A care manager from Whitby is hoping to win a life-changing amount of cash by triumphing in the new series of hit BBC TV show The Traitors – after being encouraged to apply by his mother-in-law.

In the award-winning reality series, which began on BBC One on New Year’s Day, Claudia Winkleman greets a group of strangers as they arrive at a castle in the Scottish Highlands to play “the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust”, in the hope of winning up to £120,000.

But hidden among them are the Traitors, whose job is to secretly murder their fellow players, without getting caught.

It is up to the others, the Faithful, to try to detect who the Traitors are, and banish them from the game before they become their next victim.

Alex, 29, from Whitby, is appearing on the new series of The Traitors on BBC One

placeholder image — Alex, 29, from Whitby, is appearing on the new series of The Traitors on BBC One

For the lucky ones who survive to the end, they have the chance of winning the life-changing cash. But if a Traitor remains undetected, they will take it all.

Among the contestants is 29-year-old Alex, from Whitby, who has been rewatching previous series ahead of his appearance on the show.

He said: “The first time that I watched the show, I thought the whole concept was so cool. Psychological warfare and a game show.

“I watched it with my mother-in-law and she said ‘I think you'd be really good at this’.

Claudia Winkleman with The Traitors series three contestants

“I mulled it over, watched the second season and had seen that you could apply for the next. And I thought, you know what, I think I'm going to do that.

“I'm quite a funny, silly sort of character that people take at face value quite a lot.

“Some might assume silly equates to being stupid, so I've found that throughout my life a lot of people have maybe overlooked me or underestimated me. That sort of thing in The Traitors could possibly be weaponised almost.

“I think some things will definitely hinder me. Sometimes I cannot help myself but say something.

“I'm always the one that fights for the underdog, I will speak my mind, it’s how my mum brought me up.”

Outlining his game plan, he said: “For me, I think it's just to be observant, trust nobody and catalogue events as you go. Pick up on the things that people say, even early on - remember them in case you need them later.

“I think my broad game plan is to play it a bit stupid and be the nice guy. Try and have a laugh when people get their barriers down and just kind of see what I can pick up even in subtle conversation.”

And what would he do if he won the prize money?

“Me and my wife aren't able to have biological children and it's obviously very expensive to start IVF, so that would be the first thing on the list,” he said.

“I'm desperate to be a dad, I'm just a big kid and just always wanted to be a dad. So that will be first on the list.

“And then just boring stuff: pay off debt, take my family on a holiday, all that sort of stuff. You know, give them a bit of a treat.”

The Traitors continues tonight (Thursday) on BBC One at 8pm.