| The Traitors | |
|---|---|
| Series 4 | |
| Promotional poster | |
| Presented by | Claudia Winkleman |
| No. of contestants | 22 |
| Location | Ardross, Highland |
| Companion show | The Traitors: Uncloaked |
| No. of episodes | 9 |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC One |
| Original release | 1 January 2026 – present |
| Series chronology | |
The fourth series of The Traitors was first broadcast on BBC One on 1 January 2026. [1] [2] Claudia Winkleman returned to present the series, accompanied by the spin-off show The Traitors: Uncloaked, presented by Ed Gamble. [3]
In August 2024, prior to the beginning of the previous series, it was announced that The Traitors had been renewed for a fourth series. Applications for the series opened on 22 August 2024, before closing on 28 March 2025. [4] Filming for the series began in June 2025. [5] The first teaser for the fourth series aired at the end of the final of The Celebrity Traitors , which featured a figure wearing a Traitors' cloak carrying a lantern walking through a forest at night, whilst "Heart of Glass" played in the background. [6] The series began on 1 January 2026. [7]
The 22 contestants competing in the series were revealed at midnight on 1 January 2026, the day of the show's launch. [8] Amongst the contestants were a mother and daughter, Judy and Roxy, and a couple, Ellie and Ross, none of whom revealed their relationships to the other players; Judy and Roxy's connection was revealed to the audience in the first episode, while Ellie and Ross's relationship was revealed to viewers only after Ross's banishment. [9] [10] Additionally, Netty and Ross were old acquaintances, who did not know each other would be present and were selected for the series independently; Netty exposed their connection to the other players upon their arrival. [11]
In the first episode, Winkleman revealed that one contestant would be selected as a "Secret Traitor", whose identity would be hidden from both the audience and the regular Traitors. Each night, they would provide the Traitors with a shortlist of Faithful to murder. Contestants were therefore only initially identified as Faithful by appearing on murder shortlists selected by the Secret Traitor, or after being banished. In episode 4, the Secret Traitor was revealed to be Fiona after Traitors Stephen and Rachel completed a challenge to uncover her identity. Prior to this, the Secret Traitor was visually represented on screen as an unidentified figure dressed in a red cloak. [12]
| Contestant | Age | Residence | Occupation | Affiliation | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Netty Österberg | 42 | Glasgow | Nursery school teacher | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 2) |
| Judy Wilson | 60 | Doncaster | Child liaison officer | Faithful | Banished (Episode 2) |
| Ben | 66 | Hampshire | Royal Navy veteran | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 3) |
| Hugo Lodge | 51 | London | Barrister | Traitor | Banished (Episode 3) |
| Ross Garshong | 37 | London | Sales executive & personal trainer | Faithful | Banished (Episode 4) |
| Marzook "Maz" Bana | 59 | Preston | Civil servant | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 5) |
| Amanda Collier | 57 | Brighton | Retired police detective | Faithful | Banished (Episode 5) |
| Reece Ward | 27 | Sheffield | Sweet shop assistant | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 6) |
| Fiona Hughes | 62 | Swansea | Local government officer | Traitor [a] | Banished (Episode 6) |
| Harriet Tyce | 52 | London | Crime writer & former barrister | Faithful | Banished (Episode 7) |
| Adam Waughman | 34 | Romford | Builder | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 8) |
| Sam Little | 34 | North Yorkshire | Account manager | Faithful | Banished (Episode 8) |
| Jessie Stride | 28 | Hull | Hairstylist | Faithful | Murdered (Episode 9) |
| Ellie Buckley | 33 | London | Psychologist | Faithful | Banished (Episode 9) |
| Faraaz Noor | 22 | Middlesbrough | Internal auditor | Faithful | Participating |
| Jack Butler | 29 | Hatfield Heath | Personal trainer | Faithful | |
| Jade Scott | 25 | Warwick | PhD student | Faithful | |
| James Baker | 38 | Weymouth | Gardener | Faithful | |
| Matthew Hyndman | 35 | Edinburgh | Creative director | Faithful | |
| Rachel Duffy | 42 | Newry | Head of Communications | Traitor | |
