The Traitors star would do BBC series again with one key change

Elen Wyn survived just two episodes of The Traitors before being banished by her fellow contestants, but she believes one key change could have changed things significantly for her.

The Welsh translator, 24, is less assured when communicating in her second language, English, which she learnt later in life.

‘I lack confidence interacting with English speaking people anyway, and having that lack of confidence in an environment that intense just magnified it,’ she shared with Metro.

‘I had theories and thoughts, but I just couldn’t communicate them in the best way. It led to some tears, which is quite unfortunate.’

After her time on the BBC series came to an end, she was able to accept what happened and become more ‘at peace’ when her theories about traitors Armani, Linda, and Minah turned out to be exactly true. ‘It was closure. I felt good after that.’

When asked if she’d take part in the show again if they did a Welsh-speaking version, a smile instantly spread across Elen’s face.

‘I would. I think I’d be better at that, because I can communicate better in Welsh. I don’t think I’d do it again in English,’ she added with a laugh. However, Elen quickly changed her mind, and told us she doesn’t want to stop putting herself out there.

Elen acknowledged that while she may see herself as being a bad communicator in English, that isn’t necessarily the truth. ‘Ever since I’ve been telling people that I struggle, they say “What are you talking about?” I was just too paranoid, thinking that because English is my second language, that’s gonna be a huge disadvantage to me, but I’m just hard on myself,’ she explained.

In recent months, she’d already been able to experience what it would be like to compete in Welsh… well, sort of. Since leaving Ardross Castle, she’s been having recurring dreams about being back in the game, but this time she’s speaking in her first language and returns after banishment.

While taking part in The Traitors, Elen often found herself in floods of tears and she confesses that viewers didn’t even see the half of them.

Although Elen was always aware of being an emotional person, crying whenever she’s happy, sad or even confused and shocked, she says even for her, it was ‘a lot’.

‘It was so intense and so unsettling. I was clearly not stable there. It really catches you off guard, and I think that’s why I couldn’t regulate my emotions,’ she explained.

‘I wasn’t expecting myself to be hysterical.’

Now she’s had time to reflect on her gameplay, the faithful believes it’s part of the reason she was doubted by her fellow faithfuls and banished at the second roundtable, despite getting a lot of things right.

She correctly voted for traitor Linda at both banishments, and guessed Armani and Minah on the series podcast, Uncloaked. She thought Minah ‘from day one’ and after she murdered Keith the theory only strengthened.

‘Minah loved Keith so much so she didn’t think anyone would have questioned her after murdering Keith,’ she said. The reason Elen never shared her idea is quite sweet: ‘I really liked Minah. I should have detached myself emotionally from the game then I would have been much better, but I didn’t because I was too scared of offending Minah.’

Elen thinks her way of highlighting suspects was also a downfall: ‘I just kind of announced my theory that it was a strong female traitor without much thought, and if I could have kept it quiet and approached it differently that would have helped, because people thought I was deflecting.’

Her time on The Traitors also lives on in social media posts, with the platforms coming alive with memes after each episode. Elen is finding them just as amusing as the viewers, exploding into laughter talking about comparisons to Lady Jane Grey and people asking if she was aware murder wasn’t actually going to happen.

‘They’ve got clips of me and I’m so pale. I am terrified. I feel sick. I’m paranoid. I’m just not doing great. It was quite obvious that I wasn’t coping. I genuinely thought I was being executed,’ she recalled.

‘Now, after spending so much time reflecting, I know it wasn’t that serious and it never had to be, but it was so serious at the time. Within a few days of being banished, you’re over it though. It’s funny now.’

Although Elen has left, there’s some faux representation continuing with fellow faithful Charlotte, who is using a Welsh accent despite being from Hampshire. The decision to switch up her way of speaking has baffled viewers with its randomness, but Charlotte believes it will make her appear more trustworthy.

Elen never questioned Charlotte’s authenticity – ‘Why would I?’ – and now she knows the truth, she still supports the decision. However, after her own elimination, she’s not quite sure how much it will hold up. ‘I have a Welsh accent. I literally am Welsh. I was my true self, and they still thought I was suspicious,’ she stated.

This ffyddlon’s (faithful) time might have been short and sweet, but she did exactly what she set out to do, and calls it the ‘best experience of my life’.

‘Representing Wales is what I wanted to do most on the show. The Welsh language and its culture is a huge part of who I am. Despite only being in two episodes, I do feel like I did to the best of my ability,’ she proudly declared. And as an extra bonus, she feels her theory helped the faithfuls catch their first traitor Armani in last night’s episode.

The Traitors continues on Wednesday from 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.

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