Scots crime writer Harriett Tyce has said she was scared that appearing on The Traitors could backfire – if she came across like a “numpty”.
The Edinburgh-born barrister turned novelist said she took a chance applying for the hit BBC reality show because she might not have done her books justice.
Tyce, 53, best known for her psychological thrillers Blood Orange and A Lesson in Cruelty, said her books were “meant to be intelligent”.
The writer, whose fifth novel, Witch Trial, set in Edinburgh, has just been published, told the Radio 2 Book Club podcast: “I took part in the show because I love the game.
“I’ve watched it from the start and it is the perfect immersive psychological thriller, so why would I not want to take part?
“But it was a very speculative punt as to whether I’d be any good at it. It was a speculative punt from the beginning – because they had so many applicants – that I might even get on let alone do the books any justice.
“Because the books are meant to be quite intelligent and if I’d gone on and been a complete numpty.”
Tyce kept her true identity under wraps throughout most of her spell in the fourth series of The Traitors, which finished last month.
She used her skills as a barrister and crime novelist to correctly pinpoint Hugo and Rachel as traitors, before revealing her professional background to the group over breakfast in the castle.
Despite being one of the group’s faithfuls, her tactics backfired however as she was banished at the round table, and Rachel went on to share the prize pot with fellow traitor Stephen.
Tyce said she was now enjoying being “Harriet the writer” again after a year of her life dominated by the reality show.
She said: “It’s like a third party avatar that was on the show and gets recognised on the street. I’m still the person that sits in bed in pyjamas making stuff up… You also do need to move on and think about other things.”
Tyce’s new book, Witch Trial, is about a heart surgeon named Matthew, called to jury service on a murder trial of two teenage girls who believe they are witches, after the death of one of their schoolmates in a park in Edinburgh following a ritual that has gone wrong.
She said she had never been tempted to dabble with Ouija boards as a teenager, however, as she was “terrified of it”.
She added: “I did a lot of research and I did get spooked out – I’ve always found that kind of thing quite freaky.
“I don’t know if I believe it’s true. I think I don’t but let’s not risk it. And Ouija boards, I was aware of all the horror stories that came when people had called out the spirits and then not burnt it or whatever.
“Just don’t mess with things, it’s not safe.”
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