Claudia Winkleman was “appalled” when her husband Kris Thykier and their children broke one of her major rules at home.
The 52-year-old recently revealed that Kris, along with children Jake, 21, Matilda, 18, and Arthur, 13, haven’t seen any of her television projects. That is despite Claudia fronting some of the biggest shows such as BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing and The Traitors.
However, Claudia told Closer they “broke rank” last year and found themselves sitting down to watch The Traitors. The gameshow left viewers on tenterhooks last year as the ‘Faithful’ tried to suss out who the ‘Traitors’ were or pay the ultimate price – ‘death’.
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The final episode of the last series was said to have been watched by over eight million people as ‘Traitor’ Harry Clark walked away with the £95,150 prize pot. The series returned to screens once more on New Year’s Day.
Addressing her TV rule for her family, Claudia told Closer: “They have not watched me. They’re not allowed.
“Nobody watches anything I do in my house, under strict instructions. Although they broke rank and watched The Traitors and I was appalled.”
While the BBC show has been a hit, Claudia admits she wasn’t sure how the show would be received by audiences. She says she went with the crew to Scotland and “gave it our best shot”.
She believes the psychological aspect of watching players suss out who is lying has really drawn in audiences however. Claudia believes the “dynamics are addictive” and admits she is “completely obsessed” with the show.
While Claudia adopts a cold persona on screen during the show, she admits she becomes close to the players as the game progresses. Some of them, she says, even call her “Aunt Claude” or “Mummy”.
She says it led to one particularly emotional moment when one of the players was banished from this series. She said: “You don’t see it, thank God, but I really cried when somebody was banished this year,” she admits. “I properly cried — it was probably a bit unhealthy. Two of the contestants came out and the three of us were just crying together.”
The Traitors airs on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 9pm on BBC One and on BBC iPlayer.