IS there a traitor in our midst? Is everything as it seems in the Duchy? As one of Cornwall’s residents has entered the most devious show on TV right now, BBC’s The Traitors.

As we enter the new year, people across the country will be excited to see the return of the much-loved competition The Traitors.

Now in its third season, host Claudia Winkleman, welcomes 22 strangers to a remote castle in the Scottish Highlands to play the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust, in the hope of winning up to £120,000.

However, this year Cornwall has its very own contestant, as Lisa Coupland, 62, from the Lizard, puts on her cloak and plays the game.

Working as an Anglican Priest in her day-to-day life, Lisa is now set for a completely different experience as she hopes to root out this year’s traitors.

Speaking about why she applied to the show, Lisa said: “My main driving force is that I am completely obsessed with murder mysteries. If there's a murder mystery on the go, I'm there. I've watched every episode of Poirot, every Agatha Christie more than once, Midsomer Murders, Inspector Morse, Grantchester, Father Brown, Sister Boniface. I’m just obsessed with murders and the mental aspect of trying to work out who did it.

“I like to think that I can think a little bit laterally and I like to think that I'm a pretty good judge of character,” Lisa added. “Although this is an artificial scenario, because people are bringing to the game, and this includes me, not necessarily who they are as a real person. In standard life I'm sure people are not that treacherous; I'd like to think. I think I'm quite calm. I'm quite a realist. And so, I'd like to bring some sort of calm to situations if they get a bit overwrought. And be there for people as well. Listen to them, but also be looking at people from outside the box. I'm quite an observer.”

However, it’s safe to say that Lisa is here to win it all, being incredibly competitive.

She said: “Oh, I’m so competitive. So competitive, people have said to me, and this is something that I've had to reflect on quite a lot, about going on a programme like The Traitors where deception and lying is part of the game and how does that sit with being a priest? It doesn't exactly speak of the values that we uphold as a priest. But this is a game. And just the same as if I'm sitting around the kitchen table with my family, if you're playing the game, you play the game, whatever that entails.

“I think that going into this game, the other thing is the people who are also there, the other cast members, we have all been through the same process. And on numerous occasions, we have been made very aware of what the rules are, what the game is that we're letting ourselves in for. So, you're not doing it to unsuspecting people. You know that when they go in there, they know what the role is, and they know what the game is. What confuses it, of course, is because there's a money pot at the end of it. But genuinely, that doesn't bother me. I'm not in it for the money. And that's genuine. If I won the money, I wouldn't keep it.”

If her competitive nature helps her win the ultimate prize, Lisa says her winnings would be used on her sons and supporting her local area.

“I've got three sons so I'd probably help them out a little bit,” she said. “I have a friend who runs an animal charity in Ireland who I’d also like to help.

“My own parish church, we have an old vestry, that we want to convert into a community place so that we can have lunches for people who have been widowed, who are bereaved and want to come together. I'd like to open a Lego club for kids to come and be able to be creative. I am very fortunate in my life that I have a job, and I have a husband who has a good job and so I'm very blessed. It's not about the money for me genuinely. Well, okay, that's a lie. It would be lovely to win the money because I know that I could do some really positive things with it. But if I don't win the money, I'm not going to be heartbroken.”