This article is about the British celebrity version of The Traitors. For other versions of the franchise that partially or exclusively had celebrities in their cast (e.g. US, Australia, NZ), see The Traitors.
The Celebrity Traitors is a spin-off of the British version of the reality television series The Traitors. It was first broadcast on BBC One on 8 October 2025.[2]Claudia Winkleman presented the series.
Following the premise of the parent series, the show features a group of contestants participating in a social deduction game similar to Mafia or Werewolf, set in and around Ardross Castle in Scotland. A small group of contestants is chosen as the titular "Traitors," and must work together to eliminate the other contestants to win a grand prize. The remaining contestants are the "Faithful" and are tasked to discover and banish the Traitors by voting them out to win the grand prize. Unlike the main series, the celebrity players are playing on behalf of a charity of their choice.
Comedian Alan Carr was the winner of the first series.[3]
Format
Following the format of the original version of the show, a group of celebrity contestants arrives at a castle in the Scottish Highlands where the members will remain for the duration of the game in order to win up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice. On the arrival day, host Claudia Winkleman picks a small number of contestants to be "Traitors". The rest are automatically called "Faithful". The television audience knows which players have been chosen as Traitors, but the Faithful do not know their number or identity.
At the end of each day, all contestants meet at a Round Table to discuss who they think are Traitors. They then cast votes that are revealed one by one. The person with the most votes is immediately banished, and reveals their identity before leaving.[a] On most nights, the Traitors meet in private and agree to "murder" one Faithful who will leave the game immediately. The remaining Faithful players only discover who has been murdered at breakfast the next morning.
Each day, the group participates in missions to win money for the prize fund which can reach £100,000 by the end of the game. During the missions, contestants may also win a shield that awards that player immunity from being murdered that night, but not from being banished. In some cases, contestants have the right not to disclose whether they won the shield, or to inform only certain chosen players.[4]
End Game
After the final Round Table, the remaining players (usually four) gather at the Fire of Truth and participate in the End Game. The group is given an opportunity to end the game by unanimous vote. Any vote to continue will lead to another immediate banishment vote. When a unanimous decision is reached to end the game — or when there are only two players left — the remaining players reveal whether they are Faithful or Traitors. If they are all Faithful, they will all share the prize fund for their charities; however, if any of these final players are Traitors those players alone will share the prize fund amongst themselves for their charities.
Notes
↑ In the event of a tie, the tied players make a final plea before the remaining players vote between them again – if a second tie occurs, one player is chosen for banishment randomly among the tied players.
Production
In August 2024, the BBC confirmed that The Celebrity Traitors had been commissioned, along with two more series of The Traitors, the first of which aired in January 2025.[5] Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, Kalpna Patel-Knight, the BBC's head of entertainment, said: "The Traitors has well and truly established itself as an unmissable highlight of the year and the news of a fourth outing, alongside a brand new celebrity version coming to the BBC, will take the series to a whole new level.[6] In April 2025, it was confirmed that the show would air in the autumn of that year,[7] with October 2025 later specified.[2]
Filming for the series began on 22 April 2025 at Ardross Castle and concluded the following month, consisting of 9 episodes due to air over four weeks from 8 October to 6 November 2025.[8][9][10] Following the cast announcement, host Claudia Winkleman said "We're incredibly lucky these brilliant people have said yes. I’d love to say we'll take it easy on them, and they'll just wander round the castle and eat toast for a couple of weeks - but that would be a lie."[11][12]
The first series final was mistakenly released early online in Canada and New Zealand as the episode was mistakenly made available on the Crave and ThreeNow streaming services 24 hours in advance of its broadcast on BBC One, due to a miscommunication between All3Media International and its international partners.[13]
↑ The Traitors were tasked to murder someone in plain sight, by touching the victim's face with their fingers after having touched a "poisoned" lily to gather its pollen. The Traitors were told that the victim would be present at breakfast the following morning. Alan chose to poison Paloma. The following morning, the players were told that the victim's identity would be revealed as part of that day's mission.
↑ Charlotte sacrificed her shield in the Trojan horse mission in Episode 1 to open a gate.
1 2 The banishment was revealed in the following episode after ending on a cliffhanger.
↑ The first round of voting resulted in a tie. Per the rules, a second vote was held where the players involved in the tie would not vote and the remaining players could only vote for those who tied.
↑ The second round of voting resulted in a tie. Per the rules, the banished player was decided by fate from those who tied.
↑ David and Mark were presented with two chests, only one of which contained a shield. The player who selected the chest without a shield was banished.
