The Traitors 2 has become the centre of a controversy after allegations surfaced that a contestant may have received information about the identities of the hidden Traitors during the game. Parul Gulati has been at the centre of these claims after some contestants questioned how she was able to make several accurate guesses. Parul has strongly denied having any unfair advantage and called the backlash a “digital witch hunt”. Now, former contestant Abhishek Malhan has added another twist by revealing that one of the 21 production team members assigned as “shadows” to contestants was reportedly removed while the show was being filmed.
During a recent livestream, Abhishek admitted that the allegations shocked him. He said he could not believe that a shadow could have potentially revealed information about a Traitor to a contestant. He said, “When I found out about the controversy that Shadow had revealed who the traitor was, I was like, “Bro, what the hell?” I totally flipped out.” Abhishek explained that he initially wondered whether the entire controversy was simply a publicity stunt. However, after speaking to people connected with the show, he said he realised that the matter was being taken seriously.
Abhishek also revealed that the contestants had heard about one of the shadows being removed while they were still shooting the show. However, he made it clear that he personally did not know which contestant the shadow was assigned to. He said, “First of all, if this has happened, then a major betrayal has taken place against us. Secondly, while we were on the show, we received information that one of the ‘Shadows’ had been eliminated.” He added, “I personally don’t know whose shadow it was. People say it was Parul’s shadow.” His statement has now added more attention to the allegations, although it does not establish that Parul received any leaked information.
The controversy became bigger after Shahneel Gill shared a video on Instagram in which she raised allegations of possible “match fixing”. She explained that every contestant had a production team member called a shadow, who stayed around them during filming and helped with their personal requirements. According to Shahneel, there were allegations that one such shadow may have passed information from the game to a contestant. She did not directly name Parul but questioned how one contestant appeared to repeatedly identify the Traitors correctly.
Shahneel recalled how the contestants initially believed these correct guesses were simply the result of excellent instincts. She said, “Every morning, I have a gut feeling this person is a traitor. Where does this gut feeling come from? I also wanted it. I also wanted such a gut feeling. And boom, it’s correct.” She later added, “We genuinely thought that we were witnessing some crazy sixth sense intuition. Turns out the gut had a source.”
Krystle D’Souza, who was also suspected by Parul during the game, said that receiving information from outside would be unfair to everyone. She said, “It is so unfair on the rest of the 20 contestants, the innocents who want to use their brains to play the game and catch the traitors, and the traitors who are trying to survive and play their game.”
Parul, meanwhile, has rejected the allegations. After her elimination, despite correctly identifying Traitor Harman Singha, she addressed the criticism on Instagram and called it a “digital witch hunt”. She wrote, “This is a circle of shaq all over and guess what, I am INNOCENT, AGAIN!”
The Traitors is built around a simple but tense concept. The Innocents must identify the hidden Traitors, while the Traitors secretly eliminate other contestants and try to remain undetected. The second season premiered on Prime Video in India on August 13, with new episodes releasing every Thursday.
