What did you do last Saturday night? Have dinner at the Standard, drinks in the Waterworks, settle down with the latest edition of Rye News? Or were you one of the 7.4 million viewers of the final of The Traitors on BBC1?
Not only was this the most successful series of the show so far, watched by an audience of more than 9 million people, but one of its stars is local interior designer, Francesca Rowan-Plowden from Winchelsea.

Seventeen years ago, she became the custodian of Lamb House in Rye, when she moved down from London with her two small children. At the end of her 10-year tenancy, she left as a mother of four and credits the property with igniting her passion for interior design. She’s a champion of Rye and has worked on design collaborations with Marcus Crane and more recently, Ellen Merchant in Winchelsea.

For the uninitiated, what is The Traitors? It’s basically Lord of the Flies as a reality game show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman. Twenty-five players from across the UK, of all ages, backgrounds and professions, are brought to Ardross Castle in the Highlands, where they are cut off from the outside world. It plays with people’s emotions and insecurities by dividing them, pitting them against one another and encouraging conflict, while simultaneously expecting them to work as a team during physical challenges or ‘missions’.
“The missions have been some of the best experiences, just because I was really worried about doing them and whether I would be fit enough or be able to do them and I really surprised myself. They were just so much fun and I really enjoyed being part of a team,” says Francesca.
The Faithful have to root out the Traitors, so there is a constant atmosphere of suspicion. Francesca was designated a Faithful. The elimination, or Round Table, at the end of each day, often the result of catastrophic group-think, becomes less logical and more personal as the number of contestants dwindles.
Because remember there is a prize pot at the end, in this series £94,600, accumulated from their daily missions in the Scottish countryside. Just as Strictly is in fact a popularity competition with dancing, this is a popularity competition with money as its goal.

The brutality of this game is revealed every morning at breakfast, where over an elaborate and ever decreasing table, the group learns which of them was ‘murdered’ the previous night by the secret Traitors. Francesca says she was amazed she lasted so long. “I honestly didn’t think I’d make it past the first day. Literally every day I thought, right tonight I’m going to get murdered or banished and the next day I was still there!”
People’s best and worst traits are exposed as they face malevolent clowns, creepy talking dolls, row across a loch or are trapped in coffins. Francesca’s fear is heights, but she volunteered to be dangled from a helicopter and flown over the forest canopy; truly one of her highlights for me. Another of her great moments was singing backward nursery rhymes down a telephone, which has now become a meme on Tiktok! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, that’s what catch-up is for (episode 8).
Francesca’s game plan was simply to be herself. As the game progressed she became a mother figure, a calm voice, a reliable team player, the star of episode 11 and the undoubted style queen of series 3. This took her all the way to the final, along with four others. She was absolutely thrilled to have got there. “I hoped and hoped I would get towards the end, but I didn’t think I would make it to the final five”.
Then she became one of the last three. “Winning the show would mean so much to me on so many different levels. It would be so lovely for my sons to see me win and to see me doing something different. To prove to them that anything is possible. On a personal level as well, it’s probably one of the greatest challenges I’ve ever taken on, so it would mean a lot to me for my sense of self as well.”
The prize was ultimately shared equally between Jake Brown and Leanne Quigley, both of whom had been Faithfuls throughout the game; if a Traitor had made it to the end, they would have taken the entire pot. “I didn’t really know what to expect,” says Francesca. “I did think it would probably be quite intense, which it was. I didn’t realise I would make such good friends, which has been lovely, and I definitely didn’t think I would get as far as I have. I also underestimated how emotional it can be and how immersive the experience is.”

In a world where we’re constantly shown that being loud, deceitful and hyperbolic is the way to get ahead, it’s comforting to see that in fact, by living up to your nickname, Faithful Frankie, and being kind, caring and patient, you can get just as far.
Great job #faithfulfrankie, you were terrific.
Image Credits: BBC News , BBC .