The Traitors 2025: East Sussex interior designer stars as one of 25 contestants in series 3 of BBC show

The hit BBC drama returned on New Year’s Day for its third season and it had plenty of twists for fans to dig their teeth into.

The Traitors is a psychological adventure competition where 25 contestants are moved into a castle in the Scottish Highlands in order to complete a series of challenges and missions together as a team.

The catch, however, is that among the contestants hoping to win a cash prize of up to £120,000, are three ‘traitors’ secretly lurking and plotting to sabotage their efforts and picking off contestants one by one.

The Traitors first premiered in November 2022 and is hosted by Claudia Winkleman.

Francesca Rowan Plowden, 44, of Rowan Plowden Design in Rye, is one of the contestants taking part.

She said: “I watched the second series avidly, and I thought I could do that. 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.

“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.”

She said she found the last series ‘fascinating’.

Francesca added: “With the last series, I enjoyed watching the dynamics and the friendships that formed, but also the betrayals. 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.”

She added that she aims to be herself as much as possible throughout the series.

She said: “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.”

Francesca said if she was to win the prize money, she would put it towards her sons.

She added: “They 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.”

The second episode of The Traitors is due to air on BBC One tonight (Thursday January 2). It will start at 8pm and finishes at 9pm.