From Fiona to Diane: An ode to The Traitors’ biggest divas

We are forever indebted to the BBC’s smash reality TV series The Traitors for bringing us the tea that we sorely need in these winter months. But let’s call attention to those who are most often serving the tea: the absolute divas who walk the halls of the castle.

Some have been Traitors, some have been Faithful. Some have faked a Welsh accent all the way through. As well as giving us endless drama and hilarious yet human reactions to ridiculousy complicated challenges and truly baffling paranoia at the roundtable, The Traitors has been home to some seriously iconic divas, and I’d like to begin with none other than Fiona, who departed the castle last week.

What was her game? Who knows? Did she even have one in mind as she blindly accused Rachel of being a Traitor (potentially breaking a key rule of the game, but we’ll table that for now) and set about creating potentially one of the biggest dramas the castle has seen, without a truly coherent reason for doing so? Other than, perhaps, feeling jealous that banished detective Amanda had not confided in her?

Either way, whatever the answers are to the aforementioned questions, we are obsessed with Fiona’s diva quality, and the hilarity and unpredictable drama it brings. It did, however, cause her to be ousted from the castle after it bringing too much heat on her, too much of a target on her back etc etc. But she thoroughly entertained us before she was sent home, we have to admit.

BBC/Cody Burridge

The diva energy, of course, doesn’t stop there – Fiona is just the most recent example of this magic that seems to manifest in the Traitors’ castle. Alexander’s badminton skills had a trace of the diva, as did Aubrey’s fashion choices.

Two massive icons that we must namecheck, though, are Amanda from series 1 and Diane from series 2. The former set the standard for diva one-liners with her totally legendary declaration, “Mother by day, murder by night”, which is definitely the essence of many Traitors divas. Acting as a caring middle-aged female stereotype when they need to and playing the game ruthlessly under cover of their former, softer cover.

Diana’s untimely exit from the 2024 series was dubbed as the biggest watercooler moment of the series. As well as being nominated for a BAFTA for her time on the series, the retired teacher was viewed by fans as a “mother” of the contestants and a queer icon. The biggest diva moment of Diana’s time on the series? Undoubtedly, her death, which was done in the campest of forms, by a poisoned chalice of sparkling rosé – the diva’s drink of choice, arguably. Obsessed. Like many Traitors contestants who have been given the diva status, Diana has commented that she has been very “flattered” at her icon rep since her time on the show aired.