This piece contains spoilers for The Traitors.

There’s no doubt in our minds that Minah Shannon was the perfect choice to be made a traitor on BBC’s The Traitors. The 29-year-old has carried season three on her back, charming close friends with her doe-eyed sincerity by day and plotting their murders by night – and somehow surviving all of Linda’s faux pas along the way. Minah herself admitted: “It was the role I was born to play.” 

Yet, last night (Wednesday 22 January), Minah’s incredible game came to an end when her fellow traitor Charlotte betrayed her. 

The call centre manager was the perfect assassin, flying largely under the radar and being cautious when voicing her opinions (but still vocal enough when she needed to be). She was ruthless and tactical, but emphatic and (mostly) loyal to her sisterhood of traitors. 

As we all recover from the shock of her banishment, mere days away from the finale, here’s a look back at Minah’s best moments. 

A major part of Minah’s appeal was that she absolutely revelled in the experience of being a traitor. Not only did she love living her double life, but she delighted in picking who to murder every evening. “I have got no trouble murdering anybody any night,” she said.

When that privilege was revoked, Minah was sad: “Is anyone else really upset that we’re not killing anyone tonight? I feel like we’ve been robbed. I feel we work hard every day for that to be our reward.” Iconic. 

Something that always seems to fly under the radar on-screen on The Traitors is the outlandish spelling of people’s names at the roundtable.

But Minah wasn’t standing for it. When Anna first put Minah’s name on her board, Anna began by acknowledging her error (“Sorry about the spelling, first of all”). Minah looked on, baffled by Anna’s misspelling of ‘Meina’.

Later, in the most recent roundtable, Alexander voted for Minah. Quick as a flash, she said, “You’ve missed an H from my name,” after seeing “Mina” written on his board. He looked aghast and immediately changed it, saying: “Not me as well. I’m really sorry about that.”

Minah’s co-stars all commented on her acting skills when she was banished, but nothing captures this more perfectly than that reveal at the death match.

After the intense four-player game was done, Fozia Fazil was left to meet her murderers, as Minah and Linda arrived and revealed their identities.

Minah looked deadpan at Fozia as she read her final order: “Fozia, you’ve been murdered.” It was a Mission Impossible-level double identity reveal.

With all her talk of the sacred sisterhood, Minah was the first to break down the original trio when she jumped on the bandwagon and voted off Armani.

Naturally, Linda couldn’t hide her shock at the betrayal, but Minah, with all the sincerity of a traitor, apologised to Armani as she delivered another Oscar-calibre performance to save herself from future suspicion.

While Linda was terrified about what this meant for her future, Minah said, “I’m not trying to go against the sisterhood, but she was sinking!” She then added: “What have I become?”

Arguably, Minah’s best moment throughout the series was her reaction to Dan’s betrayal at the roundtable.

In the previous challenge, each blindfolded player was marked for a dousing in gunge by two other players, and they had to figure out who it was. Minah asked her two closest allies, Dan and Leanne, if it was them, but they both denied it… even though it was them.

Leanne couldn’t live with the guilt and confessed to Minah, leaving her distraught by Dan’s betrayal. Never has a traitor called out the hypocrisy of a faithful with such emotion as Minah did at that round table.

“I see you as one of the very few people I trust, like 100%, and I looked you in the eye and… I said, ‘Dan, do you promise me it wasn’t you…’” she said, voice shaking, struggling to hold back her tears. “Let me finish, as that’s actually really upset now.

“It makes me feel really uncomfortable… I don’t care why you picked me, but I just think it’s weird that this has all happened and you’ve not said.” 

The break in her voice. The tears in her eyes. It was a true masterclass in being a traitor. Future traitors take note. 

Minah’s self-awareness and candid omissions to the camera throughout the show made it all the more enjoyable to watch. 

“I didn’t expect lying to feel so easy to me,” she admitted after defending herself to her friends and promising she was a faithful. “I’m a psychopath!” she said later. 

No, Minah – you’re a winner. You were robbed!

Minah’s honesty with her fellow traitors was admirable, especially with Linda. As the former opera singer’s name became more prominent on her final day, Minah briefly spoke with Linda and the duo agreed that if it looked like Linda was being voted out, Minah should vote her too.

Her dedication to Linda, even though she was potentially the most obvious traitor in history, was truly admirable. She said at the end: “Linda literally was the sisterhood until the actual end.” 

Sometimes there’s nothing more satisfying to watch than someone stirring the pot, but Minah got slightly more than she’d bargained for in the chess game.

As Minah and Charlotte deliberated about who was the most ‘two-faced’ of the group, Charlotte suggested they chose Minah’s close friend Leanne to add some “fieriness” to the challenge.

Minah agreed it would “cause drama” and they went forward with their plan. Yet, Leanne was “instantly fuming” and asked: “Anybody want to explain?”

With genuine terror on her face, Minah acted as if her life depended on it, before telling the camera: “Honestly, the colour drained out of me. I was… I can’t speak.

“Genuinely, there was panic running through my veins, she was angry.” Just deliciously savage. 

Yes, Minah’s faith in Charlotte and the sisterhood did eventually lead to her downfall, but yesterday’s roundtable was another major moment in her story.

In episode 10, Minah knew she only needed four votes, so she mapped out her plan with Charlotte before telling the camera: “I know Charlotte has my back.”

Yet, when it came to the roundtable, Charlotte, who cast the final vote, betrayed her. 

“I cannot believe it. I really hoped that Charlotte would have had my back,” Minah told the camera. Before she added with a sly smile: “I’m disappointed by that. You take them under your wing and they do you dirty.”

There’s a true art to an exit on The Traitors, especially for the secret assassins. Think Paul’s bow or Linda’s double-bluff. 

Once again, Minah went with her best tactic for her exit speech: sincerity. She said: “I’m rooting for every single person. I love you all and it’s nothing personal.

“I am and have been from the start, a traitor.” 

Cue big smiles, faithfuls leaping out of their seats, jaws on the floor. That’s how it’s done, Minah! 

Images: BBC