Harriet Tyce

TRAITORS star and Islington resident Harriet Tyce has become the one to watch after spearheading the banishing of fellow north Londoner Hugo Lodge, who she correctly identified as a traitor in the hit TV game show.

Ms Tyce has swapped Highbury Fields for the rolling hills of the Scottish Highlands and is quickly carving herself out as a shrewd competitor in the castle.

Little do her fellow contestants know that her knack for getting inside the murderous minds of the traitors comes from the fact that she is a well-known crime author who has written four psychological thrillers.

Her debut, Blood Orange, was published in 2019 and tells the story of a high-flying criminal barrister who is dealing with alcoholism and an affair while tackling her first murder case.

The author’s next three books, The Lies You Told, It Ends At Midnight, and A Lesson in Cruelty, follow similarly complex female characters navigating murderous plots. During her fireside chat with Claudia Winkleman at the start of the series, Ms Tyce revealed that her competitive nature had bled into every aspect of her personal life, meaning playing Monopoly at home was no longer an option.

But her career as a crime writer is not the only thing that Ms Tyce is concealing. In fact, her understanding of the legal system comes from spending a decade as a barrister. In an ironic twist, it was Mr Lodge’s admission that he too comes from a legal background that sowed the seeds of suspicion and catapulted his take-down last week.

Speaking to players at the round table, Ms Tyce argued: “It has occurred to me from the moment that I found out that you were a barrister that you would be a prime target for the traitors to take out. You have experience at cross-examination, you’re good at presenting your case and you’re highly articulate.”

“You certainly threw your weight around at breakfast,” she added.

“The speech this morning in the breakfast room – that was the piece that I felt was overacting.”
Indeed, Ms Tyce’s convincing take-down even forced traitor Stephen to turn on his teammate.

“I hadn’t expected to be throwing a fellow traitor’s name around this early in the game.

“However, Harriet jumping in the way she did with such an eloquent monologue, it meant that I could only take one path,” he later said.