obvious

Rachel Duffy, who was the first female Traitor to win the series, claimed she’d been trained by a former FBI agent prior to going on The Traitors, in order to help her sniff out the deceitful

Rachel Duffy has come clean about the “obvious lie” she told on The Traitors. She claimed that she had “months” of FBI training but has now admitted that this was not completely true.

Whilst on The Traitors, Rachel was one of the original murderous trio who the Faithfuls were trying to catch. As she and fellow Traitor Stephen both reached the end, they took the prize pot, splitting £95,000 between the two of them.

One claim that made Rachel seem more trustworthy to the Faithfuls was that she had completed months of FBI training, helping her notice microexpressions that happen on liars’ faces. She used this claim whenever she was questioned on how she could know with such certainty that Fiona was a Traitor.

READ MORE: Traitors star Faraaz Noor ‘threw away’ £95,750 prize thanks to one terrible decisionREAD MORE: The Traitors winner Rachel Duffy plans to publish fantasy novel after £47,000 prize

But, she has now told The Mirror that this was not the entire truth. “I did one of [the FBI agent’s] training courses, but I did… I obviously lied,” she admitted.

“And so I had said it was a four-month online course… but it was more of like a one-day course on an e-book. But it did help because it gave me something in my back pocket.”

Rachel has also shared that though she has no plans for further reality TV appearances, she is thinking of writing a book. “No immediate plans to go for reality TV. I think I’ve done enough with that one.” she said.

“I think my focus now is on the kids and potentially bringing my book to life. So I’ve written a book, taken 10 years to write it… it’s about murder and lies… a contemporary fantasy novel for young adults all about Irish redheads in a magical forest.”

Family pride in Rachel ran deep according to the proud mum: “My husband was the only one that knew, and he’d never watched the show. So when I told him… he said, ‘that’s great’, and ‘oh, good job’… My little kids watched last night with the family and they just couldn’t get over it.”

Rachel was the first female Traitor to win the series and she and Stephen were the first Traitor pair to win together. Prior winners have either been groups of Faithfuls or a single male Traitor.

The pair’s win largely came down to a pact they made early on. After they both turned on their other Traitor Hugo, they agreed not to dob each other in. That pact lasted all the way to the end.

In the tense final, Rachel repeatedly told Stephen that she would not turn on him but both of them seemed to waver, with Rachel even agreeing with Faraaz to vote Stephen out. But when it came to the roundtable, she and Stephen both got rid of Faraaz instead, whilst he voted for Stephen and Jack voted for Rachel.

Then they both teamed up to get rid of Jack, leaving them as the only two left in the game. As such, they split £95,000 between the two of them.

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A huge pop star was revealed as Goldfish, the lead singer of a group called No Trout, in the launch episode of The Masked Singer as the hit series returned to ITV on Saturday

Anne-Marie was revealed as Goldfish on the launch episode of The Masked Singer. In a first for the programme, the first two episodes will feature a full band, and the panel also had to guess the identity of the lead singer.

After performing as Bruno Marse and Rose hit Apt part of a group called No Trout, the judges correctly guessed the identity of the singer. Following her unmasking, the songstress said: “When I was at school, I had a very short attention span! I’m used to the voice just going that way [in front of me] but in the thing, it was like ‘Oh, that’s what I sound like!” She then gave her first unmasked performance for the studio audience of her signature track 2002.

Fans were thrilled with the star’s appearance, with one writing on X: “Anne-Marie is sooooo good and such a lovely person, that unmasked performance was beautiful!!” But others had guessed it long before the unmasking took place, with one writing: “Knew it was Anne Marie purely by the way she stood” and another said: “Anne Marie was possibly the most obvious unmasking ever. I knew Goldfish was Anne Marie.”

READ MORE: The Masked Singer fans confused as ITV confirms last-minute schedule changeREAD MORE: The Masked Singer’s Goldfish ‘revealed’ as clue ‘gives it away’ they’re huge pop star

Prior to the revelation, Goldfish asked Davina: “How did it feel to be top of the Christmas tree?” and then asked Jonathan: “They say goldfish have a three-second memory. We’ll be the Judge of that!” Mo received: “54x4x10-166+8=X”, and Maya got a text that says: “I heard you became an award-winning billionaire by swimming upstream!”

The equation, which gives an answer of 2002, was possibly the biggest clue yet. The pop track was released by Anne-Marie in 2018, and references the period of time in which music icons like Britney Spears, Jay-Z and N*Sync ruled the charts. Eager fans who had spotted a preview of the series had already guessed who was behind the mask before it even went to air.

Previously, it was claimed that the new format with the bands was a way of keeping viewers guessing.

The Sun reported that a source said: “As The Masked Singer heads into series seven in the UK, bosses are keeping everyone on their toes by upping the ante on clues and throwing in even more unmaskings. “The franchise’s first-ever bands are going to blow everyone’s minds – but viewers will be left scratching their heads as to whether the band is a big clue or not. “The celebrities hiding inside might run solo in their real lives, or they might be part of some sort of group, or could even be exactly what it says on the tin – an actual frontman or woman.

“Viewers are going to be more bamboozled than ever, but it’s going to be lots of fun.” Viewers can expect to see four unmaskings in the first two episodes. Goldfish and Emperor Penguin are extra celebrities on top of the 12-person lineup.

Last year, the programme was won by West End legend Samantha Barks, who had dressed up as Puffer Fish throughout the series’ run. Samantha, who found fame on the BBC’s I’d Do Anything alongside Coronation Street actress Jodie Prenger and then starred in the film adaptation of Les Misérables with Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Eddie Redmayne.

Upon her victory, she said: “I feel like I’ve lived this double life because I’ve had these crazy experiences, but nobody in my life knows [about] this, so I’ve loved it!

“I’ve had the best time, I really have. Underneath the mask, it’s been hurting my cheeks because I’ve been smiling so hard! Thank you so much!”

Samantha, who is also known for having played the lead in the West End production of Disney’s Frozen, had fought off competition from celebrities like EastEnders legend Natalie Cassidy, singer Macy Gray, and Celebrity Trators star Kate Garraway, amongst a host of others.

Other previous stars to have been brave enough to take part in the fun show include Dionne Warwick, Prue Leith, Daisy May Cooper, Glenn Hoddle, Mel Giedroyc, Sir Lenny Henry and Lorraine Kelly.

The Masked Singer, ITV1/ITVX, Saturday 3rd & Sunday 4th January, 6.30pm