| Roxy | 32 | Amsterdam | Recruiter | Faithful | |
| Stephen Libby | 32 | London | Cyber security consultant | Traitor |
Key
| Episode | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secret Traitor Shortlist | None |
|
| None | |||||||||||||
| Traitors' Decision | Netty | Ben |
| None | Maz | Reece | None [a] | Adam | Jessie | ||||||||
| Murder | Murder | Shortlist [b] | Murder [c] | Murder | Murder | Murder | |||||||||||
| Immune |
|
| Adam |
|
| None |
| Sam | None | ||||||||
| Banishment | None | Judy | Hugo | Ross | Tie | Tie | Amanda | Fiona | Harriet | Sam | Ellie | ||||||
| Vote | 16–1–1– 1–1–1 | 10–3–2–1–1–1–1 | 6–5–3– 2–1–1 | 5–5–3– 1–1–1 | 7–7 | Fate [e] | 9–4–1 | 10–1–1–1 | 6–2–1– 1–1 | 4–2–2–1 | |||||||
| Faraaz | No vote | Judy | Sam | Sam | Stephen | Reece | No vote | Sam | Harriet | Sam | Ellie | ||||||
| Jack | Judy | Reece | Reece | Reece | Reece | Fiona | Harriet | Matthew | Matthew | ||||||||
| Jade | Judy | Amanda | Ross | Amanda | Amanda | Fiona | Harriet | Sam | Ellie | ||||||||
| James | Judy | Reece | Reece | Reece | Reece | Fiona | Harriet | Matthew | Matthew | ||||||||
| Matthew | Judy | Hugo | Sam | Amanda | Amanda | Sam | Harriet | Sam | Jade | ||||||||
| Rachel | Ross | Ross | Ross | Sam | Reece | Fiona | Harriet | Sam | Ellie | ||||||||
| Roxy | James | James | Ross | Reece | Reece | Fiona | Harriet | James | James | ||||||||
| Stephen | Judy | Hugo | Maz | Amanda | Amanda | Fiona | Harriet | Sam | Ellie | ||||||||
| Ellie | Judy | Hugo | Reece | Amanda | Amanda | Sam | Jade | Sam | Jade | Banished (Episode 9) | |||||||
| Jessie | Judy | Amanda | Reece | Stephen | Amanda | Fiona | Harriet | Stephen | Murdered (Episode 9) | ||||||||
| Sam | Judy | Hugo | Reece | Amanda | Amanda | Fiona | Harriet | Ellie | Banished (Episode 8) | ||||||||
| Adam | Judy | Hugo | Jade | Reece | Reece | Jade | Matthew | Murdered (Episode 8) | |||||||||
| Harriet | Judy | Hugo | Ross | Stephen | Amanda | Fiona | Rachel | Banished (Episode 7) | |||||||||
| Fiona | Judy | Hugo | Ross | Reece | Reece | Sam | Banished (Episode 6) | ||||||||||
| Reece | Adam | Hugo | Ross | Ellie | No vote [f] | Murdered (Episode 6) | |||||||||||
| Amanda | Jade | Jade | Jade | Jade | No vote [f] | Banished (Episode 5) | |||||||||||
| Maz | Judy | Hugo | Jade | Murdered (Episode 5) | |||||||||||||
| Ross | Judy | Hugo | Stephen | Banished (Episode 4) | |||||||||||||
| Hugo | Judy | Amanda | Banished (Episode 3) | ||||||||||||||
| Ben | Judy | Murdered (Episode 3) | |||||||||||||||
| Judy | Sam | Banished (Episode 2) | |||||||||||||||
| Netty | Murdered (Episode 2) | ||||||||||||||||
Notes
| Episode | Task description | Time limit | Money earned | Money available | Running total | Shield winner(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | In rowboats, three teams of players searched for coffins floating on a lake with gold in them, transported them to shore and placed them in any of the graves named after contestants to add £1,000 to the prize fund. The players whose named graves remained empty were shielded from murder. | 45 minutes | £10,000 | £12,000 | £10,000 (of £12,000) | Amanda |
| Ben | ||||||
| Ellie | ||||||
| Harriet | ||||||
| Hugo | ||||||
| Jack | ||||||
| Jade | ||||||
| Jessie | ||||||
| Matthew | ||||||
| Roxy | ||||||
| Sam | ||||||
| Stephen | ||||||
| 2 | Three throne-bearing chariots were pushed to the castle from the hills above, stopping three times to collect gold or shield tokens. Players seated on thrones at the castle were protected from murder, but those with a shield token could swap places to claim immunity. | 45 minutes | £8,750 | £9,000 | £18,750 (of £21,000) | Amanda |
| Faraaz | ||||||
| Jade | ||||||
| 3 | The players were divided into two groups; twelve remained at the castle, with the remaining seven visiting the Old Gallery to compete for a shield. The castle featured six empty portrait frames, each with a descriptive plaque. The castle team had to recreate the scenes described, enabling the gallery team to identify the correct portraits. £1,000 was added to the prize fund for each correct match with one portrait concealing a shield. | 60 minutes | £5,000 | £6,000 | £23,750 (of £27,000) | Adam |
