Coronation Street actress Julie Hesmondhalgh was banished from The Celebrity Traitors as another player’s fate loomed in the hands of the murderous trio.

The 56-year-old actress received the majority of votes during Friday night’s episode of the BBC reality game show and was forced to leave the Scottish castle.

While revealing her true identity, Hesmondhalgh told her fellow contestants: “You know how much I have loved every second of this experience.

“It has been immense.

“Alas it may mean that I am not a phenomenal actor, I am indeed a faithful.”

The three traitors, TV host Maya Jama, comedian James Acaster and mathematician Hannah Fry, were told by host Claudia Winkleman to choose four contestants to play a deadly game of hide-and-seek, with one of them killed face to face.

Comedians and best friends Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett were picked, along with singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock and actor Ross Kemp, and told to hide in a castle crypt in the forest.

Before being sent out, Winkleman told the players that they had a chance of survival by deciding among them who would have a special key which would prevent the traitors from being able to murder them. They agreed to give the key to Pinnock.

Earlier in the episode, the Last Of Us star Bella Ramsey became the second faithful to be murdered on the series.

As Ramsey learned their fate, they said: “Oh yes. Thought this might be occurring.

“I think this is a clever move by the traitors. I was going to reset and start from the beginning because I got it so wrong with Myha’la.

“I think that they were right to murder me because I think I would have maybe figured it out.

“I hope the faithful win. I really do. I feel very very attached to the faithful now. Good night. This is the end.”

Industry actress and faithful Myha’la received the majority of votes from her fellow celebrities and was banished from the castle in Thursday night’s episode.

When the series launched last week, broadcaster Amol Rajan become the first faithful to be murdered.

Actor Richard E Grant was then banished from the castle after his fellow contestants grew suspicious of him for telling them within minutes of the traitors being picked that he was one of them.

This was the first time a traitor had been caught during the first roundtable in a UK version of the popular international franchise.

The third episode of this series enjoyed a peak audience of 10.3 million people.

The Celebrity Traitors returns on Thursday at 8pm on BBC One.