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Alex Gray knows a thing or two about reading people. As a presenter, actress, and one of the faces of the World Poker Tour, she’s spent years analyzing opponents at the felt, searching for tells, and making big decisions under pressure. But when she stepped into the world of The Traitors (UK), she found herself in an entirely different kind of mind game, one where trust was a currency, deception was everywhere, and every move could be her last.

PokerNews sat down with Gray at the WPT Prime Cyprus Championship, hosted at the Chamada Prestige Hotel and Casino, to talk about her time on the hit reality show. How did her poker instincts help (or hurt) her? What was it like navigating a game where bluffing was the norm? And whether she’d ever put herself through that chaos again.

A Different Kind of Mind Game

Gray admits she went into The Traitors thinking more about it as a TV show than a strategy game. “I think if there were no cameras involved at all and it wasn’t a televised show, everyone would have played it differently,” she said. “People knew they were going to be on a reality show, and that was the most important thing for them.”

Even with the reality TV aspect, she saw plenty of crossover with poker. “The best way to win the show is by being so emotionally cut off from the game. It’s like poker. As soon as you get emotionally involved and you’re on tilt, you’re panicking because you’ve just done a huge bluff. You’ve set yourself up for failure. It’s the same with The Traitors. The ability to turn off your emotional sensitivity is a paramount skill, especially if you’re going to be a Traitor.”

“It was pure entertainment for the viewers. For me, it was trauma.”

Despite her strategic mindset, she called the experience “incredibly stressful, probably the most stressful thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Unlike later seasons, Gray and her fellow contestants had no idea what to expect. “We went in completely blindsided. If you’re on, like, season five of Love Island, you can watch all the seasons before and get an idea of what it’s going to be like. We didn’t have that. We didn’t know how the public was going to receive us, how the edit would make us look, if we were going to be seen as the worst people in the world.”

So, would she do it again? “One million percent, yeah. No doubt in my mind.”

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TV Gold: Tom and Alex’s Secret Relationship

One of the most iconic moments of season one was when Gray’s partner, Tom, revealed at breakfast that they were a couple. The two had kept it a secret from the rest of the cast, and the moment was pure reality TV gold. But for Gray, it was a total shock.

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“We were approached separately to do the show,” she explained. “The casting director called Tom because he was actually cast for The Circle before, and when they realized we were together, they thought, ‘Oh my God, we could have a couple on the show.’”

They decided to keep their relationship secret for strategic reasons. “It was a no-brainer. You go in, you don’t know who’s who, you don’t know who to trust. Immediately, people would see us as a team, and that would put a target on our backs.”

When Tom finally spilled the beans, Gray had no idea it was coming. “We were the first two at breakfast that day, and it was the first time we’d actually had a moment to talk. We were discussing who we thought the Traitors were. Tom asked, ‘Should I say something?’ I thought he meant about Ivan being a Traitor, so I said, ‘Yeah, go for it.’ And then he stands up and announces that I’m his girlfriend. I was as blindsided as everyone else.”

The room erupted. “All I saw was black. People were crying, shouting, screaming, standing up. It all just kicked off. There was no strategy in that moment at all. It was pure entertainment for the viewers. For me, it was trauma.”

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From The Traitors to WPT Prime Cyprus

Now back in her poker world, Gray is at WPT Prime Cyprus, one of the most exciting stops on the WPT calendar. “It’s so beautiful here,” she said. “You can play poker anywhere. You can stay at home and play online. But why should you come to this hotel in particular? First of all, the food is amazing. And I don’t say that lightly. I’ve had my fair share of casino and hotel food, and this is incredible. Players get free food, free drinks all day, every day. Name me another casino property that does that.”

She also raved about the setting. “One moment, you’re in the poker room. The next, you’re outside in the sunshine. We’re up in the hills of Northern Cyprus. The view is incredible, it’s serene. If you’ve just had a bad beat and need to complain to someone, you can do it while looking at the sea and mountains with the sun setting. It’s a no-brainer.”

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A Journey into Poker and the WPT

“Shamelessly, and I’m not embarrassed to say this, I didn’t play poker before I joined the WPT.”

Fresh out of university, she was juggling an office job, nightlife work, and taking sick days to film projects and build her presenting showreel. When she realized she could turn presenting into a career, she quit her job and started applying for everything. “The WPT had a position open. I sent in an audition tape, went through multiple rounds of interviews, and ended up meeting Adam Pliska, the CEO, in LA. And then, I never looked back.”

She quickly developed a deep respect for the game. “Poker isn’t just gambling. It’s not like sitting at a roulette wheel and hoping it lands on 16. The amount of hours players put into perfecting their game is insane. If you sit down at a table full of pros, you’re going to lose. If poker was just luck, you’d have a chance.”

Over time, she learned to play, with lockdown giving her the perfect opportunity to hone her skills online. “I was playing a lot of PartyPoker at the time since we WPT were partnered with them. I have to say, I don’t have the patience to play live. I wish I did, because that’s where the atmosphere is, but I’m too restless. Put me at home with my cat, let me stand up, move around, get a cup of tea, grab some snacks, take my laptop to the toilet, I’m loving it.”

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Calum has been a part of the PokerNews team since September 2021 after working in the UK energy sector. He played his first hand of poker in 2017 and immediately fell in love with the game. Calum has written for various poker outlets but found his home at PokerNews, where he has contributed to various articles and live updates, providing insights and reporting on major poker events, including the World Series of Poker (WSOP).

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