As Episode Magazine, we spoke with Giray Altınok, the host of The Traitors Türkiye, who is our cover guest for the April 2026 issue.
17 innocents, 3 traitors, and the one man managing the entire game: Giray Altınok. We met at a historic castle in Brussels before The Traitors Türkiye began; we talked about the format, the tension, and the behind-the-scenes of the game.
One of the most talked-about reality formats of recent years, The Traitors is now in Türkiye. In fact, it is a more layered, larger-scale production version of the “Vampire Villager” game that we have all played in our friend groups at some point. Developed by a Netherlands-based production company, the format has been adapted in many countries to date and has reached a significant audience.
The logic of the game is simple: 17 innocents, 3 traitors, and a game master who manages the entire system. While the innocents try to uncover the traitors, the traitors aim to hide their identities and reach the finale. The game master of the Turkish version is a name we all know and love: Giray Altınok. Produced by Shine Medya, The Traitors Türkiye met with the audience on Prime Video.
When the call came from Prime Video asking, “Would you like to interview Giray Altınok?” my answer was an immediate “Of course!” Moreover, the interview would take place in a historic castle in Brussels. It was October. While the weather was still mild in Türkiye and many parts of Europe, the surroundings of the small castle located about three hours away from Brussels were much colder than I expected.
Taking photos inside was forbidden. We were required not to share the names of the contestants and not to enter into any details regarding the games.
The castle had been purchased by the production company; every room and every corridor had been redesigned according to the atmosphere of the game. As Giray Altınok mentioned, different countries use this castle, or chateau, as they call it, only for the filming of The Traitors. In other words, every detail you see inside directly serves the game. I caught Giray Altınok on the third day of filming, just as he was returning from a game played outside the castle. We sat across from that famous “round table,” and I asked everything I was curious about regarding the format.
Enjoy the read…
How would you describe the format?
The Traitors is a format that has met with audiences in many countries around the world and has been very well-loved. Fundamentally, it’s a high-production version of the game we all know as Vampire Villager or Mafia (Hırsız Polis).
In our competition, there are 20 contestants. Names that Türkiye knows and loves are with us in the first season. 3 traitors are determined, and there are 17 innocents. The format progresses through the innocents trying to find out who the traitors are and the traitors trying to eliminate the innocents from the competition.
It’s actually a game I’ve been playing with my friends since our theater performances in university. On a very basic level, it is based on people trying to decipher the character traits of others and understanding from their body language whether they are lying or not. Because of this, it has become a format watched and loved all over the world, everywhere where lies exist.
In Vampire Villager, the “manager” selects the vampires. Do you choose the traitors here?
Yes. In that version, the person managing the game is actually part of the game as well. Here, however, there is an external manager; the person who sets up and administers the entire game. In this competition, I have taken on that role.
Well, how is it to manage and watch the game from the outside?
It’s a pleasant thing. This is my first experience both as a host and with this kind of character… It’s actually more like wearing a different costume rather than playing a character. As an actor, it’s a new experience for me. Because on one hand you are acting, and on the other hand you are not.
You act like one of the contestants while simultaneously standing in a position completely removed from them. Therefore, the most enjoyable part of the job for me is that it is a very new experience.
You are taking on a persona, actually.
Yes, like the owner of a castle; a character who has a bit of a puppet master side, setting up the whole game. He prepares the castle, invites them here, brings them in. There is a situation where he both hosts them and has them play a game, and in the end, gives a prize.
Filming for the first season started three or four days ago. We have now established the system and the order of the game. It’s being done for the first time in Türkiye. There are many examples in the world; in some countries, the sixth or seventh seasons are being filmed. But we also settled the first season quickly within a few days. Because as I said, since it is based on human psychology at its core, the contestants also reached the level we wanted very quickly.
How did you feel when the project came to you? What was the part that excited you?
I hadn’t watched the competition. I was aware of it, but I hadn’t finished a full season. Immediately after the offer came, I watched and finished a season. Then I looked at several seasons from different countries. I liked it very much. Because this is a format that our audience will accept and love very quickly.
The viewer can immediately establish a bond with a character or a contestant; they can take their side or keep a distance from them. While wanting someone to be eliminated quickly, they can want someone else to go all the way to the finale.
It’s a competition where everyone can choose a character for themselves. Because of this, the host’s job, after setting up the game, is to step back a bit and watch like a spectator. The host is the person closest to the audience. We watch the story through his eyes, and we progress with him while building a bond. That’s why I liked it very much. We talked immediately. In terms of timing, it coincided with a suitable period for me. We are filming during that gap. I am very happy.
