Description: Why a secret Traitor held a double vote in BBC One’s 23 October 2026 episode eight, and why the Sharon Rooney–Joanne McNally banishment remained unresolved. Spoilers.
The dagger makes its holder’s vote count twice. In episode eight, broadcast at 8pm BST on 23 October, King Kenny received it despite secretly being a Traitor. A deadlocked banishment vote between Faithful contestants Sharon Rooney and Joanne McNally left his decision hanging when the credits rolled.
How did a Traitor win a trust reward?
In this British reality competition, hidden Traitors try to eliminate Faithful players while the Faithful investigate and vote to banish suspects. Host Claudia Winkleman oversees the game. Unlike the contestants, viewers know the Traitors’ identities.
During a scarecrow mission, players selected their three most trusted people: Maya Jama, comedian James Acaster and video creator King Kenny. All three were actually Traitors. Kenny received the dagger from among this trio. A reward supposedly recognising trustworthiness became an extra vote for the enemy. The scarecrow task had inadvertently turned into an awards ceremony for infiltrators.
Why did Kenny have the deciding vote?
The first round-table ballot ended tied between actor Sharon and Irish comedian Joanne. In the second round, reports counted four votes for Sharon and three for Joanne before Kenny’s final choice. His dagger gave him two votes: choose Sharon and the score becomes 6–3; choose Joanne and it becomes 4–5.
Both women were Faithful. The question was not which hidden Traitor would finally be exposed, but which innocent player a hidden Traitor would help send home. That is the central irony behind the suspense.
Why did the episode stop there?
The broadcast ended before Kenny revealed his final vote. As of 24 October, neither banishment should be described as a confirmed outcome shown in episode eight. The continuation was scheduled for Thursday 29 October at 8pm UK time, then GMT following the clock change.
Earlier, Miranda Hart had been “murdered” under the game’s rules because the Traitors feared her detective skills. British coverage also documented complaints from some viewers about waiting another week. Those are reported reactions, not a measure of worldwide outrage.
The answer
The dagger grants two votes, and its holder was secretly a Traitor. The people hunting traitors ranked all three traitors as their most trusted teammates. In a game about reading people, trust itself became the sharpest weapon. This account is based on contemporary reporting, not a claim to have watched the full broadcast.
