The Butler Games: Blacklist

Season Six logo

### Other Contestants

Vicky Duggan. Barnie Varnava, Andrew Hogg, Andy Benson, Kath Gleave, Lindsey Wootten, Olivia Williams, Ryan Frain-Walker, Michael Braithwaite

The Butler Games: Blacklist was the sixth season of The Butler Games.

The season took place on Saturday 29th February 2020 and lasted for eight rounds and a final vote. The season was won by Becca Plaistow.

Blacklist was themed around social gameplay and is perhaps most famous for the use of phones / social media to communicate in secret. This season also featured one of the most successful alliances in The Butler Games history - The Golden Alliance.

## The Players

This season featured 12 players.

Andrew HoggLindsey WoottenIain GregoryMichael BraithwaiteKath GleaveVicky DugganAndy BensonDan GrimaRyan Frain-WalkerOlivia WilliamsBarnie VarnavaRebecca Plaistow
## The Blacklist

The Blacklist was a secret list which ranks all players remaining in the game.

Each player started with a base of 5 Influence Points. They had to award this evenly among at least two other players. They could never award points to themselves.

Players earned more influence by winning competitions. Each competition won would allow the player 5 more points of influence to award each round. Upon being eliminated from the game, players could take away their influence from another player. This did not have to spit evenly and could be taken all from one player.

The Blacklist was kept secret were possible, in order to remain an enigma and source of paranoia for the players. Each nomination ceremony, the Blacklist would nominate one player for elimination. Most players assumed that the player with the least amount of points was nominated, when in reality it was the player with the most points choosing who they wish to nominate.

After the sixth round, when 7 players had been eliminated, the blacklist stops. The player who has the most points at this stage became the Head of House and automatically advanced to the semi-final.

## Immunity Idols

There were two immunity idols hidden in the game, these were shaped like 'lucky mice'.

The first idol was hidden inside a balloon among many other balloons in the bathtub. This was found by Ryan after he was nominated in the first round. The second idol was hidden less than a meter away from the first, inside a shampoo bottle which was cut in half but placed strategically so that it seemed normal until closer inspection. The second idol was never found.

Ryan used the idol to make himself immune for the first elimination.

## The Competitions

A total of 15 competitions were played across 8 rounds this season.

## The Game

### Pre Game

Before the game began, players were kept in the dark about the theme of the season, and were only hinted at that social game would be important. As a result, several alliances seemed to form over social media. Most notable was The Golden Alliance, which consisted of Becca, Andy, Barnie, Dan, Vicky, Hogg and Iain. Barnie had also tried to set up a second alliance with Olivia, Ryan, Mike and Kath, called the Islanders, but this remained unconfirmed until the games began. Lindsey was not asked to a part of any alliance and was unaware of the gameplay already taking place.

Minutes before the opening ceremony, Olivia discovered a secret advantage - The Trendsetter - which allowed her to rank her fellow players. The rankings would determine how many points they were awarded on The Blacklist. However, she was unaware of what the list was or how they rankings would work in this advantage. She ranked players as follows:

### Round One

During the introductions, Lindsey answered a phone call from New Zealand - the rest of the cast waited for her to finish her call, as she did not leave the room, but eventually just carried on with introductions without her.

The game officially started by announcing that there will be no tribal twist this season, and the first Head of House Competition, Flip War, was going to take place in heats. Barnie, Olivia, Vicky and Dan played the first heat, with Barnie taking the win. Becca won the second heat against Ryan, Kath and Hogg, and Andy won the third against Mike, Lindsey and Iain.

In the final heat; Barnie, Becca and Andy battled it out. Andy and Becca teamed up and often placed cups over Barnie's to ensure a win between them. However, Barnie had already decided to throw the challenge, and actively slowed down to ensure he would not be the first Head of House. After a tie between Becca and Andy resulted in a further 45 seconds of the game, Becca clinched the win in the final seconds and became the first Head of House.