| 4 | The players who were shortlisted for murder were placed in cages, with the remaining players choosing who they wanted to save. One shortlisted player did not have anyone trying to save them. The players outside the cages had to find ten skulls hidden around the area, and then stack them on a pedestal in order to save their player from murder, and to add £2,000 to the prize fund. Up to five players could be saved. | 30 minutes | £10,000 | £10,000 | £33,750 (of £37,000) | Amanda |
| Faraaz | ||||||
| Jack | ||||||
| Jade | ||||||
| James | ||||||
| 5 | All players had to search the forest for spears and use them to set fire to one of ten statues. When setting fire to a statue, the player doing so had to name a player who would then become eligible for murder that night. Players could name themselves but could not repeat a name. Each statue set on fire added £1,000 to the prize fund. | 30 minutes | £9,000 | £10,000 | £42,750 (of £47,000) | Adam |
| Harriet | ||||||
| Jack | ||||||
| James | ||||||
| Jessie | ||||||
| Rachel | ||||||
| Roxy | ||||||
| 6 | The players split into three teams; each team had to go through a forest and answer questions on mirrors that were based on questionnaires they had filled out the previous night. Correct answers added £500 to the prize fund. The team that got the most questions correct (if there was a tie, then the fastest answering team) won access to the walled garden, where each player selected a mirror to smash. Three of the mirrors would blow smoke after being smashed; the players who smashed the smoking mirrors won the opportunity to ask the traitors two questions each. | No time limit | £4,500 | £6,000 | £47,250 (of £53,000) | No Shield on offer |
| 7 | In teams, players had to find eight cherub statues and place them around the edge of a fountain. Cherub coins in the water revealed the location of the statues. Each statue came with a shield which could be taken, but doing so deducted £1,000 each time from the winnings. All eight cherubs had to be found, otherwise no money or shields would be awarded. | 30 minutes | £3,000 | £10,000 | £50,250 (of £63,000) | Faraaz |
| Jack | ||||||
| Jade | ||||||
| James | ||||||
| Jessie | ||||||
| Rachel | ||||||
| Stephen | ||||||
| 8 | The contestants were taken to a cabin in the wood, where they were tasked with solving cryptic clues while they were subjected to various jump scares. After the team had solved the puzzle, revealing a name, one player would leave the cabin and had one minute to search a nearby graveyard for the grave with that name. If they found the correct grave, £1,000 would be added to the prize fund. There was also a single shield on offer, which a player could look for instead of finding the grave. Having left the cabin, the player would not return for the remainder of the mission. | No time limit | £4,000 | £6,000 | £54,250 (of £69,000) | Sam |
| 9 | The contestants were placed in boxes and asked questions about what the traitors thought about their fellow players. The traitors would have to get out of the boxes to decide the correct answer before returning to their box to answer as individuals. Each player who answered the questions correctly added £250 to the prize fund. | No time limit | £3,250 | £9,000 | £57,500 (of £78,000) | No Shield on offer |
| No. overall | No. in series | Title [13] | Original release date [14] | UK viewers (millions) [15] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 1 January 2026 | TBD | |
22 people arrived at the castle. Claudia revealed to the audience that there would be a fourth "Secret Traitor" alongside the three regular Traitors, unknown to both viewers, players, and the other Traitors. Each night, the Secret Traitor would create a shortlist from which the regular Traitors must choose a murder victim; however, the Secret Traitor could not put their own name forward. Rachel, Stephen and Hugo were chosen as the Traitors and after learning of the Secret Traitor, decided to try to uncover and banish that person as fast as possible.
The group won £10,000. Ross, Netty, Maz, Judy, Rachel, Adam, Reece, Faraaz, James and Fiona ended up with coffins in their named graves. Netty and Ross announced that they knew each other, but had not been in contact for over ten years, whilst Roxy revealed to the audience that Judy was actually her mother. The Secret Traitor shortlisted Netty, Maz and James for Murder. | |||||
| 38 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 2 January 2026 | TBD | |
The Traitors murder Netty. At breakfast, players interrogated Ross for his connection to Netty.
