BBC The Traitors website down as Ross Kemp faces 'yawn to death' cliffhanger
Fans desperate to discover whether Ross Kemp or Jerry Hall has been murdered in The Celebrity Traitors face an unexpected setback after the BBC show's website went offline on the day of its next episode.
The website for the hugely popular BBC One programme was among several reported to be unavailable amid a major cybersecurity scare affecting websites across the UK and Europe.
The timing could hardly be worse for fans of The Celebrity Traitors, who have been waiting six days to discover the outcome of one of the show's most bizarre cliffhangers.
Tonight's episode (Thursday, October 22) at 8pm will finally reveal whether Ross Kemp or Jerry Hall has fallen victim to an unusual murder plot involving deadly sleeping powder and an involuntary yawn.
Friday's instalment ended with viewers left guessing whether either celebrity had been successfully targeted by the three remaining Traitors, Maya Jama, James Acaster and King Kenny.
Their extraordinary mission was to murder a Faithful in plain sight by literally boring them to death.
Kenny was tasked with finding a hidden bottle of supposedly deadly sleeping powder and spraying it in a room before the Traitors lured unsuspecting contestants inside.
They then had to make one of their victims yawn, ask whether they were boring them and say their name to complete the murder.
Ross Kemp and Jerry Hall walked into the trap, with Maya and James desperately making conversation and repeatedly yawning themselves in the hope of triggering the same reaction.
But just as both contestants appeared increasingly tired, the episode ended without revealing whether either had succumbed.
The cliffhanger followed another dramatic Round Table in which comedian Joe Lycett was banished despite being a Faithful.
His departure left the three Traitors undiscovered, with the latest attempted murder threatening to reduce the number of innocent players still further.
Why is The Traitors website offline?
The BBC website disruption comes amid an international security alert over serious vulnerabilities in PHP, a programming language widely used to power websites.
Organisations have been urged to install emergency security updates, with some temporarily taking websites offline as a precaution.
Several UK council websites have also experienced problems, while the BBC's Doctor Who website was reportedly affected.
However, the BBC has not confirmed whether the outages affecting its programme websites are directly connected to the PHP security issue.
There is no indication that the problems will prevent The Celebrity Traitors from being broadcast on BBC One or made available through BBC iPlayer.
The next episode airs at 8pm on Thursday, October 22, when viewers should finally discover whether Ross Kemp or Jerry Hall has been bored to death, or whether the Traitors' elaborate murder plot has failed.