While the first series of The Celebrity Traitors draws to a close, a previous iteration of the show is producing all sorts of intrigue off the screen.
The Traitors Series 2 star Charlotte Chilton has long claimed that her daughter, Penelope, was fathered by singer Conor Maynard, 32, following a one-night stand.
Since her original claim, there have been multiple paternity tests, leaked DMs, interviews, and a series of online back-and-forths.
Now, on the eve of the latest series’ finale, a second potential father has been identified - one of Charlotte’s Series 2 castmates.
Here, we break down the entire scandal.
In June 2024, Charlotte Chilton revealed that she was pregnant and claimed the child’s father is singer Conor Maynard.
Chilton and Maynard, both 32, had met at Raffles hotel in London for a Traitors after-party organised by winner Harry Clark, whose girlfriend, Anna, is Maynard’s sister.
Charlotte claimed Conor Maynard had since blocked her, saying he “doesn’t want anything to do with it”.
On social media, Charlotte explained: “I’m not prepared to have my daughter have to grow up and not be able to say who her father is, or should I say, birth father, or hide it from her”.
“She deserves to know where she comes from. I’m not a secret, she’s not a dirty secret. I won’t be silenced,” she added.
Chilton described it as a “miracle” pregnancy, saying she had seven miscarriages and numerous failed rounds of fertility treatment with her ex-wife before her daughter’s birth.
Penelope was born in October 2024, and in March of this year Maynard took a paternity test.
Posting on Instagram on March 14th, Maynard wrote: “Earlier this week, I took a paternity test regarding Charlotte Chilton’s baby girl, Penelope, in the presence of her legal representative.
“Today I’ve received the test results which confirm that I am not Penelope’s father.
“I am glad that the speculation can finally be put to an end. All I would ask is that people act with kindness in response to this news – there is a child at the heart of all of this and that should not be forgotten.
“I wish Charlotte and her family all the best.”
That would appear to have put an end to the matter - but it wasn’t to be.
In May, Maynard went on This Morning to promote his new single, and discussed the row with hosts Alison Hammond and Paddy McGuinness.
Maynard said, “It was difficult to remain silent. I instantly was painted as a deadbeat dad and that kind of thing and all of my comments across all of my social media, was very much all about that.
“Instinctively you want to defend yourself and you want to tell your side of the story but I also felt like it wasn't right to speak on it until I knew the truth myself.
Meanwhile, Charlotte had doubts over the accuracy of the DNA test, and her and her legal team looked into making Maynard take a second test.
Charlotte said that the first test’s location was changed at the last minute, and claimed that an 'unidentified male was present' when Maynard's DNA sample was collected.
As a result, in August, Maynard took a second test.
This time, the test was carried out in a Ministry of Justice-accredited facility chosen by Charlotte, and once again the test results confirmed that Maynard was not the father.
Both parties released statements following the verdict.
A statement issued by Charlotte’s representatives at Thinking Hat Media read: “We would like to address the story published in today’s Sun, confirming Conor Maynard is not the biological father of her beautiful daughter, Penelope.
“For those of you who have followed Charlotte’s journey since her appearance on BBC’s The Traitors, will know she has fought an extraordinary battle for truth and justice with heartfelt conviction.
“We are forever grateful to everyone who has shown unwavering love and support to Charlotte over the past 12 months.”
The statement added: “Charlotte will now take time to process, heal and reflect and when she is ready, she will finally share her story in full.”
Maynard posted on Instagram: “Today I received the results of a second paternity test, which was requested by Charlotte regarding her baby girl, Penelope.
“As with the last test, this test has confirmed again that I am not Penelope's father.
“As Charlotte requested, Penelope's, Charlotte's and my DNA were all taken at a Ministry of Justice accredited DNA testing facility that was selected by Charlotte. The results are therefore conclusive.
“This has been difficult for me and my family, and I'm so grateful for everyone's support. I'm glad we can now finally draw a line under this.”