Missions
Episode
Task description
Time limit
Money earned
Money available
Running total
Shield winner(s)
1
The celebrities were each assigned a grave bearing their name, with a shield buried inside. The first six players to dig out their shield received protection from being murdered.
No time limit
—
—
—
Celia
Charlotte
Joe M.
Joe W.
Jonathan
Kate
A 2.5-ton wooden Trojan horse had to be moved to a fire pit in order to be set alight. Four locked gates were encountered along the way. Each could be opened by solving a puzzle or answering a question, or could be bypassed if a player chose to sacrifice a shield.
30 minutes
£15,000
£15,000
£15,000 (of £15,000)
No Shield on offer
2
The murdered player (Paloma) and two decoys selected by the Traitors (Niko & Lucy) had to be identified as the 3 potential victims of the Traitors by solving clues. Each correct answer contributed £3,000 to the prize fund, whereas each additional clue deducted £500. An extra £4,000 was offered if the safe players could correctly guess the murdered player.
No time limit
£4,500
£13,000
£19,500 (of £28,000)
3
The players were locked and chained to a ring located at the centre of a cabin. Keys were required to release each individual, with £500 awarded for every successful release. Each key was accompanied by a clue intended to guide players to the next. Two shields were also obtainable during the mission.
25 minutes
£8,000
£8,000
£27,500 (of £36,000)
Clare
Mark
4
Players were divided into two teams. The forest team gathered banshee wails and vocalised them into a water well. The garden team listened on the other side by submerging their heads underwater. Each melody had to be correctly matched to one in a named locket to identify the banshee. £1,000 was awarded for each correct match. Two shields were on offer.
30 minutes
£4,000
£5,000
£31,500 (of £41,000)
Cat
Stephen
5
At four traps, each worth £2,500, players faced questions about eliminated contestants. They could allocate funds across multiple answer options. The player positioned at the correct answer received a shield and added their money to the prize fund. Those trapped at incorrect answers were eliminated from the mission.
No time limit
£7,000
£10,000
£38,500 (of £51,000)
David
Jonathan
Lucy
Nick
6
The players faced an giant chess board featuring their names. The celebrities split into two teams. Each team was required to respond to questions that the Traitors had been asked the previous night and position a headstone on the name of the player they thought the Traitors had chosen. After a series of rounds, the team with the most correct answers were granted a shield.
£5,000
£5,000
£43,500 (of £56,000)
Alan
Cat
Celia
David
Joe M.
7
Celebrities worked in pairs to cross a structurally unstable wooden bridge, one player crossed guided by the other, with £500 markers along the way. If a player fell, only the earnings accumulated prior to that point were banked. A shield bag was suspended overhead. The player on the bridge had to retrieve the bag and throw this to their team mate waiting at the end of the bridge. If successfully caught, a further £500 was added to the prize fund. The shield was awarded to the individual whose portrait had been selected and was in place in the designated frame at the mission's conclusion.
£10,000
£10,000
£53,500 (of £66,000)
Joe M.
8
Nineteen mannequin heads, each modelled after a show participant, were displayed within the castle museum. Six statues, lacking heads, were positioned nearby. Players needed to select a head and attach it to a statue while avoiding laser beams crisscrossing the room. If a beam was broken, an alarm was triggered and the head was discarded. Certain lasers could be deactivated via buttons located along the route. A sum of £2,000 was added to the prize fund for each successful match. An additional £2,000 was awarded if all statues received heads.
20 minutes
£14,000
£14,000
£67,500 (of £80,000)
No Shield on offer
Finale
The Traitors Express was boarded by the five finalists, who were required to progress through the carriages in search of keys. Four locked crates were located in the fifth and final carriage, each containing £5,000 worth of gold. Prior to the train's arrival at the end of the line, the crates needed to be successfully unlocked and the gold collected. Claudia needed to be reached before the crates, also containing explosives, were detonated.
Nineteen celebrities arrived at the castle, but were turned around and sent to a remote graveyard with headstones bearing each of the players' names. The players were instructed to physically dig their own grave to try and find the shield buried within. The first six players to find shields would be safe from the first murder. Jonathan Ross, Joe Marler, Joe Wilkinson, Kate Garraway, Charlotte Church and Celia Imrie got shields.
At the round table, Jonathan Ross, Cat Burns and Alan Carr were chosen as traitors. For the next mission, the players had to drag a Trojan Horse a great distance. Each checkpoint featured a gate at which they had to solve a puzzle or answer a question to unlock it. Failing that, a player could give up their shield to open the door. After Clare Balding accidentally locked in a wrong answer, Charlotte Church gave up her shield. They passed the other gates without sacrificing any more shields and banked £15,000. The Traitors were later told they had to commit their first murder in plain sight, with Alan Carr electing to do so.
