The Traitors icon Amanda Lovett is the single best thing to happen to reality TV since ‘David’s dead’-Adam Miller-Entertainment – Metro

Amanda’s final episode was nothing short of a blockbuster epic (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock)

‘In the nicest possible way, what a bitch.’

The Traitors’ Hannah Byczkowski summed up Amanda Lovett in one after – despite giving the best performance since Meryl Streep in anything – her game was up last night.

For the last three weeks, I and most people I know have been completely consumed by BBC’s latest reality show, The Traitors.

I don’t know how to talk to anyone about anything else.

The show itself is a stroke of genius. There are 22 strangers living in a castle, then host Claudia Winkleman picked three of them to become ‘traitors’ – essentially silent assassins that ‘kill off’ their new pals in the night – with the others frantically trying to work out their identity with absolutely hysterical results.

In a matter of days, paranoia was so high that contestants were collapsing into tears over their breakfast croissants and screaming at each other like an affair had been exposed on Christmas Day in Albert Square.

Amanda has been a total breath of fresh air for reality television (Picture: BBC/Studio Lambert Associates/Mark Mainz)

No one can be trusted, even your closest allies.

As my second favourite contestant – aka the oracle of The Traitors – Maddy Smedley said with absolute sincerity: ‘In life you can be a massive criminal and still be funny.’

She’s not wrong.

But while The Traitors has had the entire nation gripped like it’s the year 2000 and we’re still waiting for Craig Phillips to confront Nasty Nick again, it’s without a doubt been Amanda Lovett who has carried this series on her Welsh dragon wings. She swiftly became a reality television icon up there with the absolute greats, like Nikki Graham, Tiffany Pollard, Kim Woodburn and Gemma Collins.

In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that Amanda is the single best thing to happen to reality television – or indeed television in general – since the now infamous ‘David’s dead’ exchange between Tiffany Pollard and Angie Bowie of 2016.

Amanda’s final episode was nothing short of a blockbuster epic, which should be shown on big screens nationwide and studied for centuries to come as the embodiment of what UK hun culture is all about.

In it, after being arguably the leader of the traitors, Amanda overlooked being mercilessly betrayed by her only real ally and fellow traitor, Wilfred.

After she named Theo her most trust-worthy faithful, she made her first and only big faux-pas when she then, the following day, banished him at the roundtable – raising concerns over her loyalty.

Among those to question if Amanda could really have his back was Wilfred, who stuck the knife in and got the remaining contestants to turn on Amanda before voting her out himself just days before the final.

My heart was literally beating out of my chest, watching with one eye on the TV and the other scrolling through pitchforks coming for Wilf on social media, as Amanda thanked her contestants, looked them dead in the eye and finally revealed herself to be a traitor.

I know I’m not the only one who was immediately punched with a tidal wave of emotions, essentially going through the seven stages of grief – denial, anger bargaining, depression and hope, before processing and recognising that, thanks to the BBC gods, we have been blessed with a new angel.

She’s no doubt destined to appear as a judge on Drag Race, Porn Idol at G-A-Y (look it up, if you’ve not heard of it) and perhaps eventually rule the world.

She made her first and only big faux-pas when she voted to banish Theo at the roundtable (Picture: BBC)

Amanda has been a total breath of fresh air for reality television, which – since the demise of Big Brother – has been loaded with influencers, rejected footballers and failed actors all under 30.

This new generation of reality contestants seem to all have a burning desire to gain followers on Instagram or deals with fast-fashion brands and have absolutely zero interest in entertaining the public.

Her wicked cunning streak was hidden behind her maternal instincts and deceptively comforting Welsh accent, which was essentially what kept her in the game while going completely under the radar until Wilf threw her under the bus.

But for all of us at home, it was unmissable television. The way she comforted, consoled and even broke up fights masterfully while playing the most genuine person in there – she was the lioness that got the cream. Not once did she seem to break a sweat (unless we’re talking about some of the missions the contestants have completed).

When she announced she was a traitor after her banishment last night, a part of me was still so shocked, despite watching her pull the strings as puppet master of the traitors for three weeks.

While the traitors should essentially be the villains of the series – trampling over their rivals in desperate need of a slice of the £120,000 prize fund – somehow Amanda won us all over.

I was desperate for her to walk away with the entire prize money and I wouldn’t have cared if she blew the whole thing on slot machines in Vegas or taking the girls on a cruise.

Nothing mattered to me more than Amanda coming out on top, even if it meant poor Nicky didn’t get her bionic hand. In hindsight, do I judge myself for that? Of course. But I was just one of millions who probably felt the same.

Amanda became the people’s champion. Despite decades of reality television ‘villains’, she broke the mould as an openly manipulative game player with heart and humour. It was a flawless performance, never missing a beat and only breaking her smile for us, her adoring public.

She’s camper than Michelle Visage and is now relishing in her newfound status as a ‘gay icon’, an honour bestowed to all the greats destined to be impersonated on a Drag Race Snatch Game.

With two more episodes of The Traitors to go, many of us will be at a loss watching without Amanda to root for.

No doubt I’ll be more gripped than I have been watching anything since the golden years of Big Brother, but it will take quite the twist to fill the void left by the self-proclaimed ‘mama dragon’.

More: TV

In the year that brought us Love Island winner Ekin-su Cülcüloğlu, I couldn’t imagine there would ever be a greater queen of reality television to come out of 2022.

But here we are, with a true icon in Amanda Lovett.

While her time on The Traitors might be done, her journey as a national treasure has only just begun.

The Traitors is available to stream on BBC iPlayer now.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing James.Besanvalle@metro.co.uk. 

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