Mads Andre Hansen (38) is the host of TV 2’s new major venture Traitor. Now he admits that the concept was tough for the celebrity participants.
Traitor is a completely new concept, inspired by a similar program from the Netherlands. The reality show will be in Norwegian costume on TV 2 and TV 2 Play this autumn.
Game master
Hansen has been given the role of «game master».
– We call it game master rather than host because it is a game, as much as a TV program. The participants are players. I control the rules and help to cultivate the paranoid mood.
The expectations of the new game master were many before the recording of the new concept.
– I was excited about how people would cope with having to lie, and whether they would manage it without being discovered. I had expectations that the participants would be engrossed, but not as engrossed as they became. There were several who did not sleep because they thought about games around the clock. We had psychologists who had to come in because the concept became so immersive. All my expectations were exceeded, says Mads Hansen to TV 2.
Even he thinks the role suits him well.
– I’m really a juggled type, so the host is in that way a long way away, but this is close to my heart, because secret tasks and games have always interested me. The most challenging thing was to be the only one who knew who the traitors were, in addition to the traitors themselves, without being able to reveal it to the others. I thus had to take care of everything I said and did not say, so as not to reveal anything to the players. I became a kind of actor myself. That was interesting.
From Farmen farm to majestic villa
Hansen has led the last two seasons of Farmen. Now he says that it’s fun to be part of something new.
– FARMEN: Mads Hansen was the host for two seasons of Farmen. Photo: Espen Solli / TV 2
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– NEW ROLE: Now he thrives in a new role as game master for Traitor. Photo: Espen Solli / TV 2
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– I’m flattered, same as with the Farm. What’s extra fun about Traitor is that it’s a new concept. Then I can help shape the program.
In the Farm, he worked with people who are not used to cameras. Now he compares the role in The Farm with his new role in Traitor, where the participants consist of 20 familiar faces.
– What is similar is that I have to be careful not to reveal anything to the participants. The difference is that The Farm is recorded over 11 weeks, while Traitor was recorded in 11 days. There is also a difference between the participants, he says, and continues;
– The farm consists of ordinary people, while the participants at Forræder are famous people. Those who are not used to TV are often more unfiltered, and those who are used to it can often be more concerned with how they are made, but they also deliver other things, as they know more about what it is about. There are both pros and cons, but it has not been challenging with Traitor, because everyone has been very engrossed in the game.
A social experiment: Tough for the participants
Traitor is inspired by a similar program from the Netherlands. The psychological game involves 20 celebrities moving into Anders Jahre’s majestic villa in Sandefjord. They are the players. In the villa, the players must complete a series of missions and challenges, but three of the players are chosen to be traitors. These are tasked with misleading and eliminating the loyal.
– CELEBRITIES: The participants in Traitor. Photo: Espen Solli / TV 2
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Players must work together to win the grand prize. The loyal ones should try to expose the traitors before they themselves are eliminated. It is a game where good stands against evil.
The new game master explains that he had little contact with the participants behind the camera, the production was dressed in masks and music was played in the villa, all to build up the atmosphere so that the players would be engrossed in the game.
– You want the participants to be engrossed in the game, but you also want them to feel good. I think everyone loved it, but in the middle of it all you had to find a balance. It was difficult to balance and handle it, but the editors were incredibly good.
Hansen says that it is all reminiscent of “a social experiment, as much as a game”. He thought it was exciting to observe how the players reacted to the concept.
– All reality shows have psychologists, but here it’s more about the mental game. It did not take long before the players became paranoid, some ended up in the emergency room due to pressure, little sleep and dehydration. Traitors had a bad conscience for lying, and the loyal ones could think of nothing but the game. It was completely out of this world.
He further reveals:
– One of the players had to call home to his mother in the middle of the night to hear a voice they trusted.
Hansen himself has seen some episodes of what will soon be available on TV 2 and TV 2 Play.
– It is unique and different. It’s something completely different from what people are used to watching on TV. I would highly recommend it, Mads Hansen concludes to TV 2.
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