BBC The Traitors Brian: I don't want people to hate Paul

Brian Davidson was the second person voted out of series two of the BBC reality show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman. 

In a nail-biting round table 'banishment', he managed to inadvertently raise the suspicions of the group – despite being a 'faithful'. 

The 33-year-old told our sister title The Herald: "The pressure's so high on you and a lot of personal things were said. Or things that I took personally, kind of hit a nerve. 

"People saying my nervous energy – that's what I'm like. It kind of hit my insecurities. I was like 'och, that can't be my downfall, surely?'"

Brian Davidson was banished from The Traitors series two (Image: BBC / The Traitors)

Brian, who stays in Glasgow's Southside but is originally from Perth, was voted the most likely to be a 'sheep' in a challenge – and he has since got a commemorative sheep tattoo.

He said: "It kind of bothered me in the sense my name was out there. My game plan was to not get mentioned at all about anything, just so I could fly under the radar. 

"But then I think that threw me under the bus by putting it in my head that I had to be more talkative. If that hadn't came up in the mission, I maybe wouldn't have jumped in at the end to try and find a different angle to find a traitor."

Brian describes the round table scenes as the "hardest bit" of the show, which is partly filmed in Ardross Castle near Inverness. He said: "It was like sitting at a dysfunctional family dinner, it was horrible". 

And the photographer said his outbursts at the second banishment were an attempt to make people laugh.

"But I think my name would have got brought up anyway. I kind of wanted to bring it up so I didn’t look like a sheep that was trying to blend in. I was like, I’ll talk and I’ll be confident."

Looking back, if he did it again Brian said he would try and control his emotions and not speak out so much. 

He said: "In the moment I was like 'am I going to do it, or amnt I?' because I'm taking a gamble here if I shout out. But maybe I shouldn't have done that.

"I should have just followed my initial tactic of following the crowd and writing down who everyone else was going to write down and saving myself. It threw me off and that's why I went awry."

Brian was one of the few contestants to vote for Paul Gorton, a formidable traitor who has so far managed to avoid much suspicion and skilfully manipulate events to his advantage. 

Paul Gorton on The Traitors (Image: BBC / The Traitors)

He said: "He was one of the people I was really close to and he knew what I was like. Very energetic and jumping about. And he didn't stand up for me. 

"So, I was like, 'a trait of a traitor would be to sit back and let chaos ensue' because that means everyone's going to lose control and start voting for each other. I thought, are you sitting back and not jumping in to defend me because you don't mind if I go because you're safer now?

"That's why I voted for him, but I just didn't have the conviction behind it. I should have just went ‘you didn’t stand up for me so I find that quite strange and I suspect you’. Rather than being like Mr Brian, friends with everybody."

Brian also had suspicions of Harry Clark, a traitor who has also gone under the radar. 

He said: "Harry would be a bit nervous when traitors were brought up and played with his rings, but that might just be a nervous thing in general."

Harry Clark on The Traitors (Image: BBC / The Traitors)

One of his closest friends in the show was Evie, a 29-year-old veterinary nurse from Inverness. 

Brian said: "It was like having a friend there. She almost immediately knew who I was and understood me. 

"There was times I would be saying something and she would be like ‘Brian, you don’t need to make a joke right now’. And that’s exactly what my best friends would say."

But who does he want to win the potential £120,000 prize?

“I think if a lot of people won it would make really great TV," Brian said, "If [ secret mother and son duo] Diane and Ross win, that’s a great narrative, or any of the traitors.

"Even if Paul got far because he’s so evil, people would hate him. But I don’t want that for him because he’s just lovely, I like him. He’s playing a good game.

"I can’t wait to watch it. I think I’m going to be flabbergasted. 

The Traitors continues on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.