So, that’s the end of the story, surely.
Nope!
In September, Maynard fired another dig at Charlotte while promoting his new music.
Maynard decided it was his turn to have a say on their paternity test row, posting a video on Instagram telling fans it is: “My turn on the mic.”
Maynard was shown surrounded by microphones in a fake press conference, with journalists clamouring to fire questions at him.
One asks “Roughly how much did you pay to change your DNA?”, while another holds a photo of a baby with Conor's face plastered over the front, shouting, “Come on, the baby looks just like you!”
But even following the second paternity test, Charlotte has continued to maintain that Maynard must be the father.
In an interview last week, Charlotte said: “I have researched and researched trying to find the answers because I know for a fact that the only person who can be my daughter’s father is Conor Maynard.”
Now, Charlotte is claiming that the DNA tests were negative because of a rare medical condition called chimerism, a rare genetic condition that can cause people to have two genomes, or sets of DNA.
Chimerism typically doesn’t carry signs or symptoms, with most having no idea they have a second genome.
After speaking to experts, Charlotte believes it may have been she was initially carrying twins before losing one early in the pregnancy.
She said: “Strange genetics come into play which means that a twin could have taken certain DNA so her father could never show up on a paternity test.”
“That’s why I keep thinking, was Penny a twin or something, because twins can make a difference to the paternity result and there are generations and generations of my family with twins,” Charlotte added.
Despite the doubts, Charlotte said that she is determined to get to the truth, reiterating Penelope’s likeness to Maynard and stating that the day they slept together was Penelope’s conception date.
In response, Maynard again took to Instagram on Monday evening, reacting to a clip from Charlotte's interview.
Maynard captioned his response: “Responding further to the recent news.. at this point I feel like I’ve been left with no choice.”
Maynard said: “I don't and have never wanted to expose or air out someone's private matters but surely you guys have to understand that there comes a point where I have to defend myself.”
He added: “I can understand that with Charlotte saying it can only be me, ‘It can only be Conor, Conor is the only person it can be’, that a lot of you are going to be looking for your own explanations as to why two separate court accredited DNA tests showed that I am not the father.
“You're going to be looking at rare medical biological cases of someone that carries two sets of DNA. You're going to be thinking, ‘Oh Conor must've paid off these multi-billion-dollar DNA testing companies.’
“I don't have that much money, believe me, that would be great but I don't,” he said.
Maynard also detailed a private message he had received claiming that Charlotte had slept with a fellow Traitors star.
He claimed the message was from Lauren Ward, the ex-wife of Jonny Holloway, and suggested her co-star could be Penelope’s real father.
The DM read: “He told me he slept with Charlotte around the same time as yourself / she fell pregnant.”
Charlotte responded in kind, dismissing Maynard’s claims by sharing a photo on her Instagram Story with the text: “You ever heard a rumour about yourself and actually wanted to hear more.
“Like damn... what did I do next?”
Now Jonny has had his say, swiping back at his ex-wife and addressing the claims.
He posted a video with the caption: “Imagine waking up to finding out your ex wife is spreading rumours about you when you split up before the traitors started filming.”
He went into more detail in the video, saying: “Oh hello, it's Jonny Holloway. Imagine waking up when you are in the middle of moving house from a separation that happened before The Traitors started filming that your ex-wife is insinuating you're cheating on her.”
Charlotte has had her say as well, denying she has ever slept with Jonny.
Charlotte said to The Sun: “There has never been anything romantic. We have had a friendship. But there has never been a relationship between me and Jonny. We were not sleeping together in January at all. It never happened.”
She also detailed how Maynard had sent her a cease and desist, preventing her from saying “anything about a number of accusations”.
That bring us up to date, but what further twists and turns are to come in this saga?
One thing is for sure - there’s just as much drama and intrigue here than will be on our screens this Thursday evening for the current series’ grand finale.
