The Traitors’ breakout star Amanda Lovett is revelling in her newfound status as a gay icon.
Since her time on the BBC One series, the Welsh queen has garnered a dedicated following amongst the LGBTQ+ community for her duplicitous tactics and Academy Award-worthy acting skills.
Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the BBC One series follows 22 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.
Amongst them are Traitors, a group of contestants selected by Winkleman whose job is to secretly murder their remaining players – the Faithfuls – without getting caught and to steal the prize fund for themselves.
Amanda was chosen as a Traitor on the first day alongside Alyssa Chan and Wilfred Webster. Although she gained the trust of her fellow contestants, Amanda was banished from the castle in episode 10 after raising suspicion for backstabbing her close friend Theo Mayne.
Gay Twitter mourned her banishment, with one fan writing: Sorry I can’t come into work tomorrow Amanda got banished from The Traitors and it’s really struck me mentally.”
Another wrote: “When does the ten days of national mourning start to mark Amanda being banished on The Traitors?”
In her first elimination interview, Amanda said on ITV’s Lorraine that she’s “enjoying” all of the attention that comes with being on The Traitors, which has become one of the BBC’s most popular new series of 2022.
“And to be called an icon of the gay community is just absolutely fantastic,” she said of the support from queer viewers. “I am loving the love.”
In a further conversation with the Daily Star, Amanda (correctly declared) “I’m a gay icon!” before revealing that she had to ask two queer co-workers whether holding such a prestigious title was “good”.
“They said, ‘Of course it’s good, you’re a queen, you’re a strong woman!’ I said, ‘Oh I’m taking that, I’m embracing that! Get me a crown!'” she said.
“I love that people are loving me and I love that we’ve made good TV for people to enjoy.”
The Traitors airs its final episode on Thursday 22 December.