The Traitors star Joe Marler was “born to play” the game and is “mind-warping” all his co-stars in the BBC show, according to his friend and former England and Harlequins teammate Danny Care.
The former rugby union player has won an army of fans with his feisty performance on the series, in which he originated the “big dog theory” that ultimately eliminated talk show host Jonathan Ross.
Traitor Ross was banished in Wednesday’s episode in a long-awaited victory for the faithfuls.
Ross received six of the eight votes at the roundtable, including two from his fellow traitors Alan Carr and Cat Burns, with the charge against him led by Marler.
Care told talkSPORT that he thought Marler was about to flip over the roundtable when Ross was eventually exposed.
He said: “As soon as he told me he was going in, I said, I reckon you can win it, because he’s born to play that game, he really is, and no one can ever work him out, and now he’s in there with A-list celebrities, and you can see, he is mind-warping them all.
“They have no idea what he’s on about.
“I thought last night it might be the first, round table flip, and I thought he was going to whack Jonathan Ross, which I thought would be incredible, because I’ve seen those eyes before, he was angry.
“He’s doing amazing, we’re all really proud of him, and yeah, he’s smashing it.”
He continued: “He is built different in physical stature and the way he is with people.
“Those pearly blue eyes, they can melt you, but they can also, they can hurt you.
“I’ve seen those eyes before, where he gets angry, and then I’ve seen people get quite physically hurt straight after, so yeah, I was a bit worried for a few of those celebs around the table, but no, he’s also one of the smartest blokes I’ve ever come across.
“He remembers everything, and I think that’s the perfect way to play that game.”
Asked if he thinks Marler’s newfound fame will go to his head and he might forget his rugby friend, Care joked: “He’s already forgotten us, mate. He’s already forgotten us.
“I try and track him down, I get him about once a month for a game of paddle, and that’s about it.”
At the end of Wednesday’s episode, it was revealed that the two remaining traitors will have to conduct their next murder in plain sight.
One traitor will have to toast the player they want to murder while saying: “Parting is such sweet sorrow”, followed by the victim’s name.
The episode also showed comedian Lucy Beaumont get murdered in the first face-to-face killing of the series.
The Traitors continues on BBC One and iPlayer.
