The Celebrity Traitors is a spin-off of the British version of the reality television series The Traitors. It premiered on BBC One on 8 October 2025.[2]Claudia Winkleman presented the series.[3][4]
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.
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]
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 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, 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.
If during the game the number of Traitors drops to two or one, the Traitors may be given the option, instead of murdering a Faithful, to try to "seduce" or recruit a Faithful to join them. The approached Faithful will not know from which other player or players the invitation comes, and may decline the invitation, and may also have the opportunity to tell the other Faithfuls of the attempted seduction.[13]
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 share the prize fund for their charities; however, if any of these final players are Traitors they 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.
Contestants
The 19 celebrities competing in the series were revealed on 13 May 2025.[14][15]
↑ 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.
↑ The banishment was revealed in Episode 3 after ending on a cliffhanger in Episode 2.
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.
Nineteen celebrities arrive at the castle. Immediately, they have to dig their own graves (literally) with the first six of them to find shields being 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. At each checkpoint gate they had to solve a puzzle or answer a question to unlock it. Failing that, they could give up a 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 told they had to murder in plain sight.
2
2
"Episode 2"
9October2025(2025-10-09)
TBD
It was revealed that Alan Carr had chosen to murder Paloma Faith in plain sight. The mission was to identify which player had been murdered with hints of three potential victims. The Traitors selected two other people to be potential victims and chose Lucy Beaumont and Niko Omilana. The players could get more hints by sacrificing money. Due to several incorrect guesses, they only banked £4,500 out of a possible £13,000. 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 elminated.
3
3
"Episode 3"
15October2025(2025-10-15)
TBD
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 worked out that a “Big Dog” - likely Jonathan Ross - was in the Traitors team. At the Round Table, 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. Tameka Empson was banished with four votes. The Traitors met up to debate who to murder next.
4
4
"Episode 4"
16October2025(2025-10-16)
TBD
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 the mimicking. They would then try and match the sound to a locket with a name on it.
The Forest Team; Alan Carr, Lucy Beaumont, Celia Imrie, Joe Wilkinson, Joe Marler, Nick Mohammed and Cat Burns.
The Garden Team; Stephen Fry, Charlotte Church, Clare Balding, David Olusoga, Jonathan Ross and Kate Garraway.
They banked £4,000 out of a total £5,000. There were two shields available and Cat Burns and Stephen Fry got the shields. 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 the traitors. 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.
5
5
"Episode 5"
22October2025(2025-10-22)
TBD
6
6
"Episode 6"
23October2025(2025-10-23)
TBD
7
7
"Episode 7"
29October2025(2025-10-29)
TBD
8
8
"Episode 8"
30October2025(2025-10-30)
TBD
9
9
"Episode 9"
6November2025(2025-11-06)
TBD
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.[19]
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