The Traitors: Star Ivan Brett reflects on show ahead of appearance at Harrogate game festival

As of a month ago, the UK series, which aired during December, had been streamed more than 28 million times on BBC iPlayer – so it’s perhaps not surprising that games master and author Ivan became a familiar face for many. That recognition is “fading beautifully” now, he says, though his passion for games is still burning strong and next month he’ll be heading to Harrogate to get involved in AireCon, one of the country’s largest analogue gaming festivals.

“I’m obsessed with games, it’s my entire life,” he says. For a number of years, he has planned and run games sessions, turning his passion into a career. The former primary school teacher is also the author of a duo of books, setting out hundreds of games that groups of friends or families can play together.

Entering The Traitors stemmed from that love of games. Before the competition began, he said writing and running games had given him a “huge reservoir of strategies and opportunities – but I’ve never got a chance to try them all out".

He went in with a game plan, but admits that his strategies were soon out of the window. "It was such a strange feeling to be plucked from normal life and live this heightened existence for a few weeks. Getting to know all these incredible people in a highly pressurised environment was so strange but I loved every second of it.

“It was exhausting and I didn’t expect it to be as intense as it was. I had all these strategies going in and I kind of abandoned them pretty quickly because I couldn’t really cope with both trying to be liked and also trying to win the game. I found it overwhelming but I loved it. As soon as I was banished I was angry - not that I didn’t win the money but angry with a feeling of total FOMO (fear of missing out). I was like how dare they carry on with this game without me? I want to be back, put me back in it.”

Ivan, who lives in a cottage in Cornwall with his fiancée and dog, claims he started the game with the position of ‘trust no-one’. Though there were people he later felt were trustworthy, he was wrong about one, who turned out to be playing the role of a traitor. “Because we all knew there were people lying, it laid the groundwork for lying being allowed from the beginning,” he reflects. “Normally in life you have to go around expecting everyone is telling the truth otherwise you’re going to go mad, whereas in this case you have to go around expecting everyone is going to lie. It was strange to adjust to that."

Ivan has recently launched a podcast with two of his fellow The Traitors stars, focusing on different reality TV series including The Traitors US. He wanted to be a faithful when he entered the UK show and he is adamant that he’d choose that role again, should he be given the chance. “I know the chances of winning are higher if you’re a traitor but I don’t think I’d be a very good one. Guilt sits with me really heavily and I think it would affect how I acted. I also love the feeling of being a faithful and trying to work it all out…It’s a really fun process of elimination, data gathering and evidence collection and I love that.”

When Ivan takes part in AireCon next month, a four-day event that includes social games, special guests and exhibitions, he will be running sessions of hidden role game Werewolf, as well as selling his books. A couple of people in the game will be werewolves, he says, who will try their best to ‘eat’ as many of the other players as possible. Everyone else will be trying to get rid of the werewolves. “If that sounds familiar, it is.,” he says. “That’s the origin of the game of The Traitors too.”

Ivan sees play as a safe space to practice and try new skills, though he says that the pressured environment of the castle in The Traitors - coupled with the fear of being eliminated - meant he wasn’t as willing to take some of the risks that he normally would.

“If you are in a playful environment like a game and you know whatever you do there will be no lasting impact, you’re often willing to try new things and try to do things in a different way,” he says. “You can test things out in a game, in a safe space that has been created. And then having learnt, for example, how to improvise in a safe place, you’re more able to think on your feet and take quick decisions when the outcomes are real in real life.”

For a number of years, Ivan has run games sessions for corporate teams, as well as in youth clubs and schools. Now, he hosts them in-house for a technology company based in London. “There’s a strong theory in corporate culture which is that people are taking things too seriously and play can really help with office dynamics and get groups of colleagues working together and learning more about each other,” he explains.

“People in large corporate environments are starting to understand the value of taking things a bit less seriously and the impact is huge if you let it happen. Being a playful person can totally transform your life.”

AireCon 2023 takes place at Harrogate Convention Centre, March 9-12. For the festival programme and tickets, visit www.airecon.co.uk