Ahead of the new season of The Traitors, we caught up with Alvin Quah to get the inside scoop on what really goes on behind the cameras. From first impressions of the cast to the chaos of the Round Table, Alvin opens up about the paranoia, the surprises, and the moments that turned a game he thought he understood into something far more intense than he bargained for.

What was your first impression of the cast when you met everyone?

A room full of big personalities trying very hard to look relaxed. Everyone sizing everyone else up while pretending not to. I loved it and feared it all at the same time.

Was there a strategy you planned before entering the game that you ended up abandoning?

Yes, I went in thinking I’d play it quiet and stay under the radar. That lasted about a day before even the quiet ones are forced to speak.

Was the game what you expected, or did it completely surprise you?

I thought I understood the game from watching it. I didn’t. Watching it and living inside it, with your own paranoia running the show, are two completely different experiences.

How mentally exhausting was it to play the game day after day?

More than I expected. You’re never really “off”. Even the quiet moments are spent reading people, recalculating and second-guessing. By the end, I was running on fumes and adrenaline in roughly equal parts.

Was there a particular moment when you realised just how intense the game was?

There’s a moment – I won’t spoil which one – where you watch someone you trusted make a move against you, and it lands differently than you expect. That’s when it stopped being a game I was ‘playing’ and started being one I was living.

Who surprised you the most throughout the experience?

Genuinely hard to pick one. A few people I’d written off before I met them, turned out to be some of the sharpest players there. It was a good reminder not to trust the edit of a person before you’ve actually sat across from them.

Were the Round Tables as tense as they looked on screen?

Tenser, if anything. What you don’t get on screen is everyone talking over everyone else at once, accusations flying across the table, and every now and then a full Housewives moment breaking out. Chaotic in the best and worst ways.

The Traitors.

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