Traitors winner Meryl Williams forced to hide on train after comments by teens

The Traitors season one winner Meryl Williams has said four teenagers making comments about her dwarfism forced her to hide in the toilet of a train.

Williams, a former call centre agent who shared the £101,050 prize cash with two other finalists on the BBC show, said she was travelling in north-east England when the young people got on board.

In a TikTok post on Monday, she said she was “hiding in the toilets” to get away from “four teenagers that are sitting opposite me, and giving me abuse”.

She said: “I got on the train, they sat opposite me because I’m sitting on the seats with tables, and so far they’ve said that I need a stepladder to get on the train, I need a stepladder to get off the train, I’m a midget, they’ve watched dwarf throwing, they’ve taken videos of me, they’ve taken photos of me, they said I’ve got sausage fingers, and they’ve laughed at me.

“This is all in the space of 10 minutes. I’m on my own right now. Everyone around me has witnessed this, heard this, and no one’s said anything. I don’t know what to do.

“So I thought, I know they’re getting off at Durham, and right now they got on at Newcastle.

“I’m going to wait in the toilet until the Durham stop, and then I’ll go out.”

Williams said living with dwarfism means she is an easy target because people “notice you straight away”.

She had previously told STV’s Good Morning Britain that she had received “some negative comments” after appearing on The Traitors in 2023 but was able to deal with it as she had experienced this on a “day-to-day basis”.

Williams, 28, said that by doing the BBC psychological reality show she had hoped to change people’s perceptions so they are kinder “if they see someone in public with my condition”.

The first series of the competition, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, was won by comedian Hannah Byczkowski and property agent Aaron Evans, alongside Edinburgh-based Williams.

The trio managed to figure out that Wilfred Webster was the “traitor” who, if he had been left at the end of the competition, would have taken the whole jackpot.

In 2023, Williams was nominated for a Bafta audience prize for favourite Scot on screen, along with actor Brian Cox and Strictly Come Dancing winner Hamza Yassin.

The award was won by Karen Pirie actress Lauren Lyle.

South African Williams also hosts the You & Me Podcast with Married At First Sight star Erica Roberts.

British Transport Police have been contacted for comment about the train incident.