When I researched the international versions of the format, I learned that both the players and the game masters do not know the other names until they arrive at the castle. Did the process work the same way for you? Did you find out everything once you got here?
That’s exactly how it happened. There is already a very well-established system. With us as well, the contestants come thinking there will inevitably be some flexibility. As soon as they are picked up from the airport in Türkiye, they realize that flexibility doesn’t exist at all.
No one has the opportunity to meet one-on-one with anyone else. Especially, there is no place where the host and the contestants come together except for the game area and the selections we call the round table. Even in the castle, we can only see each other from a distance, and we can have no dialogue there.
Likewise, their lives inside the castle progress with a specific system. They retreat to their rooms at a certain time. There is always a security guard in front of the rooms, and there are alarms on the doors, meaning they cannot leave their rooms.
It felt a bit harsh to me at first, but this is the only way for the game to be played in the best way. If the system isn’t set up like this, something will be missing. They never allow that. There is a specific logic applied in all countries, and they applied it here too.
I had heard one or two contestants beforehand, but I also learned the full cast very close to the time of coming here. They, on the other hand, didn’t know each other at all. When they arrived in Belgium, they were picked up from the airport and placed in their hotels. On the first day of filming, when they got into the cars, their blindfolds were opened, and they saw for the first time who they were competing with.
Did you see that moment?
I didn’t see that. I will watch the first episode after the edit. I only saw their blindfolded photos. Four people in a car, blindfolded as if they were being kidnapped… Being told to “Open,” taking off the blindfolds, and saying, “Oh, are you here too, are you here too?”
They have no idea who is in the other car. They only find that out when they get to the castle. The car windows are also special, tinted. Only after arriving at the castle and getting out can they see those outside their own car. They arrive at the front of the castle with that shock. There were moments where everyone learned many things right there and was truly surprised. That’s why it’s really a very meticulously prepared format.
Apart from that, various games are also played within the episodes. Without going into details, how would you describe those games? In what kind of atmosphere do they take place?
Since it is a competition with very high tension and pressure, the games are moments where the contestants come together in each episode, act collectively, get to know each other a bit more, and fight together for a single goal. Therefore, they are quite enjoyable. Truly great games have been set up here.
On one hand, it seems like they are struggling to lower the tension a bit and have pleasant moments among themselves, but in every game, they earn a certain amount of money and add it to the common vault. Of course, all the effort put in together may ultimately go to a single person. If a traitor remains at the end, they will take the prize.
So, all this effort could go to waste, and a traitor might have deceived them all. The logic is built on this. If they find all the traitors, then the innocents can share it among themselves.
Are the tasks more physically demanding or mentally exhausting? What has been your observation regarding the tasks so far?
In my opinion, the most mentally exhausting part of the tasks is the possibility of all this effort going to waste. Psychologically, this already wears them out. But generally, all of the games require physical effort. Both putting in that physical effort to earn the money and the risk of “you were sent away, you can’t get it” at the end stresses them out a lot.
Among them, there could also be a traitor who doesn’t expend much physical effort but could take the entire prize without doing almost anything because they played well. So, the physical side is intense, but the mental side is heavier. “We won,” they say, money is added to the common vault, but you could leave here that same evening. That’s the real exhausting part.
So, a single mental move can render everyone’s effort futile?
Yes. There is also a game within the games; they need to continue the game during the task as well. Sometimes they enter in groups and need to determine a strategy. I won’t give details, but a single move can put them at a great advantage. Or while saying “What’s going on here?” they can lose many advantages in that moment of surprise. That’s why the games are really well-constructed. They are very watchable.
Well, would you want to be a contestant in this game?
I wouldn’t want to experience that tension. 😊 I see it now in the contestants too. When we come to the round table, I stand and set up the game, but being one of them is a very tense thing. Being there during the elimination, hearing why everyone wrote your name…
Trying to explain “I didn’t do it that way!” but it already being too late… But if I were to play, I probably wouldn’t want to be a traitor. I would prefer to be an innocent and try to hunt the traitors. Being a traitor is also very difficult. You tell a lot of lies, definitely. It makes one say “Wow, man!”; you think about how beautifully and easily they tell lies.
What do you feel at that exact point? As the person who knows the truth, how do you control your facial expressions? After all, you see the person across from you clearly lying and you know the truth…
I know, yes. I almost never make direct eye contact with anyone. 😊 The moment you say “Oh, he’s looking at me!”, half a second later my gaze has passed, wandered, and come back to you again. I don’t use gestures and facial expressions much. I want my presence and absence to be one here, but when I am present, I fulfill the requirements of being present. After all, it’s a very crowded team. Sometimes tension can rise, they can get angry, they can want to talk too much. It becomes difficult to balance that. But they are used to it now; everyone knows the system.
