We’re obsessed with The Traitors so have turned our home into the experience
WITH the launch of series four pulling in a massive 7.5million Brits, it’s fair to say Traitors-mania is in full swing across the UK.
Sweeping success breeds superfans – and they can now live the show out for themselves in a new experience in a UK seaside town.
James and Lindsey Gordon, from Whitstable, are also Traitors fans who have taken their obsession to the next level – by converting their family home into a traitorous lair.
Called House of Deceit, it’s a fully immersive nod to the nation’s newfound love of game shows that play on psychological competition and high-stakes deception.
The experience? A two-night, fully hosted stay where guests take over the large coastal house for secrets, strategy and suspicion.
Lindsey told The Sun: “When we moved to Whitstable, we thought we wanted a semi-detached suburban newbuild to accommodate our growing family.
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“But the estate agent kept driving us past an imposing 1930s house that happened to be up for sale.
“I couldn’t take my eyes off it; it was so grand.”
The former care home had been closed for years – but it was too tempting for the couple who ended up buying the house.
She continued: “Since we began restoring it, we’ve uncovered original fireplaces, beautiful tiles and wooden floors.
“With nine en-suite bedrooms and lots of social space, it feels as though the house has been waiting to welcome new guests all this time.”
She said she even learned more about the house along the way, adding: “It was first built for the local doctor and his surgery before it became a care home, so by all accounts was full of mischievous, eccentric characters.
“It still has a sense of mischief – there are bumps in the night and we’ve heard giggles and laughter come from empty rooms.
“We can’t explain it, but the house is so big and eerie, it’s hard not to wonder if some of the residents ever truly left.”
Buying a big house and doing it up is one thing, but adapting your family home into a real-life murder and deception game is quite another.
For James and Lindsey, it transpires this pretty unusual path unfolded for them naturally, through a series of events that led to a bit of an epiphany.
“Last year, I was looking after my mum who had some health issues,” James explained.
“We became addicted to Celebrity Traitors and made sure we watched every episode together.
“We really bonded over the treachery and backstabbing, which became our special time together.”
It was this combination of connection with his mum through sneakiness and scheming, then finding out that their sprawling coastal home was potentially haunted that caused the penny to drop for James.
“We all love to watch villains on TV,” he said.
“You can trace this way back to Nasty Nick in the first Big Brother. And who didn’t get a kick out of watching Alan Carr embrace his evil side in Celebrity Traitors?
“One day it just clicked – just like the TV shows, we could give people permission to be wicked for a weekend, but in real life; our spooky house has the kind of atmosphere you can’t fake and you don’t need cameras when the guests are the show.”
Riding the wave of the country’s love of deception games, House of Deceit taps into this same appetite, but with an exciting format that will naturally chop and change with each different set of guests.
A fully designed world, led by the suitably sinister ‘Lady of the
House’, bedrooms, gardens and communal spaces all play a role.,
And with challenges, twists and revelations all woven into the stay, it promises to be as tense and theatrical as it is surprising and funny.
“Being stuck together in a creepy, creaking house is the basis for all great murder mysteries,” said James.
“Once you’re in the game, you can’t simply leave, which makes this
a very real experience – it’s actually immersive, rather than just claiming to be.
“Our guests will arrive good-natured and polite towards each other, but we’ll put them to the test and those masks will slip.
“When you discover that your kind aunty Rita has been bumping off
her family members while lying to their faces all weekend, will you ever be able to look at her the same way again?”
House of Deceit has been designed for birthdays, celebrations, team-building, and private get-togethers, with preview dates currently available at a reduced rate before the full launch in March.
The experience is suitable for up to 15 guests, who can all stay in the house.
For the two nights it costs a total of £2,495, making it around £166.34 per person for two nights (so £83.17 per person, per night).
And included in this price is your stay, the hosted game, use of the hot tub, three meals a day prepared by local chefs and a decent amount of wine.
If you want to test out being a Traitor yourself, there is also The Traitors immersive experience in London.
Plus, there’s a Traitors-style Scottish hotel owned by major sports star.