The Traitors returned on Thursday evening with a gripping episode full of twists and turns. Beyond the newly unveiled Secret Traitor element, viewers discovered not one but two family bonds among the participants, set to impact the game in multiple ways.

The most shocking disclosure came halfway through when Roxy announced that Judy is her mother, echoing the memorable series two moment where Diane stunned everyone by revealing Ross as her son.

This time, Roxy was speaking to the camera, describing her protective feelings towards her fellow contestant. Yet eagle-eyed viewers have spotted that she inadvertently gave away the secret far earlier during the opening challenge.

Contestants were tasked with searching a massive loch for 12 treasure-laden coffins hidden amongst a hundred fakes, and during a tense moment, Roxy shouted instructions to her mother, who had raised her from the age of four.

"Stop, mum," she yelled. "Stop, stop, stop, guys!" Viewers were astonished that the other contestants seemed to overlook this revealing blunder, reports Wales Online.

"Roxy called out 'Mum' in the boat. How did they not hear her?" asked one viewer. Another remarked: "How on Earth did no one else clock Roxy shouting 'Mum' on the boat?"

Fans believed that 'surely one of them in the boat' must have caught what she said, whilst other watchers were relishing the potential pandemonium. One viewer remarked: "This is gonna be so much fun." Another baffled fan questioned: "I thought it was a secret, but Roxy called Judy 'Mum' in the challenge?"

Others felt their suspicions confirmed after spotting the uncomfortable exchange, with one writing: "'Because she's my mum,' I KNEW IT, Roxy accidentally called Judy mum during the challenge #TheTraitors."

Some enthusiasts are already keenly awaiting someone raising the awkward slip-up at the roundtable, despite nobody addressing it in the moment.

Mike Cotton, creative director at production company Studio Lambert, admitted that the possibility for such revelations is what renders the civilian series far more unpredictable than its celebrity counterpart.

"One of the great things about the regular series is the contestants can come in with secrets, whether that's about their lives or secret relationships," he revealed to the BBC. "We never know when we're going to deploy it. When we're going into filming, we go in and wait to see how it plays out."

In a separate development, audiences witnessed two participants recognising one another as they emerged from vehicles at the start, with Ross and Netty discovering their connection through a shared acquaintance, despite not having met for years.

Mike has verified producers cast them as individuals, unaware of any prior link between them. "We do really lengthy background checks on who takes part, and as part of that, we discovered that they (Netty and Ross) follow each other on social media,' he explained.

"So we knew there was a tenuous link, but we didn't know whether they would recognise each other, or how they would react."

The Traitors continues tonight at 8pm on BBC One.

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