Third contestant banished says secret girlfriend ignored him on The Traitors

The third contestant to be banished in the new series of The Traitors has said he thought his secret girlfriend was a traitor as she would not speak to him during his time on the show.

On Wednesday night, the reality TV show saw sales executive Ross voted off by his fellow contestants following a tense roundtable discussion.

Following his departure, fellow contestant Ellie revealed to viewers she is his girlfriend, and that the pair have been hiding their relationship from the other players on the show.

The 33-year-old has not yet disclosed her identity to the other contestants.

During his exit interview, Ross admitted that he thought his girlfriend was a traitor. He said: “Hiding the relationship with Ellie was the easiest thing ever.

“Any time we had an interaction, I was happy to see her because I was under pressure the whole time, so Ellie was my safe space in the game.

“However, I thought she was a traitor because every time we had a moment together she would not speak to me.”

The 37-year-old went on to say he was “very proud” of his girlfriend and said he was glad she is still in the castle, “holding it down for the household”.

When asked if he was backing his girlfriend to win, Ross said: “Of course, I do. I am Ellie’s biggest fan boy, so yes, I hope she goes on to win.

“She has all my support in the world, and she has the potential to go all the way.

“I just also hope she does something to redeem me – I don’t want my death to be in vain.”

The couple have hidden their relationship from the other contestants since the first episode of the show last Thursday.

The revelation follows online speculation about the pair’s relationship, after it was reported that they both posted holiday snaps from the same location in Tenerife since filming ended in May.

Ross also spoke about seeing nursery school teacher and fellow contestant Netty on the show and said he was initially “really excited” but that it put a mark on his back.

The pair recognised each other in last Thursday’s episode when they arrived at Ardross Castle, with Netty greeting Ross in a hug.

The two reunited, having not seen each other for about 15 years, however the other contestants found the interaction suspicious.

He said: “In the back of my head, I understood that it had put a mark on back and it threw my whole game plan out of the window.”

Netty was the first faithful to be murdered on the new series of the show.

Ross added that he felt his departure was “bittersweet”, but added: “I’m really happy with myself, I don’t think I could have done any better.”

The show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, returns to screens on Thursday at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.