In yet another dramatic moment on The Traitors, Paul Gorton was banished after Thursday’s round table, leaving viewers rejoicing as his ‘reign of terror’ finally came to an end.
Business manager Paul, 36, became notorious on the show for his ‘Oscar-worthy’ acting skills and being unafraid to throw his fellow contestants under the bus, with many comparing him to Big Brother legend Nasty Nick.
While he may have finally been found out and banished a week before the final, it’s undeniable that he is one of the best Traitors ever seen on the show.
Yet Paul has revealed his success was no accident as he has spent years honing skills that ultimately stood him in good stead for the show.
From studying psychopathic traits and behaviour to getting himself comfortable in front of the cameras, MailOnline unpacks all the ways Paul made himself into the ultimate Traitor.
During Thursday’s episode of The Traitors: Uncloaked, Paul revealed that in order to murder the Faithfuls without guilt and get through the round tables unscathed, he had to ‘get into character.’
He explained that he spent every night reading 1991 novel American Psycho about a psychopathic investment banker who lives a double life as a serial killer in order to keep his emotions at bay.
Paul shared: ‘I was trying to get into character the whole time, I was reading American Psycho, I was trying to picture Patrick Bateman. I was just thinking I can’t break character.
‘When the other Traitors went into the interviews they would talk like a normal person, I couldn’t do that so as soon as I went into a normal person I started crumbling so I remained in character.’
Viewers were shocked by Paul’s ability to cry on demand, yet he insisted that his emotions were real, merely the context was different.
Quizzed by Uncloaked host Ed Gamble about his tears at the round table, Paul said: ‘The emotion was real I promise, the son bit. My little boy, I missed him dearly.’
To which Ed quipped in response: ‘You took that genuine emotion for your son and channelled it into something else which is pure Patrick Bateman!’
Paul replied: ‘Yeah, I reframed it, I repositioned it.’
He shares his 21-month-old son Charlie with social media star and former Playboy playmate wife Kate, who he has been with for 11 years.
Charlie and Kate were his driving force for doing the show, as he previously revealed he wanted to win in order to buy a family home.
Asked what he’d do with the winnings, Paul shared: ‘It’ll have to be a house. For myself, my partner, our little boy and our dog – I need to get us all a house.
‘We’re renting at the moment and mortgage rates are just chaos, so if I can win the show or be part of a group of people that win the show then that is life changing for us.’
While Paul may have been channeling the psychotic Patrick Bateman on the show, he was still dubbed one of the most popular contestants by his co-stars due to his personable nature.
This would have been aided by his work as an amateur comic, having previously performed stand-up at the Comedy Store in London.
Speaking about how his comic skills could help on the show, he mused: ‘If I can get comedy in there then I think it’s a really powerful tool to bond people and maybe diffuse situations when they get so tense.
‘Maybe I can be a little bit of a comfort blanket and a distraction in that way. I guess last year there was no one in there that was exactly like me which is a good thing. Hopefully, I can have my own little niche.’
Paul also believed his work in sales would serve as a strength when being a Traitor.
He explained: ‘People think that with a poker face you always have to be stern, be stoic and not show emotion, I disagree with that…’
Paul continued: I think if you can show happiness when you’re really sad or sadness when you’re really happy, those are better qualities…
‘Reading people is another strength that I think I will bring when I go in, because I think I can see it in people’s face when something has changed.
‘I fancy myself here a little bit. I’m in the corporate world and that type of environment happens quite often; where you’re sat in a room and you’re being grilled and you’re defending yourself.
‘I’ve been in that situation quite a few times before. So, I think this is perfect.’
While many of the contestants found themselves crumbling under the pressure of constant scrutiny from their fellow stars, many of them also had to contend with being surrounded by cameras for the first time.
This wasn’t the case for Paul, who once hosted his own TV show in a bid for fame.
He started his long media career fronting Quest for the Backflip on the Extreme Sports Channel way back in 2011.
The four-part series followed the amateur sportsman as he attempted to master the art of doing a backflip on his BMX bike.
Paul is also a regular guest on comedian Joe Wilkinson’s Chatabix podcast alongside comedian David Earl.
A clip of one episode was shared to TikTok which showed Paul first being told of the BBC series after it’s 2022 premiere and was urged to apply after he claimed ‘he’d win’ the show.
He also appeared on Deal Or No Deal with Noel Edmonds in 2010.
Paul was just 22 at the time of filming, unemployed, and was living at his mum’s house in Warrington with his girlfriend.
He hoped the show would land him a modelling deal, as well as potentially a £250,000 cash boost.
However, he came away from the episode with a small fraction of the top prize, a measly 10 pence.
While Paul had all the skills to be the perfect Traitor and make it to the final, he hadn’t banked on fellow Traitor Harry turning on him during Thursday’s round table.
After Charlotte raised her suspicions about Paul, Harry doubled down in a shocking betrayal and managed to convince the Faithfuls to banish him.
Paul has insisted there is no bad blood with Harry and added that he thinks his downfall came weeks before when he decided to go in the dungeon with Ash, which threw a spotlight on him.
He had nominated himself to go in the dungeon, thinking that the Faithfuls would save him as he had been voted the most popular, but they instead rescued Andrew.
Ash was ultimately sent home and Paul came under suspicion for the first time, though managed to evade the round table vote, until Harry brought up the dungeon days later at his shock banishment.
Of the dungeon decision, Paul said on Uncloaked: ‘Such a mistake, I was way too cocky. I was doing this act and this character, and I was like “no we’re going to do this” and I was like convinced this was the way it was going to happen.’
However, he insisted he has no regrets and said he had started to ‘crumble’ at the end of his time in the Scottish castle from the pressure of keeping up his Traitor act.
‘As soon as I went to normal me, I start crumbling, so I remained in character,’ he said. ‘[On the show] I start getting more emotional and sensitive because I can’t keep it up, whereas Harry almost replaced me.’
He added: I’ve absolutely no regrets, I’ve had a lot of love of people online, but I’ve also had the opposite.
‘I’m happy with that because even I’m watching it back going “he has to go, they have to find him, we need to get this guy out, he’s so cocky!”‘
The Traitors airs at 9pm on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday on BBC One and iPlayer
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