I also watched the UK version a bit. The drama element of the format is very high. Relationships and alliances are formed; fights can break out. You are at the very beginning, but do you foresee similar things happening?
Of course. Yesterday and today, minor tensions started, and this easily shows that the tension will rise. For example, I’m very curious about tonight’s round table. Because they got quite stressed while playing today’s game, and verbal skirmishes started when the game ended. It reached the point of “Okay now, that’s enough, don’t do it friends!”. Now everyone is sharpening their knives and waiting for this place to be able to talk about everything. Watching that from here is very nice, of course.
Now, we are in a castle in Brussels. How would you describe this place? What kind of atmosphere does it have?
I describe this place as a castle. In the game, I constantly say “castle”; it feels more appropriate for us. This place has already been restored for this format, turned into a studio. Different countries come and shoot this concept here. One is most surprised by this: how well-preserved it is. There are dozens of areas, and they truly took a historic structure, adapted it to the present, and made it usable, and they are selling this to the world.
They have set up a very good system. Other countries constantly come and film, but they have an incredibly well-functioning order. Everything progresses within a certain logic; they send you off and take in another country.
When you put on the costumes, a serious air already comes to the environment. It’s a very photogenic place. 😊 I liked it very much. The weather is a bit harsh, but the atmosphere truly takes one back 300-400 years. The houses, the streets, everything… They haven’t intervened too much. They preserved it and adapted it to the present day. Because of this, every step you take here gives you another feeling.
Part of the atmosphere is actually the town we are in. We are in a very small place. How are your days going here?
Very calm. Especially in the town where we are filming, life is truly very calm. Around eight, eight-thirty in the evening, almost nothing is left around. Cars stop passing. Towards nine-thirty, the lights of the houses go out as well. They wake up around four in the morning and start their lives. They have a very interesting routine.
Along a vast highway, for almost 10-12 kilometers, you don’t see even a single piece of trash. This isn’t actually about saying “How clean Europe is.” Rather, one tries to understand how this culture was established. Therefore, it’s impossible not to admire.
It’s a place that can be recommended for someone looking for a calm life. But for people like us who are used to turmoil, after five or ten days, the feeling of “Let’s go and return to our chaos” also comes. To the sounds of horns, bumping shoulders, motorcycle couriers passing on the sidewalk… It’s a bit strange to be used to this, but it’s real. Still, being here for ten days would be a wonderful rest.
How long will your filming last?
We hope to film and finish all 10 episodes within 14-15 days.
You just said first season. Should an expectation for a second or third season be formed already?
I think it will be loved. It will probably have a continuation. I don’t know if I will be there or not; it depends on the conditions at that time. But as long as it exists, I would very much like to host this competition.
The Traitors will probably create the same effect here as it did in the world. Because it appeals to a very fundamental emotion and element of curiosity. Especially since there are names we know in the first season, watching them in this format will be even more enjoyable for the audience.
The structure of ‘The Traitors’ also seems to fit the elements a Turkish viewer expects from a competition. Suspicion, betrayal, passion, intrigue… Looking at it from this perspective, how do you foresee it will be received in Türkiye? In your opinion, which parts will interest the audience the most?
As you said, we love intrigue in mainstream series as well as digital projects. Here, seeing people we know engaging in intrigue as themselves will be much sweeter for the audience. Because none of them are role-playing personas anymore. They are playing this game with their own names, their own identities. This is different from watching the intrigue carried out by a character in a “lord” (ağa) series. They will watch saying, “This person could actually do this, could go this far.” Therefore, it will be very easy to establish identification.
Because they are people we now see individually, in their bare forms. From mainstream to digital, the reality format is already a loved thing. And because we are watching this with names we love, it becomes a truer, more unfiltered place. An area you can see directly. That’s why I think it will be well-received.
I will ask without wanting you to give names. You probably know the people a little bit. Was there someone you said, “How beautifully this person lies,” or “What a good strategy they are building”?
I have no prior acquaintance with any of the contestants. No friends of mine happened to be inside, which was actually good. There are only people to whom I’ve said “Hello, how are you?” once or twice. Because of that, there were those I thought “This person is like this” when I first saw them, but they turned out not to be like that at all. I saw those I said “They lie very well” fail and give themselves away. There are those who are still going very well even though I said “What this person is doing will be understood immediately.” Everyone surprises individually.
So, it seems the audience will be quite surprised as well.
Yes. If I am being surprised like this here, they will be much more surprised.
