying' accusation from fans comes after the remaining contestants took to the round table to voice their suspicions and cast their votes on who they thought was deceiving them.
Several fingers pointed at Imran, Theo and Aaron but in the end it was Imran who became the latest contestant to leave the show. But before then, contestants gave their reasoning as to why they believed these people were 'the traitors' causing friction amongst the group and tensions to rise.
After a heated and intense discussion over why Aaron's name had come up, the 24-year-old was seen becoming emotional, causing him to leave the room and try and catch his breath before being comforted and calmed down by the BBC crew.
Upon his return, the contestants' votes saw Faithful Imran banished from the castle. As they congregated in the common rooms to discuss what had unfolded, Aaron confronted his peers, asking why they had never said anything of their suspicions before.
John, a 49-year-old spa therapist, who had suspected him as a traitor, said: "Because you deflect. You don't ever sit down and talk about yourself. It's all like you're on a lads' holiday. So that gives me cause for concern. I'm entitled to my opinion."
Asking him outright why he left the room after becoming emotional, John stated harshly: "It's a competition, it's a game, ok? It's a tad dramatic."
After Aaron said he felt like he was getting "attacked" at all angles, John immediately said: "Well that's the point of it. Everyone is going to get attacked at some point." Speaking to the camera later on, Aaron was seen saying: "I think he’s quite a nasty person".
Viewers took to Twitter to defend the young property agent and voice their opinion of John, accusing him of bullying.
@Wells88R wrote: "I hope they get rid of that John after he bullied our Aaron #TheTraitors", while @ahnecar said: "It sounds dramatic but I found John's treatment of Aaron genuinely upsetting. #TheTraitors".
Another @Denise_1963 added: "I know it’s a game - but John is very aggressive the way he speaks! Shocking - really felt for Aaron - fgs he was having a panic attack #TheTraitors" as well as @TerriNixon who commented: "I had no intention of getting sucked into #TheTraitors, yet here I am! And John is coming across as a bitter little bully. Fair enough, he couldn't know if Aaron was acting, but his behaviour afterwards was just plain nasty. Hopefully he'll get banished next, not murdered."
User @harrietlfox also penned: "Okay I’m obsessed with #TheTraitors & I really thought it was going to be trash. John giving me bully vibes regardless with that unnecessary shouting at Aaron & being dismissive of Aaron clearly just being a little hurt at people thinking poorly of him (when you're innocent!)"
The Traitors continues on Tuesday, December 6 at 9.30pm on BBC One.
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