We played a real life version of The Traitors - and here's what we thought

I’m guessing by now, you’ll be familiar with the world of The Traitors, the smash hit BBC show which sees a group of people from all walks of life dumped in a remote Scottish castle to play the ultimate game of deception – pitting cloak-wearing “traitors” against “faithfuls” amid a backdrop of “murders,” banishments and hosted, rather wonderfully by Claudia Winkleman.

But did you know you can actually take a seat at the infamous Round Table yourself to see if you can outwit your fellow contestants – either as a faithful or traitor – and get a taste of the show that’s currently being shown in almost 40 different versions across the globe?

The setting, while not quite as picturesque as Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, is a converted warehouse nestled in the heart of London’s Covent Garden.

The Traitors Live Experience is already drawing in hundreds of people each week – and as huge fans of the television show, myself and my wife Giulia headed to the capital with a mix of trepidation, curiosity and yes, nerves.

How would it all work? How would the Traitors be picked? How would people be murdered?

All these questions and more would be answered once we arrived at the red-brick building, nestled in a quiet side street called Short’s Gardens and just a stone’s throw from the hustle and bustle and tourist madness of the world famous Covent Garden

Once inside, we were allocated to a table and urged to grab a drink and chat with our fellow players. In total, there were 14 of us - men and women of all ages and backgrounds who'd travelled from across the country to be there.

Naturally, there were lots of couples and friends, but I got chatting to a gentleman alongside me called Christian.

Wondering whether I should reveal my vocation as a reporter (a well tested trick on the TV show to avoid giving away too much information which might be useful to others) he got in first and also revealed himself to be a journalist - and we spent several moments bonding over industry tales.

Giulia, meanwhile, had struck up a conversation with a single charity worker called Kirsten - another match-up as both work in the same sector.

Introductions made (and choices of whether we wanted to be a traitor or faithful covertly filled in on an iPad), we were whisked down a spiral staircase, through a maze of corridors and to our Round Table room.

Nervously awaiting outside alongside a huge suit of armour, we were welcomed into the dimly lit chamber by our "Claudia" - an actor called Otto, who took great delight in playing his role.

We took our seats.

To my left, a gentleman named Shaun. To my right, Giulia.

Around the table, an array of faces and names from different backgrounds.

A Scottish couple who'd travelled all the way from Glasgow. A solicitor by the name of Shelly. A young woman by the name of Abbie.

A teacher, a mum, someone who worked in children's books - it was all rather bewildering as we suspiciously eyed up all our fellow contestants, trying to take in their names and backgrounds.

This was our last chance to take in all we could before the Traitors were selected. Now, I'm not going to give away too many spoilers of how the Live Experience works, in case you want to play it for yourself further down the line.

But it follows a basis similar to the TV show - challenges to earn gold for the group (naturally, due to time constraints and space, these are mental rather than physical) - and then of course the juicy bits, the Traitors picking off their murder victims and the Round Tables where we all try to work out whodunnit.

Blindfolds on (actually a chunky pair of black goggles) we all awaited that touch on the shoulder to see if we'd been selected as a Traitor.

A few moments later, the selection process was done - and I knew I was a faithful after not feeling the tap of a hand.

As I blearily looked around, the other 13 in front of me were now under suspicion - including my own missus. Who to trust? Who not to trust?

Who was telling the truth? Who was hiding secrets?

Rather than a chalk slate, it was a whiteboard and a black felt tip pen, to scribble down the names - and scribble we did, although the majority of us had little to go on other than noises around the room as the Traitors were picked.

Having won a counting challenge and finding a clue in one of the games, I felt it marked me out pretty solidly as a faithful,

"Look, I've won loads of gold, I've found and solved a riddle,"I told the table, thinking my honesty was a clear hallmark of being a faithful.

Unfortunately, my words fell on deaf ears - apparently my boasting of being such a great guy didn't wash with the rest of the group - and as the whiteboards around the table were flipped into view, it was pretty clear by days were numbered - and when my own wife Giulia delivered the final hammer blow by writing down my name (albeit with two kisses to soften the blow), my time in the game was up.

After being banished by my own wife and jokingly telling her "good luck getting back, I've got the car keys," I was allowed that joyous moment that all contestants get when they reveal to the rest of the room which side they were on, before flouncing out with a dramatic flourish to join the rest of the murdered or banished players watching the drama unfold on a big screen in an adjoining room.

As soon as I entered, they couldn't wait to tell me who the Traitors were - and it was a genuine moment of shock when the names were revealed.

Christian, my media pal, who'd pledged at the start to uphold the ethos of journalism by always telling the truth, was one of those selected. He'd been joined by Abbie, sitting opposite him across the table.

And the pair had then been given the choice to select a third Traitor - and they had opted for charity worker Kirsten.

Now, here's where it got really tasty.

Unbeknown to the rest of us - and not revealed until the end of the game, Christian and Kirsten were actually a couple.

They had turned up separately, both making out to be single players. Both had concocted stories to explain why they were alone - and neither myself or Giulia, snared in their fiendish pincer movement from either side, cottoned on it. Beautifully devious and well played!

Although victory wasn't to be theirs. Both were banished in the final end game, leaving faithful Paul and Traitor Abbie to make it to the final two.

The look of disbelief on Paul's face when he realised he'd been duped and beaten to the prize was a moment to behold as we mock booed and groaned from our position in front of the big screen.

The group reunited in the bar afterwards to pick apart the game - although we didn't get the chance to grill Christian and Kirsten about their devilish doings, as they had had to rush off to catch a train home to Colchester.

With The Traitors now at a stratospheric level in terms of its TV status, chances of getting onto the actual show and having Claudia rip your picture off the wall and casually discarding it are pretty slim.

You'll not be waking up to the sound of peacocks and eating your breakfast in a lavishly decorated room decked out with far too many flowers and you'll not be getting transported across the rugged highland hills in a black Range Rover trying to interpret a conversation you overheard in a room two days ago.

But The Traitors Live Experience is pretty much the best thing you're going to get that comes close.

The thrills, the spills, the nerves, the ups, the downs, the spooky music, the wood panelled setting - they're all there - even Claudia, although admittedly, just via video message before the games commence.

If you love The Traitors, you will absolutely adore this.

We did - even though Giulia did have a long walk back afterwards!

• For full details on The Traitors Live and to book tickets, please click HERE