2
2
"Episode 2"
9October2025(2025-10-09)
11.87
It was revealed that Alan Carr had chosen to murder Paloma Faith in plain sight, but that her murder would be revealed at the upcoming mission.
The mission had the players identify three potential victims based on clues before guessing the true victim's identity. The players could get more hints by sacrificing money. The previous night, the Traitors selected two other players as potential victims, choosing Lucy Beaumont and Niko Omilana. Due to needing many hints, making several incorrect guesses, and incorrectly guessing that Lucy Beaumont had been murdered, they only banked £4,500 out of a possible £13,000. Paloma's death shocked most of the remaining players.
At the round table, Niko Omilana, Tameka Empson and Kate Garraway came under the most scrutiny. The episode ended on a cliffhanger of who would be eliminated.
3
3
"Episode 3"
15October2025(2025-10-15)
13.23
Niko Omilana was the first person to be banished from the round table. Clare Balding reminded everyone that Jonathan Ross talked about an alliance between him, Niko, Clare & Ruth Codd in the car.
The Traitors murdered Tom Daley. Ruth challenged Jonathan about breaking the car alliance and turning on Niko.
In the mission, the players were chained up in Claudia’s Cabin and would earn £500 for every player who was freed. Four keys were inside the cabin, the rest were outside. Nick Mohammed, Mark Bonnar, Stephen Fry, and Cat Burns were the first to be freed. Their actions outside the cabin changed the conditions inside. Water sprayed from the ceiling, the electric box sparked and smelly feathers were blasted. All the players escaped and the full £8,000 was banked. Clare Balding and Mark Bonnar got shields. Joe Marler and Joe Wilkinson theorised that a “Big Dog” - likely Jonathan Ross - was a Traitor.
At the Round Table, the vote was extremely split, with 10 players receiving votes. Alan Carr, Kate Garraway, Cat Burns, Charlotte Church, David Olusoga and Ruth Codd all received one vote. Jonathan Ross, Stephen Fry and Celia Imrie received two votes, but Tameka Empson was banished after receiving just four out of sixteen votes. The Traitors met up to debate who to murder next.
4
4
"Episode 4"
16October2025(2025-10-16)
12.85
The Traitors decided to murder Ruth Codd. They hoped the Faithfuls would think that Jonathan was being set up. In the mission, the players were split into two teams. One team would run through the forest to find screaming banshees and then mimic their screams down a well. The other team would dunk their heads in a well in the garden to hear their mimicking. They would then try and match the sound to a locket with a name on it.
The Forest Team consisted of Alan Carr, Lucy Beaumont, Celia Imrie, Joe Wilkinson, Joe Marler, Nick Mohammed and Cat Burns.
The Garden Team consisted of Stephen Fry, Charlotte Church, Mark Bonnar, Clare Balding, David Olusoga, Jonathan Ross and Kate Garraway.
They banked £4,000 out of a total £5,000. There were two shields available, with Cat Burns and Stephen Fry finding them. However, the Forest Team decided not to tell the Garden Team who got the shield in their group.
At the round table, suspicion was directed onto Clare Balding by Jonathan. Charlotte Church and David Olusoga received two votes; Jonathan Ross, Celia Imrie and Stephen Fry received one vote; Clare Balding was banished with seven votes. The Traitors met up again to debate who to murder; they discussed Charlotte Church, Kate Garraway, and David Olusoga as possible victims.
5
5
"Episode 5"
22October2025(2025-10-22)
TBD
It was revealed that the Traitors had murdered Charlotte Church.
During the mission, the players won £7,000 out of a possible £10,000 by answering questions about the life or career of some of the players who had previously been banished or murdered. Four players won shields: Nick Mohammed, Lucy Beaumont, David Olusoga, and Jonathan Ross.
The episode ended on a cliffhanger as David Olusoga and Mark Bonnar were tied on 5 votes each after two rounds of voting. Claudia announced that the person to be banished would be decided by "the hands of fate".
6
6
"Episode 6"
23October2025(2025-10-23)
TBD
Mark Bonnar was banished after losing the tie-break. The traitors later murder Joe Wilkinson.
Prior to the mission, the traitors had to answer three questions about the contestants. Then during the mission, the contestants had to divide into two groups and guess the traitors' answers. The team consisting of Joe Marler, Alan Carr, Cat Burns, David Olusoga and Celia Imrie answered the most questions correctly, winning shields. Nick Mohammed deliberately sabotaged the final round as he believed there were more traitors in his team.
At the round table, the group vote to banish Stephen Fry.
