Traitors winner locked in feud with co-star gives surprise update

Meryl Williams has opened up on her infamous feud with co-star Maddy Smedley. The TV star emerged victorious from the first series of the BBC game show, which sees a group of Faithfuls work together to try to work out who the Traitors are and oust them from the castle, and shared just over £100,000 with two other finalists.

But viewers will remember that she had numerous spats with fellow Faithful Maddy, and the fiery clashes over their different opinions made up much of latter half of the series that year. Eventually, Maddy wasbanished from the castle before the final and now Meryl has spoken out about her time on the show.

During a chat on Saturday Night with Hayley Palmer, she said when asked about how she coped with the lying and deceit that came her way: "I think I am a good liar and people think that I'm trustworthy. I thought I wouldn't come across as intimidating but then obviously me and Maddy started having our own tiffs with one another. That started in episode six so [her plan] didn't work." It comes after Richard Osman reveals axed Ant and Dec show was 'expensive car crash'.

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But when she was asked how things between her and Maddy are now, she confirmed to Hayley: "We are friends now." Elsewhere in the chat with the presenter, Meryl, who stands at 4ft 2 as a result of her achondroplasia, spoke highly of the casting process when she applied to be on the programme in the first place.

She added: "The one thing I'll take my hats off to The Traitors is the casting. They are incredible, the inclusion they get for both the celebs and our one is incredible. They have between 21 and 75, non-disabled, visually disabled, non-visually disabled - they just ticked all the boxes!"

Prior to finding fame on the show, Maddy actually had experience as an actress but despite that, she later admitted that taking part in the programme was a shock to the system. Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, she admitted: "Yeah, I think it was very intense. I think everyone threw themselves into it.

"So I realised I'm more of a method actor cause I felt like I was on death row, but then I think everything's heightened. So even you as a person, you're like, who was that? Or did I say that? And then each time I was like, oh my God. Very intense."

The intensity of filming The Traitors may have helped in the long run, as Maddy’s acting career has gone from strength to strength after leaving the show. She was a guest star in Call the Midwife last Christmas, playing a pregnant, poverty-stricken mother whose family is evicted from their home just as their neighbourhood is gripped by Hong Kong flu on the long-running BBC period medical drama - and fans were overjoyed to see her back on their screens.

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