What if someone who stammered was on The Traitors?

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Last year's invitation notice to apply for The Traitors

Would it be a positive thing for the stammering community if a contestant on the hit BBC show The Traitors stammered? This is explored in this hasty blog post written by me, Steven, the STAMMA web editor, ahead of tonight's eagerly anticipated finale.

If you're one of the millions of people like me who are hooked on the current series of The Traitors, you'll no doubt be counting down the hours until tonight's final. Will Charlotte's treacherous tactics prove victorious or will she be derailed following the latest twist (I'm still not sure how I feel about this 'seer' thing…) with the faithfuls winning the day? I truly can't wait. 

Last year, here at STAMMA we put out a notice from The Traitors production team, inviting anyone in the stammering community to apply to be a contestant (see above) for the current series. We're not sure if anyone did, and obviously if they did they weren't selected (unless they are covert with their stammer - more of that later). But what if someone who stammered was selected and appeared as a contestant in the next series? What would it do and mean, if anything, for the stammering community?

It's something I was discussing in a watercooler moment with my colleague Beth yesterday, who is also enthralled. She said she thought it would be a brilliant opportunity to raise awareness and challenge misconceptions about people who stammer. To their credit, the BBC has striven to make The Traitors inclusive. Not only does it feature a wide range of demographic groups, it also casts people with disabilities and differences. In this series, there's Jake, who opened up about the challenges of living with cerebral palsy, and there was Livi, who was 'murdered' by the traitors early on, who spoke about her prosthetic eye. In previous series, Mollie reached last year's final - she was born with a visible limb difference and mentioned that she also has a stoma bag; and of course there was Meryl from series one, a person of short stature. A light was shone on something that the viewer might not have known much about, and their differences were accepted and normalised, with their personalities defining them much more than their differences. With the show now pulling in more viewers than Strictly Come Dancing, as it was announced this week, it would no doubt bring stammering to public consciousness.

Maybe it takes something like this to help make that happen – a stammering trailblazer to apply and get on The Traitors and show the millions of viewers out there that stammering isn’t what they think it is.

However, unlike these differences, there's a stigma attached to stammering, one that's linked to the very conceit of the show – that of duplicity and underhandedness - that perhaps sets it apart. One that makes the possible inclusion of someone who stammers on The Traitors a more intriguing prospect, with different possible outcomes. In society, stammering/speech disfluency is the only difference or disability that is often linked to a sign of guilt. In fairness, I can perhaps see where this comes from – if a person, fluent or otherwise, has something to hide and is forced to verbally defend themselves, they might show signs of disfluency as they struggle to think of a justification. But unfairly, if someone lives with a stammer, they can get tarred with the same brush so that their disfluency is misinterpreted as being a sign of something else, without any regard for nuance. You see it in countless films, TV dramas and books: the lazy trope of giving the baddie a stammer to imply their untrustworthiness or character deficiency.

If there was a contestant on The Traitors who openly stammered, it could be a fantastic opportunity to smash that misconception. Well, I think perhaps as long as the person mentioned it to the other contestants right at the beginning, before the traitors are picked, stating that they stammer, that it's just how they talk and it isn't a sign of guilt. Not only would that make people realise that stammering might not be what they thought it was, it could potentially prevent anyone making links to shiftiness further down the line, even if they were chosen as a traitor. With the straight-to-camera interviews, they could elaborate on the stigma for the viewers at home and talk about the challenges of living with something that society often misinterprets. That would do wonders for smashing misconceptions, showing the public that developmental and acquired stammering has nothing to do with a person's character.

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The round table, where contestants discuss (and argue over) who they think is a traitor, could be the perfect opportunity to challenge others to not speak over or interrupt them when they stammer, which could make viewers think about their own behaviour. A person who stammers might even be an effective traitor-hunter. Lots of people cite that stammering has made them great listeners and more thoughtful people. This could be a great advantage when trying to weed out the pesky traitors, and show the other contestants how valuable they are to have on their team. Until the traitors recognise this and kill them off, that is. Grr traitors.

But what if the person was covert with their stammer and didn't mention it at all to the contestants or viewers? Many people manage and conceal their stammer so as to avoid the negative reactions and judgement that the public often makes about them. The danger there would be that if they were to stammer but didn't talk about it, the faithfuls might link it to being a traitor and accuse them of having something to hide. Which wouldn't be great for reinforcing misconceptions. If they did explain it was because they actually have a stammer, they might not be believed (something else that often happens, annoyingly). Or if the person still didn't feel comfortable in telling people they stammer, the misconception could be reinforced. Until of course, the moment they announce they were faithful all along.

But maybe this is all theoretical anyway, as even applying for a TV show is something I suspect a lot of people who stammer, perhaps me included, might not consider – widely because of the deep-seated stigma, exclusion and non-acceptance we face. But it's perhaps an argument for the power of talking about stammering, something I hold a lot of stock in – telling people that you stammer and how it affects you, so that you're more in control of the narrative. In an ideal world, we wouldn't have to explain ourselves or hide things, it would be understood and normalised.

Maybe it takes something like this to help make that happen – a stammering trailblazer to apply and get on The Traitors and show the millions of viewers out there that stammering isn't what they think it is. To show that people who stammer have all sorts of strengths and qualities, and help others become more aware of how to make space for stammering.

So, what do you say? Would you consider going for it? The BBC hasn't contacted us this time but you can apply to be on the next series of The Traitors on the BBC website. Tell us if you do, we'd love to know. Email us at editor@stamma.org 

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