The 37-year-old fully embraced his role as a Traitor, leading to TV appearances on Celebrity Mastermind and an episode of the Celebrity Antiques Road Trip with fellow series two contestant Harry Clark.

Reflecting on his journey since leaving the show in an interview associated with Freebets.com, Paul said: “The year that I’ve had has been absolutely insane.

“You don’t expect anything coming out of the show and just want to give it your all. I always said if I’m picked to be a Traitor, then I’ll be one of the biggest villains that TV has ever seen.

“When I came out from the show, I honestly didn’t expect so many people to have watched it. And I didn’t expect the following that I got and the attention that I received afterwards.

“It’s been incredible. I got invited to go on Celebrity Mastermind, which I ended up winning. But even just to be sat in that chair, or being at the BAFTAs, and doing the Antiques Road trip with Harry made me think; ‘What is happening here?’

“I have no idea how I managed to get to this level, so it’s amazing and I’m so grateful for it. And watching the season three bunch go through it as well makes me so excited for the year that they are going to have.”

Kate Waldron and Paul Gorton attend the BAFTA Television Awards 2024 (Image: Alamy)

Paul, who is originally from Sutton, St Helens but now lives in Hale, revealed that his pathway to treachery on The Traitors began roughly 15 years ago when he suffered the ignominy of leaving Channel 4’s Deal or No Deal with a mere 10p.

After recounting that experience on Joe Wilkinson’s and David Earl’s Chatabix podcast, he was persuaded to sign up to the BBC reality TV show.

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“I went on a podcast called Chatabix after they tweeted something out like; ‘Has anyone been on a rubbish TV show or something like that. If so, do you want to talk about it?’.

“So, I tweeted them saying I’d love to come on and talk about Deal or No Deal. I went on and spoke about it for an episode, which was about an hour.

“Normally they get people to come on once, and that’s it; they’ve had their fill. But then they asked me to come back, and made me a regular guest. I had probably done something like a year’s worth of episodes when they said; ‘You should apply for The Traitors, you’d be amazing and win it’.

“I’d never seen the show, so I thought I’d go and apply. I then watched it and fell in love with the show.
The Traitors is presented by Claudia Winkleman (Image: BBC / Studio Lambert) “I also thought I could do a lot more than what these guys are doing and really push the boundaries. Then I got to the auditions and initially pulled out six weeks before filming because my lung collapsed.

“I had a bad football injury. I called them and I just said; ‘Listen, I’m not going in the show’.

“But they basically said; ‘Let’s see what the doctor says. We’re going to give you a couple of weeks’ grace and see how you get on’.

“I managed to get myself fit and healthy, allowing me to take part in the show.

“The first bit of exercise I did after my lung collapsing was during the lake mission. I must have swum miles in this lake, and you see me feeling my ribs and lungs off camera at the back, just to make sure I was still alive.”

Paul was considering adopting an Irish accent on the show and has explained in more detail about wanting to become a character similar to Patrick Bateman from the novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis.

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And while he may have successfully channelled his inner Bateman, he concluded that taking on an Irish accent may have been a step too far.

Series three of the show is currently airing (Image: Euan Cherry/BBC/Studio Lambert)

“I always said that if I get picked to be a Traitor, then I’m going to be this really villainous sociopath,” he explained.

“I wanted to be like Patrick Bateman. I was reading American Psycho on the train on the way up to Inverness for the show.

“He was this affable, charismatic person in the day that everyone would trust before he kills people at night.

“I was then going to go one step further, changing my name and backstory. Part of that was doing a different accent, and one from southern Ireland.”

He also quipped a cheeky dig to series three contestant Charlotte Berman, who is taking on a Welsh accent in the show despite being born and raised in London.
Have you been hooked by The Traitors? (Image: BBC / Studio Lambert)

“I would say that my southern Ireland accent is better than Charlotte’s [Berman] Welsh.” Al final, pensé que estaba mordiendo más de lo que podía masticar. “Entonces, simplemente pensé; ‘En realidad, vamos a entrar allí y ser un psicópata'”. Tras su éxito como una estrella de televisión en ciernes, ¿Tiene Paul planes de renunciar a su trabajo diario como gerente de socios comerciales en Vodaphone? “Han sido brillantes en todo el asunto”, agregó. “No tengo planes de renunciar a mi trabajo; soy de una familia de clase trabajadora que todavía está repartida por St Helens, así que no parece sensato renunciar por una de las industrias más volubles que existen.” “Vodafone ha sido increíble porque me dieron tiempo libre, pero también ha funcionado a su favor también. Pueden decir; ‘Paul de The Traitors puede venir a tu oficina’, lo que ayuda cuando tienes a alguien trabajando en ventas. Sigo bromeando que nunca he tenido tanto éxito desde que soy un mentiroso en la televisión.” Luego se centró en la vida familiar de Paul y en la esperanza de que su aparición en The Traitors anime a sus hijos a creer que todo es posible y a perseguir sus sueños. “Charlie ya me ha visto en The Traitors, pero solo tenía dos años en ese momento, así que no entendía realmente lo que estaba pasando. Pero me estaba viendo y se reía y Kate [Waldron – esposa de Paul] también se reía. Así que espero que mis hijos me vean y se den cuenta de que no deben escuchar a nadie que les diga que no pueden hacer algo. Porque siempre me decían; ‘Oh, no, no puedes ir a hacer esto, no puedes ir a hacer aquello’ y he hecho un punto en la vida para demostrar que están equivocados. Quiero que se den cuenta de que si quieren salir en la televisión, pueden hacerlo absolutamente. Y luego, si te eligen para hacer algo, asegúrate de dar lo mejor de ti. Si dices que vas a ser el mejor futbolista del mundo, entonces absolutamente ve y hazlo, y ve qué sucede. No tengo ningún arrepentimiento de mi aparición en The Traitors. Estuve allí durante ocho episodios, puse mi sello y es encantador que la gente siga hablando de mí hasta el día de hoy. Así que sí, 100 por ciento lo verán correctamente cuando sean mayores. También me verán ganar Celebrity Mastermind. Creo que lo tendré en repetición.”

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