Here's what's got me talking this week...
WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS
It's that time again when I tell you the five telly talking points of the week, and after dedicating last week's post to The Traitors, you'll be unsurprised to learn that the reality show still features heavily this week. And another warning, I do reveal what happened in the final, so if you haven't watched The Traitors yet, please don't scroll any further!
Aside from The Traitors, I was incredibly moved by a routine on Dancing on Ice, thrilled with Neflix's Harlan Coben-related news and delighted by This Morning's latest choice of co-host.
Here are my 5 telly talking points of the week...
1. "Everything that I’ve been through was worth it for this moment."
Adele Roberts' emotional debut skate on Dancing on Ice
I'll admit, that I'm not an avid watcher of Dancing on Ice, but I did catch some of it on Sunday night and there was one skate in particular which caught my attention more than any other and that was Adele Roberts' routine alongside partner Mark Hanretty to Clearly by Grace Vanderwaal.
Despite a trip on the ice by professional skater Mark (just goes to show you how slippery it is out there!) for a debut skate, I thought Adele did brilliantly with a beautiful routine that was moving, powerful and technically (in my non-professional opinion), hugely impressive for a first skate.
And it seemed the judges agreed, awarding her 27.5 out of 40, the highest score of the series so far, which was later matched by Eddie ‘The Eagle’ Edwards.
Watching the routine, I could really feel the emotion and commitment that Adele and Mark put into that and once they'd finished, you could see that Adele, as well as her fellow celebs and partner Kate were teary.
Former Big Brother contestant turned BBC Radio DJ Adele, was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer in October 2021, had the tumour removed in January 2022 and announced that she was "cancer-free" in June 2022 and ended her routine on Sunday night by saying "Everything that I’ve been through was worth it for this moment."
Former Big Brother contestant turned BBC Radio DJ Adele, was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer in October 2021, had the tumour removed in January 2022 and announced that she was "cancer-free" in June 2022. However, that wasn't the only emotion driving Adele's stunning performance as after the show, we found out that Adele had dedicated that routine to her late mother Jackie Roberts who had sadly passed away on 4th January 2024 at the age of 61.
Posting a photo and video of herself with her mother in hospital on Instagram, Adele wrote: "I didn’t want to say anything until I’d managed to get through our routine tonight. So apologies if it seemed I was overly emotional. My heart is broken and I miss my mum so much. Saying goodbye to her this week was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. My mum got to see the start of our routine… and tonight I wanted to finish it in her honour."
And she went on to thank Mark, writing "I know how much you wanted to help me do my mum proud and I know it would have been playing on your mind all night. You are incredible." You can see and read her full Instagram post here.
With several strong skaters this year, the competition is of course still very much wide open, but I'll be very surprised if, after that routine, we don't see Adele skating the Bolero in the final.
Dancing on Ice continues Sundays on ITV1 with all episodes so far available to watch on ITVX
2. Fan of Fool Me Once?
Two more Harlan Coben adaptations are coming to Netflix
Few television dramas are as addictive and gripping as a Harlan Coben adaptation, so if like me, you binged Fool Me Once in record time at the start of the year, binged Stay Close in record time in 2021, binged The Stranger in record time in 2020 and binged Safe in record time in 2018 then Monday's news was for you.
Following the recent success of Fool Me Once which launched on New Year's Day and reached the Top 10 in 91 countries worldwide, Netflix this week announced that they'd be adapting not one, but two more Harlan Coben novels into limited series; his 2014 novel Missing You and his 2019 novel Run Away.
Missing You follows what happens when 11 years after her fiancé Josh's disappearance, Detective Kat Donovan discovers the love of her life whilst swiping profiles on a dating app. Having not heard from him in 11 years, Kat's world explodes all over again when she suddenly sees his face.
Josh's reappearance will force her to dive back into the mystery surrounding her father’s murder and uncover long-buried secrets from her past.
Whilst Run Away follows Simon who had the perfect life. A loving wife and kids, a great job, and a beautiful home, but then his eldest daughter Paige ran away and everything fell apart.
So now when he finds her, vulnerable and strung out on drugs in a city park, he finally has the chance to bring his little girl home. But it turns out she’s not alone and an argument escalates into shocking violence that will shatter Simon’s life all over again.
His search for his daughter will take him into a dangerous underworld, revealing deep secrets that could tear his family apart forever.
Of course it's far too early to say when they will air, but with filming beginning this spring on Missing You, my most optimistic guess - and it really is just a guess - would be the start of 2025. With Run Away probably following in 2026.
Fool Me Once is available to watch now on Netflix
3. "This is so surreal!"
Sian Welby's promising debut co-hosting This Morning
If you'd had asked me last week who my frontrunners were in the apparent race to replace former hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, and host ITV's daytime show This Morning, my answer would have been Josie Gibson and Rylan Clark as well as Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary.
During 2023, Sian Welby made multiple appearances on This Morning, often delivering entertainment news and throughout the most recent series of I'm A Celebrity, daily updates from her very own 'Sian's Shack'.
