Paul Mescal On Why He Finds ‘The Traitors UK’ “Highly Entertaining”; Reveals Time He Lied To Land ‘Normal People’ Role

Armando Tinoco

3 January 2025 at 1:20 pm·2-min read

Paul Mescal is opening up about why he enjoys watching The Traitors UK and when he told a little lie to land his role on Normal People.

In a new interview, Mescal revealed that his favorite reality show is the UK version of The Traitors, the BBC One competition series hosted by Claudia Winkleman, which just debuted its third season to a ratings record.

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“The Traitors—the U.K. one,” Mescal told W magazine, distinguishing he liked the UK version over the other adaptations. “It’s highly stressful, highly entertaining. Great to see the kind of psychological warfare that goes on. And the manipulation is second to none.”

The Traitors format is an adaptation of the Dutch series De Verraders and features a group of contestants working together as “Faithful” trying to uncover the “Traitors” among them. Peacock adapted the format for U.S. audiences featuring celebrity contestants.

During the same interview, Mescal was asked if he had ever lied to book a role to which he confessed he had said he could drive for Normal People, when he could not.

“We’d signed the paperwork, I’d gotten the part, and then I’d forgotten about doing my driver’s license,” he explained. “So I ended up doing Normal People on a provisional license. I could only drive the car if there was a fully licensed driver beside me.”

Mescal starred in the limited series Normal People, which aired on BBC Three and Hulu in 2020. The series was based on the 2018 novel by Sally Rooney and starred Daisy Edgar-Jones and Mescal as a couple from secondary school to their undergraduate years in college.

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