The Celebrity Traitors' Amol Rajan and Hannah Fry reveal their tactics to help them in the game

Professor Hannah Fry, 42, and Amol Rajan, 43, can often be found on highbrow TV programmes – documentaries about mathematics, intense political interviews or in the trenches of University Challenge.

But their latest endeavour may test their considerable combined brainpower to its limits, as the pair enter Claudia Winkleman’s castle for the eagerly awaited season two of The Celebrity Traitors. On the eve of their first day in the cut and thrust of celebrity chicanery, they talk strategy, secrets – and why they’ll be playing down their smarts when the knives come out...

Why did you join – are you fans?

Amol Rajan: Oh, my days, I love this show! I’m obsessed with the high gothic camp horror. I’m definitely in love with Claudia. I love the jeopardy, the drama. I have been obsessed for 25 years with games of psychological play, mystery and deduction, so I loved The Traitors from the start, then it turned out there was a Celebrity Traitors and it got even better. Now I’m in it, I’m fully living the dream.

Hannah Fry: I mean, who would ever be given this opportunity and turn it down? Can you imagine? You’d spend the rest of your life being like, “Oh, I was the person who could have gone on The Celebrity Traitors and said no.” I think this will genuinely be one of the most important, amazing experiences of my life.

What do your friends and family make of you taking part?

AR: I’ve told my son, who’s 10. He knows what the show is, and he knows what I’m doing. I’ve not yet told the girls, who are six, four and two. Daddy’s away and they don’t like that very much. My wife has been absolutely amazing. She’s been so kind and supportive. As for friends, my WhatsApps are melting with excitement!

HF: The amount of excitement has been amazing. My kids have known for a while because I wanted to prepare them, and they have loved having this secret, then hearing other people talk about The Traitors in school and knowing we’ve got a family connection to it. It’s very sweet.

Hannah, as a mathematician, are there any skills you can apply to the game?

HF: I’m here to fulfil the nerd quota for the year. Have I gone back through the data of all the previous games and tried to find statistically significant patterns? Yes! Are any of these going to help me? Honestly, who knows! But there is a pattern in the way Traitors behave.

For example, Traitors often do a burn vote in the first few episodes – by that I mean they just vote for somebody that nobody else has voted for. That’s just one example of a little bit of maths that I’ve got in my back pocket. I’m using the same bit of math that Alan Turing used to crack the Enigma machine. Whether it’s going to work or not, honestly, your guess is as good as mine! I’ve got spreadsheets coming out of my eyeballs.

As the “token nerd,” how do you think that will affect how others perceive and treat you in the game?

HF: I’d say people tend to think I’m smarter than I actually am, bluntly, and I don’t think that’s going to serve me particularly well as I may be seen as a bit of a threat. I might actually try and chuck out a few false theories so I’m seen to be a bit of an idiot and not a threat at all.

Amol, will you also be playing down your journalistic skills so that people don’t get too guarded?

AR: I do think you probably need to keep your head down a bit in the beginning. I don’t want to go in there and round table number one be Mr Forensic Investigator! However, I do interview politicians for a living, and I really have to pursue answers to questions.

Do you have any other secret skills or hobbies that might be useful?

AR: I’m a sport nut, music nut. I love games. I quite like memorising things. I love committing poetry to memory and I like facts. I’ve got a job that involves knowing facts on University Challenge.

How do you feel about the missions?

AR: I get tactics around the round table and I get tactics in the castle away from the round table. But missions are there to have a bit of fun. I suppose there is a bit of observing everyone and noticing if they want that shield too much.

HF: I’m excited. Someone has spent ages setting up the most amazing game for us. I’m definitely up for all the challenges. I’m enthusiastic if nothing else.

Are you a competitive person, then?

HF: I would say I am toxically competitive. Yes, to a fault. I have to try and rein that in. This really is a team game. Especially for the Faithfuls. The only real way the Faithfuls are going to win it is if they act as a team. And I probably would rather be a Faithful.

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Do you see yourselves as leaders, team players or lone wolves?

HF: Always a team player. Sometimes a lone wolf, I think, with my secret things. However, the thing I’m most concerned about is that I tend to get excited about stuff then want to share it immediately. Keeping secrets is not my forte!

AR: It’s about being different things at different times. You’ve got to start as a team player and emerge as a lone wolf.

Finally, how would you describe your Celebrity Traitors strategy in three words?

HF: Careful, analytical and, well, the other thing that I really want to be is just a little bit mischievous. I really want to enjoy the ride and have fun being playful.

AR: Alliances. Evolution. Victory. I’m here to play hard. I’m also here to have fun. But I’m going to play hard!

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The Celebrity Traitors begins Thursday 1 October at 8pm on BBC One.

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