Francesca Rowan-Plowden, well-known around Rye and Winchelsea is one of contestants on the BBC One series The Traitors which began last week. The interior designer, who was once a tenant in Rye’s Lamb House, says she likes to surprise people. The show features 22 contestants competing for a share of the £120,000 prize money. Here’s why she decided to take part – and how she hopes to win.
Why did you apply to be in the traitors?
I watched the second series avidly, and I thought I could do that. I could be quite good at that. I’ve got four sons, and I think they just see me as mum, and that I do interior design – I don’t think they even realise what that involves. I believe they literally think I just plump cushions and hang some curtains. I also entered the competition on a personal level which was I really wanted to challenge myself. I suppose part of me wants to show my sons that anything’s possible.
What do you think you could bring to the show?
I feel like I have a lot of life experience. I trained as an actress and then I started my own interior design business without any training whatsoever. I’ve had to learn to be a very good judge of character. I’ve developed these skills through times of being a single mum, as well as having to work with large groups of people and deal with clients across the commercial, private and residential sector who vary quite a lot. You can always suss out a fibber. If I think someone’s really telling lies, then I will call them out and say, that’s not the case.
I think sometimes people think I’m a ditzy blonde, and that I just make things look pretty. But what I do involves a lot of engineering and architecture. Sometimes people assume I’m one thing but actually there are different layers, and I like to surprise people.
What did you think of the previous series?
It was fascinating. I find people fascinating. With the last series, I enjoyed watching the dynamics and the friendships that formed, but also the betrayals. Watching Harry and Mollie was like watching a really bad betrayal between a lovely young couple. Paul was really entertaining too. He played it very well. At first, I thought, oh my gosh. He’s really like that. Then I realised he was playing a character, so it was quite interesting. Some people expose themselves when they get quite nervous and let themselves down in the game a bit. They probably got banished when they shouldn’t have got banished, but they were flustered. The dynamics of how people react under pressure, I find really fascinating.
Was there anybody that you admired?
I thought Diane had a good game plan because she was firm. She eventually got murdered but she was firm and strong. She wasn’t too quiet, she wasn’t too loud, she was just being herself and got quite far. Paul was brilliant because he put on this villain character, and it turned out he was, in fact, really nice and inside he was laughing. I found them all interesting. Ross, I found interesting because he was playing a nice guy. He got really far and he didn’t seem to be too tactical – quite the opposite from Paul. It’s quite interesting how people get through, some have lots of tactics, and then some, not so. Harry was being massively tactical, but it was just under the radar the entire time, which was, as we all know, a brilliant game plan.
What will your game plan be?
To be myself as much as possible and to read people. I won’t be too loud, but I also won’t be completely quiet. I’m able to read a room and then I get a little bit louder and bubblier as I become more confident. I’m very straight talking as well. I’m not a natural liar. I normally say how it is, and if I have an opinion on something, I will say it. On the other hand, I wouldn’t say anything to offend somebody or hurt somebody. I’m respectful, but it’s just sort of finding a balance and trying to say, “Actually, I don’t think that’s fair”. I think if you’re being massively duplicitous you should do that in a somewhat authentic and sensitive way.
Do you think you’ll be good at the missions, and what do you think you’ll bring to them?
I like problem solving games, like Sudoku. I can run, although I’m not the sportiest of people and I’m not a massive outdoorsy type, so I’m not a serious gym bunny or anything. I do Pilates and yoga, so I think physically, it might be challenging. I’ll give anything a go. I’m not going to admit to enjoying a freezing cold lake, but I’ll do it. I’m not going to say, “Yay. I’m so excited about that!”. But I don’t mind getting my hands dirty.
If you were to be a Traitor, how would you feel about that?
It’s funny, because throughout this process my mind has changed. When I first started, I thought; oh, I’m definitely a Faithful. That’s my nature. That’s who I am. I don’t tell lies. I’m very honest. Then, as the process progressed, I started thinking about it and my mind changed. For example, I’m lying to my kids about what I’m doing, because they don’t know the reason I’m going away. I’ve made up this very elaborate lie and it just gets worse and worse. I think that I’d be quite good at being a Traitor. I’ve found this inner side of myself, and I would do it. No messing around. If I’ve got to be a Traitor, I’m just going to do it. Maybe this has just unleashed an inner deceptiveness in me!
Have you got a good poker face?
I’m good at poker. I once visited a friend in Sheffield, and they had a poker night every week. I’d never played poker before, but I got the hang of it. We played poker and I kept pretending that I had never played it before or still didn’t understand the rules, and I won, and they were livid. I had a royal flush! It was almost like I was infringing on this hardcore poker group. I wasn’t invited back up to Sheffield.
If you were a Traitor, how far do you think you’d be prepared to go to win the game?
Without being really horrible to somebody I would go as far as I needed to go. There’s a little bit of inner ruthlessness in me that has caught me by surprise.
If you’re Faithful, what will your game plan be?
I will observe quite a lot. In a previous series the ones that were quiet got quite far. The ones who were asking a lot of questions got murdered quickly. I think you’ve got to read the room a bit and distinguish between the strong characters and the quieter people and find out where you fit into that. If I was a Faithful, I’d befriend people as much as possible so there’s a bit of teamwork and understanding of who you might think that the traitors are. But if I suspected someone as being a Traitor, I might befriend them a little bit to get to know them. If I thought they were lying, I’d call them out.
Do you think you’re good at spotting a liar?
Yes, I am. I have spotted a few in my time, and I’ve not been wrong. But these aren’t people who are taking part in The Traitors and those who are might be very good liars, so I don’t know. I think in everyday life, it’s probably easier to spot a liar than in a game like this. But generally, I can tell when someone’s lying. I know someone who slightly flares their nostrils when they lie and I can tell when kids are lying because they do funny things with their eyes, or they change the subject. Others twitch a little bit. There’s often just something in a person’s eyes or their facial expressions which means you can tell that there is a bit of a porky going on somewhere.
If you were a Faithful, what qualities do you think you would need to get yourself to the final?
Holding your nerve. I think Jaz was really interesting, because he held his nerve, and he stuck with his game plan and to his convictions. He knew when not to say things and when to say things. I think that’s a really good skill to have. Reading the room and kind of knowing the right timing is the best thing. You’re Faithful, but you can be murdered at any point so even if you think you know who the Traitors are, you shouldn’t try and get people’s backs up too much so that they want you murdered. Perhaps you shouldn’t be too inquisitive or domineering so people don’t think they’ve got to get rid of you. I think that was what happened with Diane in the end. She was being too firm and was getting too close to the bone.
If you were to win, what would you do with the prize money?
I would put it towards my boys, who are the motivations of my life. When I was a single mum, I had a difficult time, and then people started to say, “Oh, I like the way you’ve done your house. Can you come and do my house?” The requests kept coming and soon I was designing for stately homes and hotels. So it was a strange experience, but I was to able build a business and provide for my kids, and that’s always been my motivation. Although, I would quite like a nice handbag!
Image Credits: BBC , BBC/Studio Lambert .