The more she appeared on screen, the more convinced I was that one day the apparent producers' favourite would be asked to co-host. And sure enough, on the 17th January, it was announced that she'd spend the following week (Monday to Thursday) co-hosting with Dermot O'Leary.
Dubbed 'Megastar Monday', Sian was thrown straight in at the deep end with her first show, interviewing an incredible array of A-listers, including Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Kevin Hart. But with Dermot by her side and a wealth of experience on the Capital breakfast show, Sian proved herself to be a warm, confident and entertaining interviewer who guests and viewers alike seemed to love.
As a self-confessed fan of The Traitors, it appears that Sian picked a great week to co-host, as she got all the gossip from THAT castle from last year's unofficial winner Amanda and series two favourite Ross. And when it came to Thursday's show, it was a wonderful moment for the East Midlands when two of their biggest and brightest stars, Sian Welby and Vicky McClure finally got the chance to sit down and speak.
Whilst many have tried their hand at co-hosting ITV's flagship show in recent months, some. have worked, others haven't, but when Sian ended the show on Thursday with a goodbye, I was genuinely gutted that she wouldn't be back on Monday. But hopefully, it won't be too long before she'll be back alongside Dermot who is the perfect choice to sit alongside her.
Extremely likeable and still in the early stages of her career, a regular gig on This Morning would be perfect for Sian and her addition could just be what the show needs. So well done Sian on an excellent first week. Here's hoping it's the first of many!
This Morning continues Mondays to Fridays at 10am on ITV1
4. "...and that person was Diane."
Ross finally revealing that Diane is his mother in The Traitors
It wouldn't be Talking Points without something to do with The Traitors, and whilst the final WAS spectacular - more on that in the next talking point - there was one moment that we'd all been waiting for since episode three, and that's the moment it was revealed to the players that Ross was Diane's son.
Friday's episode ended with Ross being recruited by Traitors Andrew and Harry and after discovering who the Traitors were, we all thought Ross was about to avenge his mum Diane's murder. But sadly, when it came to the Round Table, Ross struggled to get out of the hot seat as he went head to head with Andrew and when it came to the vote, Ross received the most, becoming the next Traitor to be banished from the game.
But before Ross revealed his identity, he promised to leave the group "with one little easter egg" going on to reveal "I was actually the son of someone in this game.... and that person was Diane.”
With the secret now out, the players were left in total disbelief, but that soon turned into triumphant cheers when Ross confirmed that he was a Traitor... only not for very long, but for the game, that didn't really matter.
The Traitors is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer
5. "I'm the best Traitor in the world!"
Harry winning £95k in a sensational final episode of The Traitors
It was the runaway reality TV hit of 2022, and for the past four weeks, series two of The Traitors is all I've been able to talk about. And I think I've just about recovered from the final.
With record-breaking ratings, this series has been truly unmissable. Whilst the series began with 3m viewers (just shy of the 3.1m who watched the series one finale) the ratings grew to a high of 4.7m for the penultimate episode, before reaching 5.5m for the final and peaking at 6,9m for the closing five minutes.
And if you watched the episode, you'll know why. It was (along with Diane's funeral) one of the greatest reality TV episodes of all time as Andrew, Evie, Harry, Jaz and Mollie were in touching distance of taking home either all of or a share of, the prize pot. Which after the final mission, now stood at £95,150.
As the players entered the final Round Table, both Andrew and Evie's names were put forward, with Evie getting the majority vote and therefore the latest Faithful to be banished. But with two Traitors and two Faithfuls still in the game, Claudia told the players that they'd now be entering The End Game, where each player was given two ceremonial pouches and had to choose between ending the game or banishing again.
During the first round, all four players chose to banish again, with Andrew taking everyone by surprise by throwing Harry under the bus at the very last minute, suggesting that the only reason he was still in the game was because he was a Traitor. But with only Andrew voting for Harry and Jaz, Mollie and Harry voting for Andrew, Andrew was banished and announced to the group he was a Traitor.
During the second round, the three remaining players were asked again to select from their ceremonial pouches once more and whilst Mollie and Harry decided to end the game, Jaz decided to banish again, wanting to finish the game with only Mollie. And it was at that point that my heart rate was THROUGH. THE. ROOF.
We knew Jaz was going to vote for Harry and that Harry would return the favour and vote for Jaz, meaning that the decision on who would ultimately win The Traitors lay with Mollie who struggled to write a name down and after being convinced by Harry one final time, changed her vote, voting for Harry.
This of course meant that Jaz was banished and just Harry and Mollie remained. As the game came to an end, Mollie revealed she was a Faithful, and when Harry revealed he was a Traitor, Mollie - having earlier vowed to never speak to him again if it turned out that he was a Traitor - stormed out screaming "Fuck" leaving Harry to celebrate his win alone and promising to "gain her trust back".
Was Harry a worthy winner? In my opinion, absolutely. The Traitors is a game and as one of the original Traitors, he played it brilliantly and deserved every penny of that prize pot. I said it after series one, and series two DELIVERED, but series three has a lot to live up to!
The Traitors is available to watch now on BBC iPlayer