Following the premise of other versions of De Verraders, the show features a group of contestants participating in a social deduction game similar to Mafia or Werewolf, as they stay in a luxurious heritage manor. During their stay, a small group of contestants become the titular "Traitors," and must work together to eliminate the other contestants to win a grand prize, while the remaining contestants become "Faithful" and are tasked to discover and banish the Traitors by voting them out, to win the grand prize.[1]
The show premiered in 2023 and was originally hosted by Paul Henry for two seasons.[2][3] After a year hiatus, the series is set to return in 2026 with comedian Madeleine Sami was announced as the new host. [4]
The third season coincided with a revival of the Australian version, also produced by South Pacific Pictures. It is set to share the same location, props, and feature missions as the New Zealand version, with the main difference being the hosts and the cast.
Format
A group of contestants arrive at a lodge where they will spend their entire time for the duration of the game. On the arrival day, the host picks at least three contestants to be called "Traitors" and the rest are automatically called "Faithful". The television audience can see who 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 reveals their identity and is immediately banished. On most nights, the Traitors meet in private and agree to "murder" one Faithful who leaves the game immediately. The remaining Faithful only know who has been murdered at breakfast next morning.
Each day, the group participates in missions to win money for the prize fund. The prize fund could reach up to $70,000 in season 1 and $100,000 in season 2. During the missions, any contestant may separately win a shield that awards that player immunity from being murdered, but not from being banished. In some cases, the contestant has the right or ability not to disclose if they won the shield, or to tell a restricted group.
If during the game the number of Traitors drops to two, they are given the option to "seduce" or recruit a Faithful to join them instead of murdering. Seduced Faithfuls may decline and can decide whether to tell the other Faithfuls of the attempted seduction. If only one Traitor remains, the seduction happens as a face-to-face ultimatum; if the player declines they are immediately murdered, and if they accept the pair can immediately murder another Faithful.[5][6]
End Game
After the final Round Table, the remaining players (typically four) gather at the Fire of Truth and participate in the End Game. The group are 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 contestants, they will share the prize fund, however, if any of these final players are Traitors then they will share the prize fund amongst themselves.
Production
The announcement of a New Zealand version of The Traitors was first revealed on 3 November 2022. The first season featured a cast evenly split between celebrities and civilians.[7]
On 1 December 2023, The Traitors NZ was officially renewed for a second season, set to film in 2024, with Henry reprising his role as host. Unlike the first season, the second would feature an all-civilian cast.[8]
On 30 September 2024, both seasons were removed from Three's streaming platform, ThreeNow. While no official reason was given, the removal likely stemmed from the broader financial crisis affecting New Zealand's television industry, which had resulted in the cancellation of all domestic reality programming.[9]
As of August2025[update], season 2 remains legally accessible only via South Pacific Pictures’ YouTube channel for New Zealand viewers. Both seasons are also available internationally through Australia's 10, Canada's Crave, the UK's BBC iPlayer.[10][11][12]
Despite earlier assumptions that the series would not continue, it was confirmed on 7 August 2025, that The Traitors NZ had been renewed for a third season with a new host, with the casting for new contestants opened shortly after the announcement.[13] The production team also became the producers of the Australian version, with Castle Claremont, Timaru, Canterbury acting as a Production Hub for both Australian and New Zealnd versions (much like the Ardross Castle in Scotland for the American & British versions), with the hopes that the site will also host other versions for Asia–Pacific region.ersion[14][15] In October 2025, comedian Madeleine Sami was announced as the new host. [16]
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