The Golden Alliance confirmed they were going to work as a team and then discussed who best to nominate. Becca initially considered Ryan and Olivia, as they are a couple and will likely be working together. Other supported the idea, but Barnie suggested Lindsey instead of Olivia. This would minimize the blood on Becca's hands as it would just be her nominating the two previous winners.

At the nomination ceremony, before Becca could make her nominations, the first Blacklist twist took place. The players were informed that the player at the bottom of the list (with the least amount of points) would automatically be nominated for elimination. This was only true in this round.

Iain was nominated for elimination by the Blacklist, and HoH Becca nominated Ryan and Lindsey.

In the Power of Veto challenge, Skittle Rascals - in which players had to sort skittles according to colour with only one hand - players were informed that 'buzzing in' incorrectly would eliminate you from the challenge. Kath and Dan joined Becca, Iain, Lindsey and Ryan as the veto players.

Lindsey was out the challenge first, followed by Dan, Ryan and Kath. In the final round, between Iain and Becca, Iain buzzed in first but had not realised he had not sorted a purple skittle, and was therefore eliminated from the challenge. Becca won the Power of Veto and although tempted to save Iain, did not want to risk the Blacklist nominating another member of her alliance. She decided not to use it.

Prior to the vote, Ryan was confident he was going to be eliminated and began to search for the hidden immunity idol. Hiding in a balloon in the bathtub, Ryan found the idol. Having found the idol on his own, he decided not to risk the information leaking and kept the idol find to himself.

The Golden Alliance were unsure whether to vote out Lindsey or Ryan, but wanted to vote the same way to ensure Iain's safety. They decided to vote for Ryan, fearing his alliance with Olivia and thinking that Lindsey could be an ally later in the game.

All players voted in the first elimination ceremony.

*(Nominated: Iain, Lindsey and Ryan)*

Prior to the votes being read, Ryan played his hidden immunity idol. This negated a whopping 7 votes against him and stopped him from being eliminated from the game.

With 4 out of 12 votes, Lindsey was the first player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. She left the game with 5 influence points, which she subtracted from Becca (-3) and Andy (-2).

### Round Two

At the start of Round Two, players participated in The Blacklist for the first time. Each player had influence points that they had to split between at least two other players. Olivia became the first Influencer of the game, being at the top of the Blacklist with a total of 18 points. As Influencer, she could secretly nominate any player of her choice. The nominated player would be unaware of Olivia's involvement and be informed they were nominated as they were at the bottom of the list. Olivia nominated Becca for elimination, she shared this information with Kath, Mike and Barnie (who kept it quiet from his other alliance).

All remaining players competed in the Colour Code Head of House competition. This came down to a tiebreaker between Mike and Dan, with Dan getting the closest to the correct answer and winning the veto.

Unsure of who to nominate, Dan conferred with his alliance. They decided to once again target Ryan, with either Olivia or Mike as the second nominee. Barnie swayed the alliance away from secret ally Olivia, and convinced the others that Mike was a bigger threat. Unknown to Mike, he became the main target for the Golden Alliance.

In the nomination ceremony, Mike and Ryan joined blacklist nominee Becca on the block.

In the Power of Veto challenge, Fear Pong, players were awarded 'prizes' upon elimination from the challenge, which could be stolen by the next player eliminated etc. Andy came 6th in the challenge and was awarded the 'Scurrying Off' prize, meaning he would not be allowed to play in the next Head of House competition. Kath finished in 5th place, and won the 'I smell a rat' prize, allowing her to make one elimination vote public over the next three rounds. Dan came 4th and was awarded 'The Big Cheese' prize, giving him 10 extra points on the Blacklist.

Ryan came third in the challenge and unlocked 'The Rodent Power of Veto'. In the final round, Mike scored a 1, but got lucky when Becca missed the shot and scored 0, meaning he won the challenge. Becca won the 'Plan of Rat-tack' prize, which was a veto ticket for the next veto competition and Mike unlocked the 'Caught in a trap prize' which meant the player who received the prize would not be able vote in the elimination ceremony. Mike could switch his prize with any player he wanted, and thinking he had the votes to save himself, decided not to steal the veto from Ryan, and instead swapped with Becca. This meant that she would be unable to vote in the next elimination ceremony and they might have the numbers to eliminate her from the game.