The faithfuls without shields - Nick Mohammed, Kate Garraway and Lucy Beaumont - are informed that one of them will be murdered face to face by the traitors. The episode ends on a cliffhanger as to who would be murdered.
7
7
"Episode 7"
29October2025(2025-10-29)
TBD
Lucy Beaumont was murdered face to face by the traitors.
In the mission, the players were paired up. One of them would cross a rickety bridge earning money as they reached checkpoints. They would then throw a shield bag to the other player who was guiding them. The second player could then choose another player to be shielded. Whoever ended up in the shield at the end would win.
The pairs were;
- Alan Carr and Kate Garraway
- Nick Mohammed and Jonathan Ross
- Cat Burns and Celia Imrie
- Joe Marler and David Olusoga
Joe Marler ended up getting the shield.
With a lot of heat on Jonathan, Alan Carr and Cat Burns debated the risks of sticking with him or throwing him under the bus.
At the Round Table, a lot of attention was called to Jonathan Ross. He was eliminated by a nearly unanimous vote (with only David Olusoga voting for Nick Mohammed and both Alan Carr and Cat Burns voting for Jonathan) making him the first traitor to be eliminated from the game.
Claudia announced that, in the final, the players would not reveal their identities as they exited the game. Also, to celebrate there would be a dinner party held for the surviving players. The remaining Traitors were told they would have to murder in plain sight at the dinner party by toasting a faithful and saying “parting is such sweet sorrow”.
8
8
"Episode 8"
30October2025(2025-10-30)
TBD
At the dinner party, the players discussed how much they had enjoyed and been changed by the experience of the game. Alan Carr decided to murder Celia Imrie claiming the quote was something he’d heard from Stephen Fry (at Cat’s suggestion).
The next morning, the faithfuls tried to work out how the murder in plain sight was done.
In the mission, the players had to take the mannequin heads of the players and place them on six statues across the room. They had to avoid a laser grid. If one of them hit a laser, they would have to discard the head and pick a new one.
The players succeeded and added the full £14,000 to the prize pot.
Suspicions fell on Kate Garraway and David Olusoga at the Round Table with Nick Mohammed also bringing up his theory about Cat Burns being a traitor.
Kate Garraway and Alan Carr voted for David Olusoga; Nick Mohammed voted for Cat Burns; Cat Burns, Joe Marler & David Olusoga voted for Kate Garraway and she was banished.
Afterwards, Joe Marler was convinced that Alan Carr and Cat Burns were traitors and tried to get David Olusoga and Nick Mohammed on side ahead of the final.
Claudia summoned all five players down to the fire pit and announced there would be no murder and that they were the finalists. She had each of them declare that they were a faithful.
With no murder, all players met at breakfast and discussed the journey they had in the show.
Convinced that Alan Carr and Cat Burns were Traitors, Joe Marler formed a plan with Nick Mohammed - who was convinced Cat was a traitor - to get David Olusoga on side ahead of the round table.
The mission was on board the Traitors steam train. The players had twenty minutes to go through four carriages and solve puzzles for keys to crates with £5,000 worth of gold in them. At the end of the time, the crates on final carriage would explode.
The total amount to win was £20,000 which the players managed to get.
This brought the final prize total to £87,500.
Joe Marler convinced Alan Carr and Cat Burns that he would vote for David at the final Round Table to keep them unsuspecting. Meanwhile, Nick Mohammed spoke to David who also voiced concerns about Joe being a possible traitor.
At the final round table the players were reminded that banished players would no longer reveal their identity.
Alan Carr and Cat Burns voted for David Olusoga; David Olusoga, Nick Mohammed and Joe Marler voted for Cat Burns. Cat Burns was banished ending the show in 5th place.
At the endgame, Alan explained how Joe had convinced him and Cat that they would vote for David. Nick was also suspicious that Joe’s final words to Cat were “I’m sorry”.
All four players voted to Banish Again. Joe Marler voted for Alan Carr. Alan Carr, Nick Mohammed and David Olusoga voted for Joe Marler. Joe was banished ending the game in 4th place.
The remaining three players unanimously voted to end the game. Nick and David revealed they were Faithfuls and Alan revealed he was a Traitor winning the game and the entire prize pot.
He announced that he would be donating the money to Neuroblastoma UK, a children's cancer charity.
The finalists all met by the fire pit to congratulate Alan on his victory.
The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked
To accompany the series, a follow-up television programme and BBC Soundspodcast was included, called The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked produced by Listen. The first episode aired on 8 October 2025. It was hosted by Ed Gamble and broadcast on BBC Two.[21]
Ratings
Weekly ratings for each show on BBC One. All ratings are provided by BARB.[22]
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