The Traitors winner Jake Brown has admitted that he was ashamed of having cerebral palsy when he was younger but is now proud of it.
The 28-year-old, who works as a project manager in Cumbria, successfully engineered his way to the final of the most recent series as a Faithful, sharing the £94,600 prize pot with Leanne Quigley.
Brown chose to keep his condition, which affects movement and grip, from his fellow players until later in the competition, first opening up to Alexander Dragonetti when he was struggling to hold on to an item during a challenge.
"All my life I have tried to hide it and especially when I was younger, I used to be a bit ashamed of it," he told the Daily Mail.
"I just wanted to be normal and it wasn't till I was older I realised I am normal. It's part of who I am, it makes me who I am. I wouldn't be me without it.
"I think it's good to be open and not ashamed of it. I want people watching at home to think, if they have got a disability, no matter what it is, be proud of it."
Discussing the difficult task, which involved carrying statues up a hill, he continued: "In that challenge, I was struggling with my grip and I kept dropping the statues and I just thought 'I shouldn't suffer in silence', and now I'm more confident.
"I told Alexander and it was a weight off my shoulders. The rest of the mission after that felt like a breeze, even though I was still struggling, it felt like now I've told my piece and it just felt much better."
"I didn't wanna be that person that's like, 'by the way I've got a disability'," he added. "That's not me, I wanted to be myself. I don't want someone's first impression of me to be, 'It's Jake, the guy with cerebral palsy.' I want them to think 'That's Jake. He's a lovely guy.' Even though I'm proud of my disability, it doesn't define me."
Brown added that he intends to spend his winnings by treating his parents and going on holiday with his wife.
Neil Wilkes
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