Prior to the veto ceremony, the Golden alliance scrambled on who to put up for elimination. Hogg volunteered to go onto the block, in an attempt to keep the alliance a secret. This also could cause the others to split the votes and ensure Becca and Hogg remain safe. At the veto ceremony, Ryan vetoed his nomination and Hogg took his place on the block.

However, Hogg was unsure how loyal his alliance were and did not want to risk being eliminated, even if it meant eliminating an ally....

*(Nominated: Mike, Becca and Hogg)*

With 5 votes each, the vote was tied. All players but the two nominees were required to vote again. After receiving no votes to eliminate, Hogg was safe. He decided to keep the Golden Alliance 7 strong and was the only player who switched their vote in the revote.

With 6 out 9 votes in the revote, Mike was the second player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. He left the game with 10 influence points and chose to subtract them from Andy (-2), Becca (-4) and Vicky (-4).

### Round Three

Players participated in The Blacklist once again. Barnie was informed he had become the new influencer, topping the list with 26 points. Knowing that one of their seven switched and voted Becca in the last vote, Barnie worried that Iain was now working with the others. He nominated him for elimination via the Blacklist.

In the Head of House challenge, Know It All, Barnie won the challenge after being the only player to guess 'Banana' in a simple question of 'Apples or Bananas?'. Caught between his two alliances, Barnie was forced to finally pick sides and nominated Ryan and Kath for elimination.

In the Power of Veto competition; Olivia and Becca joined nominees Iain, Kath and Ryan, and Head of House Barnie, in playing Cocktail Cockfight. This game involved players having to knock a drink of the other players tray.

In the first game, Iain and Kath were chosen to compete. Kath quickly stood on a chair to give her a height advantage over Iain, and knocked him out of the challenge. She chose Barnie and Olivia to compete next, and ex-bartender Olivia made it look easy as she sent Barnie out of the challenge. However, Ryan was less lucky, losing out to Becca in the third game, who then chose allies Kath and Olivia to compete against each other. Kath beat Olivia (who really did not want to compete against her) and moved onto the final round against Becca. In the last round of the veto competition, Becca just managed to win against Kath, with both girls losing their cups but Kath's hitting the ground first.

At the Veto Ceremony, the Power of Veto was not used and the nominees remained the same - Ryan, Kath and Iain. The Golden Alliance were once again in command, knowing that if all seven of them vote together, they could pick who is eliminated. Unsure if Ryan had another idol, they considered voting Kath out instead, a move the others would not be expecting.

Prior to the elimination ceremony, Kath decided to use her 'I Smell a Rat' advantage and forced Dan's vote to be announced publicly. She debated using this on Barnie instead, but felt like she already knew where his allegiances were. This vote confirmed for Kath and Olivia that there was a big dominating alliance taking place in the game.

*(Nominated: Ryan, Kath and Iain)*

 Barnie
 Becca
 Dan
 Hogg
 Iain
 Kath
 Olivia
 Ryan
 Vicky

With 8 out of 10 votes, Ryan was the third player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. He left the game with 5 influence points, which he subtracted from Andy (-3) and Barnie (-2).

### Round Four

Following Ryan's elimination from the game, Barnie confessed to Olivia about the Golden Alliance and offered for her to join them and help him take out the other players when the time came. She was tempted, but did not want to turn on Kath.

Players participated in The Blacklist for the third time. Dan was given the power of Influencer, having the most points on the list at 35. He nominated Kath for elimination, growing concerned for a potential Battleback competition that could mean Mike would return to the game.

The Battleback was in fact on its way, and the three jurors returned to the game dressed as rats. In The Rat-tleback challenge, each juror had to choose a team to assist in the first part of the challenge - Moving on Cup - and then were on their own for the second part - a tangram puzzle. The jurors chose players in a schoolyard pick, by order they were eliminated; Lindsey chose Barnie, Becca and Vicky; Mike chose Kath, Andy and Hogg; and Ryan had Olivia, Dan and Iain.