The group won £8,750. Jade, Amanda and Faraaz remained on the chariots at the end of the mission and were shielded. Suspicion fell on Ross due to Netty's murder and Judy for her attitude changing and for admitting that she turned at the word "Traitors" during Claudia's speech after the Traitors were initially chosen. At the Roundtable, Judy was targeted for being a big personality and was banished. She was revealed as Faithful. Ben told Jessie, Ellie, James, Fiona, and Stephen he now suspected Ross. In the turret, the Traitors discussed theories about the identity of the Secret Traitor, focusing on Ellie and Fiona as likely candidates. The Secret Traitor shortlisted Maz, Ben and Reece for murder. | |||||
| 39 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 3 January 2026 | TBD | |
The Traitors murdered Ben. Hugo loudly denounced the decision at breakfast, drawing attention. Ross surmised that Ben's parting words might have put a target on him.
The group won £5,000. One of the paintings also featured a shield necklace, and the first player to find that painting would be granted a Shield. Adam found it and was protected. At the Roundtable, Harriet interrogated Hugo for his unusual behaviour and formally accused him. Others spoke about Reece's urgency in looking for a Shield as being suspicious. Ultimately the players, including Stephen, voted to banish Hugo, who subsequently revealed that he was indeed a Traitor. The remaining Traitors were secretly told there would be no murder that night, and were given a task asking them to mark nine players on the family tree with red paint to nominate them for murder. Rachel successfully did so. The Traitors' prize for this was that the Secret Traitor's identity was to be revealed to them that night, and from that point on they would be just a regular Traitor. | |||||
| 40 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 7 January 2026 | TBD | |
Fiona was revealed to be the Secret Traitor. Nobody was murdered, and Claudia announced that the roundtable will take place before the challenge instead of after. The group discovered the red paint on the family tree, and Stephen regretted placing himself on the shortlist. At the Roundtable, James accused Reece of being a Traitor due to his interrogation of James at the prior roundtable. Ross was again brought under scrutiny due to his friendship with Netty, and Ben's final words. Ross was voted out over Reece by one vote, and announced that he was a faithful. Ellie revealed to the audience that she is Ross's girlfriend.
The group won £10,000 and freed Amanda, Faraaz, Jack, Jade, and James, leaving Sam, Reece, Maz, and Stephen in cages. Fiona appeared to purposefully stall so not to free Reece, whilst Sam was not chosen by any of the uncaged players and so was automatically selected as a candidate for murder. Fiona and Rachel were forced to meet in the turret without Stephen, and debated which one to murder. | |||||
| 41 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 8 January 2026 | TBD | |
The players theorised that Stephen would be the one murdered. Maz was murdered face-to-face by the Traitors.
The group won £9,000. Amanda told Rachel that she is a former detective. At the roundtable, Jessie accused Stephen of being a Traitor as he was in the library for Ben's final words. Amanda was placed under suspicion for accusing Reece of being a Traitor and stating that she would vote for Jade, despite previously stating that she was voting for Sam. James and Jack continued to accuse Reece. The votes were tied between Reece and Amanda, and then tied a second time, taking it to a random draw. The pair chose a chest each; Amanda selected the empty chest and was therefore banished, subsequently revealing herself to be a Faithful. After the roundtable, Rachel informed everyone that Amanda had told her in confidence that she was a police detective. Fiona privately accused her of lying, and then publicly accused Rachel of being a Traitor. Rachel then accused Fiona of being a Traitor. Rachel, Fiona and Stephen met in the turret to decide who to murder. | |||||
| 42 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 9 January 2026 | TBD | |
Rachel and Fiona continued to argue in the turret. The Traitors chose to murder Reece, shocking the faithfuls.
