The Traitors: Serving soldier and veteran take on latest gripping series of BBC reality show
Series two of the BBC's incredibly popular psychological reality competition The Traitors has a military twist as one contestant currently serves as an engineer in the British Army and another is an amputee veteran.
Presented by Strictly Come Dancing's Claudia Winkleman, the intense and thrilling series keeps viewers on the edge of their seats with nail-biting anticipation to see who, out of 22 strangers, will win up to £120,000.
Two of those contestants are veteran Jonny Holloway, 31, and engineer Lance Corporal Harry Clark, 22, who will take part in the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust in a castle in the Scottish Highlands.
In the show, three players are chosen as 'traitors' and the remaining contestants are 'faithfuls'. The traitors remove from the game one player every night, while the faithfuls' task is to try to identify and eliminate those plotting against them.
The last remaining faithfuls can win a share of up to £120,000 but if any traitors are undetected until the end, they take all the money.
Before the show started, both British Army men revealed how their military service will give them an advantage over their civilian counterparts.
Who is The Traitors' Harry Clark?
LCpl Clark says his military training means he's great at working in a team and has left him with no fears other than spiders, saying: "I'd jump from an aeroplane, skydive, and jump off cliffs.
"I've done all of it at work so I'm sure I'll be fine up in Scotland.
"I'm also used to working in teams and every day I'm in groups, whether they are big or small, trying to solve tasks, bouncing off each other."
When asked how he would feel if he was chosen as a traitor, he replies by saying he'd be happy and wants to take on that role "so bad" adding that he feels he has a Jekyll and Hyde in him.
"Monday to Friday, I'm a corporal and as soon as it hits Friday, I'm just Harry and I don't want to think about work for the weekend."
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
Luckily for LCpl Clark, his wish comes true and he is chosen as a traitor.
Before the show started, the soldier revealed his game plan if he were to get chosen as a traitor, saying: "I'm going in there to win it, especially as a traitor – I've already thought of how I would have handled situations from the last series.
"I've thought of everything. It sounds so bad, and I feel guilty already, but at the end of the day it's a game."
However, when it comes to being a traitor, the engineer doesn't plan on being a team player.
He said: "When I'm playing as a traitor, I'm playing for myself 100%, whether the traitors are a group or not, I'm playing as the ultimate traitor."
Despite having to play the game as a traitor, LCpl Clark says he will bring a lot of laughter and happiness to the show and promises to be himself.
He feels confident he'll be able to approach anyone and "chat someone's ear off" and is described by his mum as "the clumsiest but smartest guy she's ever met".
LCpl Clark describes himself as a "big morale person", especially when it comes to his role as an engineer, saying: "Even though it's Monday, it's a step closer to Friday, do you know what I mean? I'm one of those people."
Who is The Traitors' Jonny Holloway?
Meanwhile, British Army veteran Jonny isn't chosen as a traitor and so plays the game as a faithful, a role he has prepared for and something he feels will be a more "chilled" experience.
He said before the show started: "I'm an observer, I would try and figure people out.
"I'm intuitive as well, I kind of just have a... feeling sometimes and nine times out of 10 it's right.
"Being a faithful is a completely different ballgame... you have to be continuously observing and also being careful about what you say to people as well."
Veteran Jonny's left leg was crushed in Afghanistan on 5 March 2014 when the vehicle he was in hit an improvised explosive device and his team was ambushed by the Taliban.
Since the life he knew ended "in a bang", Jonny has been dealing with intense mental and physical challenges.
In an Instagram post he wrote in March 2020, marking six years since the attack, Jonny spoke of how life hadn't been easy.
The veteran had his left leg amputated and was left with severe PTSD that left him unable to leave the house alone for two years.
He said: "I try my hardest to get on with it and hide behind a smile but if truth be told problems don't become easier... you have to become stronger.
"Every day I have to force myself to be a little bit stronger otherwise the nights get longer and the days get harder."
He adds: "If we dwell on our problems it will affect many people but if we own our problems and get on with them you will inspire many more and help more people than you realise."
The veteran, who has a tattoo above his amputation point that says "kaboom", wanted to appear on The Traitors because he misses the challenge of military life since becoming a civilian.
He says: "I'm definitely lacking in those sorts of adventures and that sort of mindset from being in the Army, there's an excitement to it. It's about getting myself out there.
"I've got two young kids, and it would be nice to make them proud as well."
The father of two says he will be an enthusiastic team player but adds that he is "quite hyper" and clumsy, plus, as is the tradition in the military, he uses humour to combat the "darkness" in his life.
When asked if he has a good poker face Jonny explains that he has one and developed that skill while serving in the military, saying: "I learnt 'bulls*** baffles brains' – that's my favourite saying.
"I have lived by that and it's so true."
The Traitors continues tonight at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The show will air on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights.
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