The Traitors star Charlotte Chilton has broken her silence after explosive rumours suggested she slept with fellow contestant Jonny Holloway around the same time as her brief fling with singer Conor Maynard.
Over the past year, Charlotte, 32, has been embroiled in a paternity drama with the influencer and musician, Conor, also 32.
Just before giving birth to her daughter Penelope in October, Charlotte publicly announced Conor as the father, explaining they’d been introduced by her castmate Harry Clark, whose girlfriend is Conor’s younger sister, Anna.
But, in March, Conor revealed that a paternity test confirmed he was not Penelope’s father, with a second taken in August.
Charlotte still maintains that Maynard is the father of her daughter, and as a result, Conor went public with claims that Charlotte slept with Jonny Holloway around the time of Penelope’s conception.
Charlotte spoke exclusively to The Sun to set the record straight about Jonny’s rumoured involvement.
‘It feels like I’m in a nightmare,’ Charlotte said, accusing Maynard of trying to ‘discredit and distract’ from the ongoing dispute.
The latest twist in the saga came after Maynard’s brother, Jack Maynard – a former I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! contestant who was axed in 2017 over offensive tweets – commented on a TikTok about the situation, claiming: ‘She knows for a fact there is somebody else… just like we do.’
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Then on Monday, Conor appeared to stoke the speculation further, sharing a private message from Jonny Holloway’s ex-wife implying that Holloway could be Penelope’s father.
Conor posted a video titled: ‘Responding further to the recent news. At this point I feel like I’ve been left with no choice.’
In it, he claims he received a message from the contestant’s ex-wife.
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He showed the message on screen, which read: ‘He told me he slept with Charlotte around the same time as yourself [Conor] / she fell pregnant.’
Conor said: ‘I hope with this new information that I’ve been given, you can see that there is just a high likelihood that Penelope is someone else’s daughter.’
He admitted he wasn’t saying the other contestant is clearly the father.
But what he is saying is: ‘While it’s not 100% [the other contestant], it is 100% not me’.
Jonny has now replied to the claim and said in a video: ‘Oh hello, it’s Jonny Holloway. Imagine waking up when you are in the middle of moving house from a separation that happened before The Traitors started filming that your ex-wife is insinuating you’re cheating on her.’
In the caption to the video, he wrote: ‘Imagine waking up to finding out your ex wife is spreading rumours about you when you split up before the traitors started filming.’
Charlotte then categorically denied any romantic involvement with her Traitors co-star in her comments to The Sun.
‘There’s never been anything romantic with Jonny. We’ve had a friendship, but there’s never been a relationship between me and Jonny. We weren’t sleeping together in January at all. It never happened,’ she said.
She added that Holloway had immediately offered to take a paternity test when rumours began to spread: ‘I spoke to Jonny after his name was first circulated and I said, “I’m really sorry you’ve been implicated in something that’s absolutely left field.” He said straightaway, “Do you want me to do a test to prove it?”‘
A source close to Holloway told The Sun that he was ‘blindsided’ by Conor’s post and was focused on protecting the child’s wellbeing.
‘Jonny is most worried about any further distress being caused to Penelope,’ they said. ‘As a father himself, Jonny is committed to ensuring the wellbeing and safety of the child at the heart of this.’
Charlotte also revealed that she had received a cease and desist letter from Maynard earlier this year, which she described as an attempt to ‘gag’ her from speaking publicly.
‘It was basically gagging me from saying anything about a number of accusations that weren’t true – including that another co-star from The Traitors was actually the father of Penelope,’ she said. ‘The next thing I know, his name has been leaked to a newspaper.’
Charlotte insisted that while she shared a close friendship with her co-stars, nothing romantic ever occurred.
Charlotte became a fan favourite on The Traitors season two. Both she and Holloway were ‘Faithfuls’ on the BBC series, ultimately being eliminated before the finale, having been outsmarted by eventual winner Harry Clark.
As the controversy continues, Charlotte says her main focus remains her daughter, saying: ‘All I want is the truth to be known, so my little girl can grow up without all this hanging over her.’
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