Faraaz, Rachel, Harriet, Roxy, and Matthew won. In a subsequent elimination game, Rachel, Harriet, and Matthew were given the opportunity to speak with the Traitors that evening and ask two questions each. At the roundtable, Fiona and Rachel continued to accuse each other. Jade came under suspicion due to Amanda's accusations before banishment. Sam continued to be accused of being a Traitor. Stephen and Jessie brought up that Fiona was in the room for Ben's final words. Ultimately, Fiona was banished and revealed as a Traitor, with her voting for Sam and both Stephen and Rachel voting for her. Stephen and Rachel met up in a confession-type room for their individual meetings with Matthew and Harriet. Matthew arrived first and asked who they planned to murder next. Rachel and Stephen answered Jessie for being too obviously a faithful. Matthew agreed with this assessment. For his second question, he requested that they murder Jessie, and then recruit him as a Traitor and asked if they had a deal. The episode ended with the Traitors' written reply to him as yet unopened. | |||||
| 43 | 7 | "Episode 7" | 14 January 2026 | TBD | |
The Traitors agreed to the deal with Matthew. Harriet then entered and revealed her true job as an author of psychological thrillers and a former barrister. She first asked who they planned to recruit. The Traitors replied Harriet, Sam and Jessie. Harriet said they were lying and then directly called Rachel out by name as being in the confessional shocking both Stephen and Rachel. She asked if the traitors would protect Rachel. Stephen and Rachel replied "No. Take her." At breakfast, Matthew refused to reveal his questions and Harriet directly called out Rachel.
The players divided into teams and ran to get the statues. On finishing the mission, seven shields were taken and they banked £3,000. Stephen, Rachel, Faraaz, Jessie, Jade and Jack all got shields and James also secretly took one without his team realising – though later admitted it to his team. Since the initial plan was for Jessie's shield to cover James, Adam, Sam and Harriet, Sam was very annoyed at James since seven shields meant the odds of being murdered were very high for those without. He publicly revealed to several players, including Stephen, that he was not the one with the shield. At the round table, Harriet accused Rachel but other players were suspicious that her evidence was not substantial. Harriet also accused Roxy and Matthew of being traitors and told everyone to vote her out to prove she was a Faithful to give her argument legitimacy. Harriet was voted out and revealed herself as a Faithful. In the turret, Stephen and Rachel debated recruitment or murder. They didn't want to murder someone in either of their teams and were unsure who didn't have a shield in the remaining team. In the end, they decided to take a gamble and murder. | |||||
| 44 | 8 | "Episode 8" | 15 January 2026 | TBD | |
At breakfast, it was revealed that the traitors had successfully murdered Adam. James sneakily taking a shield and not telling his team was seen as potentially traitorous behaviour. Suspicion fell on Sam after he claimed that everyone knew he and Adam did not have the shields based on their reactions. However most players had only known Sam didn't.
After working out the first name, Sam immediately went out first, declaring that he was going to get the shield; this immediately caused suspicion among the remaining players. The players successfully banked £4,000. At the round table, several players were accused: Sam for both previous suspicions and how only someone in Adam's team could have known that he didn't have a shield; James for taking a shield sneakily and also being in Adam's team; Stephen was accused by Jessie who had come back around to the cage theory; Jade for Amanda's suspicions and having a link to Adam as he had voted for her previously; Matthew for being accused by Harriet and also having been voted for by Adam. Sam was eventually banished with six votes and revealed that he was a Faithful. After the round table, Jessie pushed her Stephen theory while Stephen and Jade suggested that Jessie could be a traitor trying to waste round tables by checking off people from the cage mission. Rachel also put suspicion on Faraaz. In the turret, Stephen and Rachel decided that they were never going to recruit Matthew but worried that alerting him to this would cause him to reveal any hidden suspicions he might have about them. They debated the risks of murdering Jessie. They also considered Faraaz since neither of them wanted to have too many "definite faithfuls" in the final. The episode ended with them deciding to murder one of the three. | |||||
| 45 | 9 | "Episode 9" | 16 January 2026 | TBD | |
The Traitors decided to murder Jessie with Stephen hoping to spin it as him being framed. At breakfast, Rachel said she had an idea of a traitor.
They banked £3,250. At the Round Table: Jade came under scrutiny for Amanda's accusations, how many murdered players had voted for her, and answering her own name for who didn’t deserve to be in the final; James for hiding his shield; Ellie for her answers in the mission and Rachel implied she had been hanging around her to get information after her announcement that morning. Ellie was banished with four votes. She revealed that she was a faithful and that Ross had been her boyfriend. Claudia announced that there would be no murder that night and instead hosted a dinner party. The eight players all talked about what they would do with the money if they won. Then Claudia arrived and showed them a dagger. Instead of a murder, the traitors would decide who to give the dagger to and it would represent an extra vote at the next round table. Stephen and Rachel met up in the wine cellar to decide who to give the dagger to. | |||||
| 46 | 10 | "Episode 10" | 21 January 2026 | TBD | |
| 47 | 11 | "Episode 11" | 22 January 2026 | TBD | |
| 48 | 12 | "The Final" | 23 January 2026 | TBD | |