Prior to the challenge, Dan tried to communicate with Hogg to get him to sabotage Mike's chances of returning to the game. However, Hogg could not understand what Dan was trying to say. During the challenge, Dan purposefully dropped his cups, to slow down Ryan's progress. Mike's team was the first to complete the cups, but Lindsey was the first to find the key and unlock her puzzle pieces. In an epic showdown, Lindsey was able to complete the tangram first and returned to the game. This was Lindsey's fourth time winning the battleback.

The game quickly moved into the Head of House challenge - And Then There Was One... - a new social themed challenge where players pointed and voted others out of the challenge. Olivia was eliminated first, followed by Lindsey and Kath. The Alliance turned on Iain next, still unsure of his allegiances. Hogg then suggested that they now vote out the players who have won Head of House in the past, to ensure they are all doing their bit. This resulted in Dan, Barnie and Becca being voted out respectively. This annoyed Barnie, who had since approached Hogg and created a Final Three deal with him and Dan - Double Deuce. Andy, Hogg and Vicky remained in the game, Andy volunteered to be third, meaning he would choose who the winner was. Hogg wanting to win so he could make a move against the alliance, risked a Rock Paper Scissors with Vicky. He lost and Andy removed Hogg from the challenge. Vicky became the fourth Head of House.

Unsure of who to choose, Vicky spoke to Barnie for advice. After being informed that Kath was already nominated by Influencer Dan, Vic decided to stay true to The Golden Alliance and nominated Olivia and Lindsey for elimination.

In the Power of Veto challenge, Tic Tac Throw, Andy and Barnie were chosen to join the HoH and nominees. Lindsey was eliminated by Olivia in the first round, Vicky was eliminated by Kath, Barnie eliminated by Andy and Kath was eliminated by Olivia. In the final round, Olivia and Andy went head to head, with Andy ultimately winning the veto competition. He decided not to use the Power of Veto and the nominations remained the same.

Prior to the vote, the three nominees all searched for the hidden immunity idol to no avail.

*(Nominated: Olivia, Lindsey and Kath)*

 Barnie
 Becca
 Dan
 Hogg
 Iain
 Kath
 Lindsey
 Olivia
 Vicky

With 6 out of 9 votes, Olivia became the fourth player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. This vote was the first time Olivia was voted out of the games and the second time that Lindsey had cast a vote to eliminate herself (although this time as an act of defiance against the dominating alliance).

Olivia left the game with 5 influence points which she subtracted from Andy (-5).

### Round Five

At the start of Round Five, players were informed that they would not be participating in The Blacklist this round, instead they would participate in The Game Changer. The five players at the bottom of the Blacklist at the end of this round will automatically face elimination for a triple elimination.

Each player had their score on the blacklist revealed; with Hogg topping the list at 45 pts, followed by Dan (43pts), Barnie (42pts), Vicky (37pts), Kath (35pts), Andy (24pts), Becca (23pts), Iain (18pts) and Lindsey (15pts) at the bottom. Players had to choose scrolls and perform the action it stated (e.g. steal 10 points, give 10 points etc.). The Golden Alliance picked on Kath, with Lindsey being mostly left alone during the challenge (including when players had to give points to others). Becca, Dan and Hogg also took a hit to their points. Andy was the last player to choose a golden scroll and had to option to swap two players total's. He chose to swap Kath's 35pts with Becca's remaining 9pts.

In the second part of The Game Changer, Jury members could choose a scroll and perform its actions. Olivia chose the final scroll and was able to bankrupt a player of her choice. She chose to bankrupt Andy, leaving him with 0 points in the blacklist.

Hogg remained the highest scorer and became the Head of House, making him immune from elimination during the triple elimination. Andy, Kath, Barnie, Lindsey and Dan were nominated, with Vicky, Becca and Iain safe, but eligible to go up as a replacement nominee.

