The Traitors ‘blindsided’ star Minah reveals fate-sealing mistake – and it’s not Charlotte

Few could have predicted Charlotte’s machiavellian streak on The Traitors; least of all her recruiter, Minah, who was committed to the sisterhood.

Despite Charlotte orchestrating Minah’s banishment, including voting for her at the roundtable in the ultimate act of treachery, Minah, 29, tells Metro that implicitly trusting the Welsh imposter was not the only nail in her coffin.

The call centre manager admits she made the wrong moves in her last challenge – a traitorous spin on chess. ‘I should not have put myself down as the player “going under the radar” or picked Jake, who I was closest with, and given him the best things,’ she explains.

‘It was also a mistake to have picked Leanne as the “most two-faced” – and then panicking because she was reacting to the fact that someone’s called her two-faced. I would redo that whole mission.’

While Minah had total control over the game of chess, she had, it turned out, no influence over Charlotte. In her final moments on the BBC show, she admitted she was ‘blindsided’ as Charlotte’s deception unravelled.

‘I was surprised when Charlotte mentioned me as being a potential traitor just before the vote,’ Minah recalls. ‘I just felt so blindsided in that moment. I thought, “What’s going on?” And then as soon as she said that, I thought, “There’s no way she’s not going to write my name”.’

Minah says she messed up her final challenge – chess (Picture: BBC / Studio Lambert)

She says that recruiting Charlotte was not her only downfall (Picture: BBC / Studio Lambert)

She continues: ‘I was gutted. But then the game-player mentality in me actually thought, “Fair play.” I thought fair play to you because I did not see it coming and, up until then, I thought we were going to the final together. I really did.’

Minah was also none the wiser that Charlotte had been working overtime persuading the faithfuls that she was a traitor. Like the rest of us, she discovered Charlotte’s duplicity while watching The Traitors last week.

‘I’m not gonna lie: that was the hardest week for me, because not only was Charlotte planting seeds about me, but other people who had never mentioned anything to me were also saying my name,’ Minah says.

‘I know it sounds mad saying it – but I felt really vulnerable again and it was hard. But then watching it back it all made sense because for months it made no sense to me.’

Minah also believed Freddie was related to Frankie (Picture: BBC / Studio Lambert)

Minah may have lost out on the cash prize – but she won the nation’s heart (Picture: BBC)

Although Charlotte was the architect of Minah’s downfall, meaning she lost out on the cash prize, Minah says the response – becoming the nation’s ‘queen’ – was worth more than money can buy.

‘I’ve been really overwhelmed – but in the nicest way,’ she explains.

‘Going into the show, I just wanted to be myself because it’s the one thing I’m good at. I work hard on being a confident person, a confident woman, and a confident black woman at that as well.

‘From day one, all these amazing humans that don’t know me, messaging me or leaving a comment or a tweet or making a TikTok about me, has just been the most overwhelming thing. I just didn’t expect it.

Minah admitted her loved ones did not ‘recognise’ her on the show (Picture: Instagram/@minahshannon)

‘I always feel like I’m enough, and I know I’m enough, but getting that validation – and I didn’t think I needed it – but getting it was everything.’

However, while her expert traitor skills impressed viewers, Minah admits her own family struggled to recognise her on screen. ‘Now, nobody trusts me,’ she says with a mischievous glint in her eye.

‘They’re like, “You’re such a good liar.” And then they’ve watched it, and they’re like, “Do we actually know you?” The funny bits that you see of me they recognise but my enjoyment of the murdering and the scheming, they’re a bit like, “Who are you?” Which is quite funny.’

Minah has no clue who wins the jackpot but has had theories about her fellow contestants. She was convinced, like millions of viewers, that Freddie was Francesca’s son until two days ago when she heard his actual mum on the radio.

Minah and Linda were the perfect traitors pairing (Picture: BBC)

‘I’m not joking,’ she laughs. ‘They’ve both said, “That’s not my mum. That’s not my son.” Frankie even showed me a picture of her kids – but I was still like, “I don’t care what anybody tells me, I’m gonna find out one day that that is your mother.”

‘Freddie’s mum was on a radio show and he sent it to our WhatsApp group. I was like, “Okay, that’s not Frankie’s voice.” So now I’m okay with the fact that Frankie and Freddie are not mother and son”.’

You’ll be pleased to know Minah is on excellent terms with all her co-stars. Even Leanne has forgiven her for the ‘two-faced’ fiasco and the pair message daily. Minah says she is closest to Livi, Leon, Tyler, Jake and Freddie, and speaks to Linda once a week, but all of the players chat on a big WhatsApp group.

But despite the camaraderie, if she could have her pick of traitors, she would shun the cast of season 3. Instead, Minah would pick season 1 stars Amanda and Wilfred and season 2’s mega traitor Harry to plot with her in the turret.

As a Swiftie, Minah said she would ‘break into’ the castle if Taylor Swift was on the celebrity version (she reckons the global icon would be an excellent traitor) and would cast Holly Willoughby as a faithful as she’s ‘wholesome but would be a ‘good traitor hunter.’

The Traitors continues tonight at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.