Sabotage, Claudia's ire and the chess board is back as things heat up on The Traitors

It started with a cliffhanger and ended with a cliffhanger.

And host Claudia Winkleman was in no mood for messing around.

"Silence please," she barked at the contestants seated at the round table as the banishment vote was split and had to be decided for the first time by chance - or should we say, the Chest of Chance. A dramatic version of flipping a coin, if you will.

Poor Mark Bonnar - an actor punished for overacting - took the high road (perhaps he shouldn't have sung The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond on Wednesday's episode) after the chest he picked was empty. Historian David Olusoga luckily found a protective shield in his.

One fan on X was clearly amused. "Imagine the first time they do this chest's of chance thing and it's over 2 faithfuls," they mused, later joking: "They've literally just made this up behind the cameras."

But it was no laughing matter for the faithfuls, who are now officially the worst performing group of all time on the UK version of the show.

In the first series of The Traitors, it took the faithfuls six episodes to get a traitor. And the game was new. This lot are still on the hunt going into episode seven, with only nine players now left from the original 19. And three of those are traitors. The faithfuls have just three episodes left to catch them.

Once again, the faithfuls were left to mull over another failure.

Claudia sounded genuinely distraught, her voice breaking as she told the group: "You are breaking my heart, you are not getting it, what are you not seeing? You have to open your eyes please."

"I feel that we are disastrously losing this game. And I think it's going to get worse," David added gloomily.

On a lighter note, while we all know someone who fast forwards the challenges when watching on catch-up, there was some real excitement on Thursday night thanks to the return of last season's life-size chessboard and larger-than-life traitor figures. Think Darth Vader after a growth spurt.

Sir Stephen Fry lived up to his brainy reputation over breakfast, by predicting the chessboard was back: "I could be a knight - oh, I already am," he joked. Comic Alan Carr was predictably quick to prick any potential pomposity: "Or an old queen," he quipped.

In fact, Alan continues to relish his role as a traitor with increasing enthusiasm.

When in the turret discussing who to murder next, he asked fellow traitors singer Cat Burns and presenter Jonathan Ross: "Stephen Fry: Shall we just get on with it and kill him? What's a knighthood when you're dead?"

"Brutal," Jonathan replied, and he wasn't wrong.

"Gets easier every time," Alan said later.

"I'm bursting with confidence now... not a single bead of sweat."

But it was comedian Joe Wilkinson who was sent to meet his maker, another faithful put to the sword.

Alan's strategy skills were then put to the test on the giant chess board.

The contestants split into teams, but former rugby player Joe Marler wasn't happy, believing (correctly) that the traitors were all on one team and would know all the answers to Claudia's questions (which the traitors had set).

So some swapping between the groups ensued.

To audible gasps, Nick Mohammed later admitted at the round table that he and Joe Marler had colluded by sabotaging the final round of the chess game so that Nick's team lost. He wanted to protect more faithfuls as he believed there were more traitors in his own team. But that only caused journalist Kate Garraway to be suspicious.

One viewer, posting on X, noted: "Nick has done a faithful sabotage! Unheard of games!"

Speaking of Kate, she also used her profession as a journalist to defend her performance on the show (she was voted the weakest player during the chess game).

"My weakness has become a strength. At last, I've been of use," she joked, explaining that she wasn't very good at the game because she just asked questions and didn't give opinions in her job.

It was also her turn for a fashion moment when she was later spotted sitting at her dressing table in leopard-print pyjamas. Luckily, there was no clash with Jonathan, a man partial to an animal print, who instead opted for a Showaddywaddy-style long checked jacket (if you're old enough to remember them).

Other notable moments on the show included Celia bringing Alan's name up at breakfast.

"I woke up thinking about you..." she told him over a plate of croissants.

"A fantasy?" Alan giggled. Actress Celia Imrie confessed to a crush on Jonathan in a previous episode, so perhaps it's Alan's turn now.

The Big Dog theory reared its head once again - would Jonathan or Sir Stephen be put to the sword?

"I am one of the whimpering hounds it seems - it's either Jonathan or Alan I would say," said Sir Stephen earlier in the day.

They finally seemed to be getting closer to the truth. Or were they?

Joe Marler called Jonathan "the wolf of The Traitors," saying "time's up for Mr Ross."

It was the most tetchy round table so far, as the pressure and frustration mounted.

Sir Stephen stated that traitors don't get as much sleep as the faithfuls do, pointing at Cat. But she said her autism and ADHD meant she "found it a lot more effort to speak".

After much debate, one of the Big Dogs was finally removed. But not the right one (for the faithfuls at least). The knight in shining armour, AKA Sir Stephen, was banished.

Following the show, on the podcast Traitors Uncloaked, Sir Stephen found out who the Traitors were.

"Two big dogs and one small Cat," was his response.

On the losing chess team, Jonathan, Kate, Nick and Lucy are now up for murder. And it will be a face-to-face killing, back at the chess board. Your move, Traitors.