In To The Nines veto challenge, all players except the Head of House competed. Vicky won a total of three rounds, winning the veto and securing her safety for the triple elimination. Barnie tried to convince her to use the veto on him but as per the rules of the triple elimination, Vicky would then have to choose the replacement nominee between Becca and Iain. She was not prepared to turn on her alliance with others still remaining in the game and decided not to use the Power of Veto.

Prior to the vote, players were informed they would be voting to save, not eliminate. Becca crafted a plan to try and ensure safety for the alliance.She worked out who each player should vote for to ensure the alliance was safe and Lindsey, Kath and Dan would be eliminated. Unfortunately, no one followed that plan...

*(Nominated: Andy, Lindsey, Kath, Dan and Barnie)*

 Barnie
 Becca
 Dan
 Hogg
 Iain
 Kath
 Lindsey
 Vicky

Kath later commented that as she was voting, she had forgotten it was a vote to save and instead wanted to vote to eliminate Andy from the game.

With no votes to save, Lindsey was once again eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. She had 10 influence points which she subtracted from Barnie (-5) and Dan (-5).

With just 1 of 9 votes to save, Kath was the sixth player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. She had 5 influence points which she subtracted from Vicky (-5).

With Kath and Lindsey out of the game, this meant that only the members of The Golden Alliance remained in the game.

As Dan and Andy both had two votes to save, a revote took place:

*(Nominated: Andy and Dan)*

 Becca
 Hogg
 Iain
 Vicky

With 1 of 5 votes to save, Andy became the seventh player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. He was the first member of The Golden Alliance eliminated and had a total of 10 influence points. He subtracted all 10 from Hogg (-10).

### Round Six

Players once again participated in The Blacklist. Despite losing 10 points from Andy's elimination, Hogg remained the Influencer and secretly nominated Vicky for elimination. He stated she was simply the player he had interacted with the least and did not know where her loyalties lay. He informed Dan and Barnie of this, having been previously invited to join their alliance - Double Deuce.

Dan and Barnie had become suspicious of Hogg and instead created a new final three deal with fellow Warrington Alliance member Iain. Barnie also still had a final two deal with Dan and Vicky.

In the Baller Move Head of House competition, Barnie was triumphant and nominated Becca and Hogg for elimination alongside Vicky. Hogg thought it suspicious that Barnie had nominated him over Iain, and felt like he was in trouble.

For the Mastermind Map veto challenge, players were joined by jury members to complete a mind map puzzle about themselves. Iain chose to team up with Ryan, Hogg chose Mike, Becca chose Lindsey, Barnie chose Andy, Dan picked Olivia and Vicky was paired with Kath. Ryan and Mike considered lying to ensure certain players would not do well in the challenge. It is unconfirmed whether Mike did in fact go through with this plan, as he and Hogg ended the challenge on the lowest score. It is also possible that they simply did not know the answers as both had only met some of the players for the first time that day.

Lindsey was almost removed from the challenge for cheating, as she kept trying to look answers up on social media. Barnie had anticipated a challenge similar and had already done his homework prior to the games beginning. The final scores were:

 JUROR
 SCORE

Barnie and Andy won the veto and Barnie chose not to change the nominations.

Becca was unsure how the votes would fall and campaigned to stay in the game. She had previously bonded with Vicky, being the only two girls left in the game and felt she could count on her vote, especially as she was a fellow nominee. She knew the game had shifted and players were now beginning to think about endgame, and who they want to be up against in the final. She tried to convince Dan and Barnie that Hogg was a bigger threat socially, as he was popular on the Blacklist and had very little blood on his hands.

*(Nominated: Becca, Hogg and Vicky)*

 Becca
 Dan
 Hogg
 Iain
 Vicky

With 4 out of 6 votes to eliminate, Hogg was the eighth player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. He left the game with 10 influence points, choosing to subtract all 10 from Barnie (-10).

