BBC The Traitors' Minah Shannon says 'I hope I don't get cancelled' as she makes Liverpool admission
Minah Shannon is the standout star from this season of The Traitors. Although she may have been banished in brutal circumstances on Wednesday's episode, the 30-year-old call centre manager captured the hearts of the nation and was, in the eyes of many, the true winner of series three.
Minah, who lives in Crosby with her husband, Lee, and two-year-old daughter, Luna, was the epitome of a Scouse Queen during her reign in the Scottish castle. Her bubbly charm and the way she defiantly stuck to her principles to the very end on the show was representative of the best of the Liverpudlian spirit.
However, The Traitors is a programme renowned for its dramatic twists and turns and Minah dropped another one in her exclusive interview with the ECHO as she revealed she only moved to Liverpool when she was aged 18. She laughed: "I'm going to give you a massive exclusive and I hope the exclusive doesn't get me cancelled forever, but I wasn't born in Liverpool."
READ MORE: Joey Barton 'pushed wife to the ground and kicked her in the head', court told
READ MORE: Police don't rule out further arrests in 'live' Axel Rudakubana investigation
She added: "I lived in Uganda when I was little and then I lived in Glasgow until I was 12 and then I lived in Birmingham until I was 18. I actually moved to Liverpool with a Brummie accent."
However, Minah's identity as a Liverpudlian is not some ruse in the same way that fellow contestant, Charlotte Berman, has pretended to do a Welsh accent during her time on the show. Minah explained: "Liverpool is the place that I've lived the longest and that's 12 years now. Every other place has been like five years, but I think moving to Liverpool made me who I am.
"I met my husband in Liverpool, I had my little girl in Liverpool and I think the friendships I've made in Liverpool have made me who I am as a 30-year-old now. So I'll always say I'm Scouse regardless of what anyone says."
Minah moved to Liverpool to study at John Moores University and immediately connected with the personality of the city and knew this was the place she would always call home. She said: "I got off the train and my gut said, 'this is you forever'. I hadn't even got to the uni yet. It just felt like home and my gut is usually right. It wasn't even the best course, but something connected with me and here we are 12 years later."
Minah has been branded an "honorary Scouser" by her friends, but the connection goes deeper than that as she now speaks with an authentic Liverpudlian accent and truly understands the personality of the city. On why living in Liverpool felt so natural, she told the ECHO: "Everyone is just so friendly and has everyone's back. Even if I'm taking my little girl to nursery, people say, 'morning love, are you ok?'
"That kind of mindset to look out for each other and be part of a community is just everything. You know your neighbours. Even in work, you are part of a community. Everyone has integrity and family values, which are very important to me."
Minah applied these Scouse values to her gameplay in the castle as she was loyal to the "sisterhood" of Traitors until their position became completely untenable when they sparked suspicion from too many other players at the roundtable. She told the ECHO: "I'm so close to all my friends and we always have each other's back and I think I tried to mirror that going into the show.
"I wanted a sisterhood who have each other's back because that's what I'm used to at home. Obviously it didn't end that way, but I was truthful to myself and that's what was important to me."
Minah thinks these Liverpudlian values and the way she embodied them so perfectly during the show was why she managed to strike such bonds with her fellow contestants and the audience watching at home. She said: "In Liverpool, you just get on with everyone. You go the bus stop and you spark up a conversation with someone. That was me in the castle.
"I was asking everyone about them and that was my gameplan going in. Just be yourself and that is enough. That is a thing I've taken away from this the most. How I am as a person, with my flaws and everything, is enough. I've been celebrated for it."
Minah's loyalty was eventually to her own detriment as she was betrayed by Traitor recruit, Charlotte. She holds no hard feelings about the way she was banished, but laughed she has taken some satisfaction in her potential downfall, which has been teased in tonight's finale.
However, she thinks Francesca Rowan-Plowden's position as the Seer may backfire and Charlotte will eventually win the whopping cash prize as she hopes her loyalty is eventually rewarded after the show.
She said: "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit smug thinking how's this conversation [with Francesca and Charlotte] gonna go. But I'm worried that Frankie having this knowledge could backfire on her because the last few episodes, the way I've watched it, everyone thinks Charlotte is a Faithful. Everyone who has watched it has been like, 'She's my 100%.'
"So if Frankie goes back to Jake, Leanne and Alexander and says, 'Charlotte is a Traitor'. I worry they're going to think that she's making it up, so now I really worry for Frankie because I think Charlotte has finessed this and she's going to win. If she wins, I've told her I want a bottle of wine. I laid the foundations and said, 'there you go'."
However, the result doesn't really matter to Minah as the experience of being on The Traitors and the incredible support she received along the way has been more than she could have ever imagined. She is still working in her regular job as a call centre manager and may not have won the funds for the lavish honeymoon with her husband that they were unable to go on due to the coronavirus pandemic.
However, Minah said The Traitors experience has changed her life in completely different ways as she is excited for what the future holds now she has discovered new things about her personality and announced herself to the world.
She said: "[While filming the how] I was away from my little girl and my husband, which was hard. Coming out, surviving that and being able to play that game the way I did has given me resilience.
"I really enjoyed it and I'd love to find some new experiences. Maybe go into hosting or presenting, that would be so much fun, But I've still got my job and I'm back in on Wednesday so that will be fun too." The Traitors final airs tonight at 8.30pm on BBC One.