After a gripping three-week journey filled with betrayal and strategy, Rachel Duffy and Stephen Libby are inching towards the climax of The Traitors, where their ultimate fate awaits.

Having expertly dodged exposure, the pair has emerged as audience favorites. Friday’s episode promises to reveal if one or both will triumph, claiming the prize money from any remaining Faithfuls.

Despite their strong performance, betting odds are mixed about their chances. The Faithfuls are favored with odds of 1/2, while the Traitors face longer odds at 6/4.

Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati shared with the Daily Mail, “Rachel faces an uphill battle after last night’s intense questioning, and although Stephen remains elusive, the odds lean towards the Faithfuls capturing their third victory in four years.”

Conversely, Betway positions the Traitors as frontrunners, offering odds of 8/15 for their win.

It’s fair to say that Rachel and Stephen have had a stressful few weeks in the Scottish Highlands, but away from the turret, their lives are far more fun. 

After three weeks of murder, deceit and throwing Faithfuls under the bus, Rachel Duffy and Stephen Libby’s fate will finally be sealed in the finale of The Traitors

Rachel 

When the BBC cameras aren’t rolling, Rachel, a mother of three from Newry in Northern Ireland, is a fun-loving party animal with a penchant for knocking back shots, performing karaoke and dolling herself up in glitter.

An associate of the 43-year-old communications director told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Rachel is the life and soul of any party. She gets on with everyone and just loves having a good time.’ You can read more here. 

Rachel who works as Head of Communications in County Down is also fiercely competitive and underwent four months of FBI training before filming began.

She is certainly not afraid to be brutal when playing the game and has practiced her poker face when lying to her husband.

‘I will do anything to win. Nothing’s off the table.

‘It’s very black and white for me. If it’s a game, I would do anything at all to win. They’ve all signed up to a game with a very obvious name on it. If they don’t get the memo, you’re on the wrong show.’

‘My husband can’t even tell if I’m telling the truth anymore, not that I lie to him all that often, but I could wind him up and say something off the cuff, and he’s like, I don’t even know if that’s true!’

When the BBC cameras aren’t rolling, Rachel, a mother of three from Newry in Northern Ireland, is a fun-loving party animal with a penchant for knocking back shots

An associate of the 43-year-old communications director told The Mail on Sunday: ‘Rachel is the life and soul of any party. She gets on with everyone’

Rachel revealed she would spend the prize money making memories with her mother, Anne, 70, who has dementia 

Rachel also lost her beloved father, Raymond Mullen, in 2016 when he was 67. Her Facebook profile picture is a photograph of him walking her up the aisle on her wedding day

Rachel revealed she would spend the prize money making memories with her mother, Anne, 70, who has dementia. 

She said: ‘Mummy was just 47 when she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s, four years older than I am now, and faces dementia, but still amazes me and my family every single day.’

She said that if she were to go all the way and win the money, she would spend it on Anne. Rachel added: ‘I just want to create memories with her while I’m still lucky enough to have her, and to create memories with my kids, because they just love their nanny.’

In a poignant photograph, Anne is seen proudly holding up a T-shirt which says ‘My daughter’s a traitor’ on the front. 

Rachel also lost her beloved father, Raymond Mullen, in 2016 when he was 67. Her Facebook profile picture is a photograph of him walking her up the aisle on her wedding day.

The pair were exceptionally close and she was devastated when he died. Her older brother is Darren Mullen, who was the manager of football club Newry City, and she also has two other brothers, Neil and Shane, and a sister called Joanne.

Stephen 

Stephen lives in London with his boyfriend and has been catching viewers eyes with his bold ensembles

Stephen lives in London with his boyfriend and has been catching viewers eyes with his bold ensembles. 

The Scottish Cyber Security Consultant is a keen traveller and has enjoyed trips to Japan, Vietnam, Spain and New York in recent years.

Stephen threw a party for his friends and loved ones during the launch episode, with eagle-eyed fans spotting in the video he has a famous pal. 

Sitting among the guests was comedian Lou Sanders, who won the eighth series of Taskmaster in 2019 while last year, she appeared in Prime Video series Last One Laughing.

On social media, rumours cropped up that Lou was the landlord of Stephen and his actor boyfriend Daniel Quirke.

A fan wrote: ‘Stephen’s landlord is Lou Sanders so he’s certainly got some connections that could help him launch a career from the show.’

Clearing up this misconception, Daniel responded: ‘Can confirm she is not our landlord, just a friend of ours.’

Daniel is also a rising star and has appeared on shows such as Brave New World, The Sandman and Geek Girl.’ 

Stephen threw a party for his friends and loved ones during the launch episode, with eagle-eyed fans spotting in the video he has a famous pal – Lou Saunders – front 

The Scottish Cyber Security Consultant is a keen traveller and has enjoyed trips to Japan, Vietnam, Spain and New York in recent years

Stephen’s boyfriend Daniel is also a rising star and has appeared on shows such as Brave New World, The Sandman and Geek Girl’

Stephen previously credited Daniel with helping him unleash his competitive side. 

He told the BBC:  ‘Funnily enough, I was an “It’s the taking part that counts’ kind of person. And then I met my partner, and him and his family are vile when it comes to games. 

‘There are no holds barred, and it gets a bit heated. I had to learn to be equally committed, and now they’ve awakened something in me that I never knew was there before! 

‘I could never have pictured myself six years ago applying for something like this.’

So dedicated was Stephen to win The Traitors that he re-watched former series to get a game plan together.

‘I’ve been re-watching just to kind of get my head in the game and examine the certain things that people have done that were so normal to them but others found weird, so looking out for those little things that might arouse suspicion,’ he said.

Self-proclaimed ‘control freak’ Stephen added that he would love to be a Traitor: ‘I can be a bit of a control freak, and I feel like as a Traitor, it really is the best way to take control of the game. 

‘Your chances of going home are slashed by 50 percent because you can only go out by banishment.’

The Traitors finale airs at 8.30pm on BBC One and iPlayer