### Round Seven

At the start of Round Seven, players were informed that they were no longer being governed by The Blacklist. However there was one last twist. The player with the most points on the list would automatically become the new Head of House, guaranteeing themselves a spot in the semi-final... Vicky had 55 points (7 points higher than any other player) and became the Head of House.

She was in a difficult position, with all the players remaining in the game being her allies. She nominated Dan and Iain for elimination. As the Blacklist twist was over, there was no other nominee this round.

In the Dice, Dice, Baby Power of Veto challenge, the jurors once again returned to compete. If a jury member won the veto, they could do with it what they choose. One by one jurors dropped out the challenge, with only players Becca, Dan and Iain remaining. Becca won the final veto challenge of the season, securing her a space in the semi-final.

She was unsure whether to use the veto, but knew that if she used it to save Dan or Iain, then Barnie would have to go up as the only eligible replacement. Although Barnie had betrayed many players and alliances this season, Becca still considered him a threat should he be in the final two. She spoke with Iain, and decided to use the veto to save him, provided Iain would vote with her to eliminate Barnie from the game.

*(Nominated: Barnie and Dan - As there are only two nominees, neither of them had a vote)*

 Iain
 Vicky

With 2 out of 3 votes, Barnie became the ninth player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. As the twist was now over, he did not get to subtract any points from another player. It is highly likely he would have taken these from Becca or Iain.

### Round Eight

In Round Eight, the four remaining players had to compete in the final Head of House challenge - Blacklist Battleflip. This involved flipping cups to reveal a number, unlocking puzzle pieces and then searching the house for clues to solve the puzzle. The players had to order everyone who played the game dependent on the points they earned on the Blacklist. The last player to complete the puzzle would be purged from the game. The player who completes the puzzle first would advance to the final, and would have to choose who out of the other two who to bring to the final with them and who they should eliminate from the game.

The challenge was difficult, players were mostly neck and neck during the first part of the challenge. Becca was the first to have all her cups flipped, with Dan being the first to unlock his puzzle pieces.

Becca was the first player to complete the challenge, and became the last Head of House of the season. Dan finished it next followed by Iain. Vicky had completed the puzzle just seconds after Iain, but was purged from the game.

Vicky was the tenth player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist. She did not receive a single vote to eliminate throughout the game.

In the final elimination ceremony, Becca had to choose whether she wanted to eliminated Dan or Iain. The player she did not eliminate would go to the final with her. She stated that both players had been worthy opponents but tactically she has decided to eliminate Dan from the game.

With just 1 vote, Dan became the eleventh player eliminated from The Butler Games: Blacklist.

### Final Vote

Before the final vote, each player was given the opportunity to give a speech to convince the players to vote for them to win. Becca went first and explained that she had been tactical and worked hard to get to the end of the game. She apologized for 'being a total bitch' to some of the players, but explained that she did what she had to do to stay in the game. Iain began his speech by thanking the players for being part of the game tonight, he stated how he exploited the social aspect of the game more, and although he admitted to being less tactical than Becca he felt as though he had still played a solid game, particularly after sobering up on pizza.

*(Finalists: Becca and Iain)*

With 7 out of 10 votes, Becca was crowned the winner of The Butler Games: Blacklist.

## The Prizes

This season, players once again brought prizes as a contribution to the winner. The grand prize consisted of: a pineapple, a pineapple inflatable, pineapple lights, a wind-up woody toy, a bottle of strawberry liquor, a nerf gun, a gin set, Vladimir Putin's guide to life, a cross-stitch 'twat', a Trophy, some cheesestrings and the Butler Games: Blacklist winners mug.

## Trivia

* The first season not to feature the tribal twist.
* The first season not to feature the challenge Scrabble Scramble.
* The first season to feature the following competitions: Flip War, Cocktail Cockfight and And Then There Was One...
* The first season to feature players Andrew Hogg, Vicky Duggan, Andy Benson, Kath Gleave and Michael Braithwaite.
* This season holds the record for the most amount of times in a row that the Power of Veto was not used. For 4 rounds in a row the veto was not used and nominees remained the same.