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The Celebrity Traitors will return for a second series in 2026 after a phenomenal debut that broke audience records, the BBC has said.
Ardross Castle in Scotland and the host, Claudia Winkleman, will welcome a new crop of stars in TV’s ultimate game of trust and treachery.
The comedian Alan Carr was crowned champion of the first series last week, after he revealed he was a traitor to the comedian Nick Mohammed and the TV historian David Olusoga, who were faithfuls, taking all of the £87,500 prize pot for his charity.
Kalpna Patel-Knight, the head of entertainment at the BBC, said: “Studio Lambert have done an outstanding job as The Celebrity Traitors has well and truly captivated the nation, becoming a bona fide highlight of the year bringing record numbers of people together to enjoy every twist and turn.
“In 2026 the doors of the castle will be opened again to welcome celebrity players to the game to see who can charm, who can scheme and ultimately who can survive in series two, which promises to be just as unmissable as the first.”
The BBC said audiences for episode one of the show’s first series were the biggest for a single episode on TV so far this year with 14.8 million views across 28 days, while the final episode had an average of 11.1 million viewers with a peak of 12 million.
The show is the biggest unscripted title across the entire UK market since 2021.
An economic impact report by the BBC says the franchise across the UK and US has provided a £21.8m boost to Scotland’s economy since 2022.
The reality show has versions in other territories including Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Greece and India.
Alongside series two of The Celebrity Traitors, the podcast agency Platform Media will produce new episodes of companion show The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, available via BBC Sounds, BBC Two and iPlayer.
The series one finale featured traitors Cat Burns and Carr and faithfuls Joe Marler, Mohammed and Olusoga. In a dramatic turn of events, Burns was first to be caught and banished in the vote, then Marler was wrongly identified as a traitor and banished too.
The three remaining players voted to end the game, after which Carr revealed he was a traitor, adding: “I’m so sorry, it’s been tearing me apart.” A five-star Guardian review called the finale an “absolute blinder”.
Among some of the more high-profile names on the first season were the actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry, the actor Celia Imrie, the Olympian Tom Daley, the singer-songwriter Paloma Faith, and the chatshow host Jonathan Ross.
Popular moments in the series included Imre audibly passing wind during one of the missions, and Carr murdering his friend Faith in plain sight at the first opportunity.
In the show, which began with 19 celebrities, contestants try to detect the traitors in the group while completing a series of challenges to win funds to contribute towards the prize pot. If at the end of the series a traitor is left among the finalists, the faithfuls, those who are not traitors, would lose out on the money and the traitor would win the full prize.
Stars who could appear in season two
Gareth Southgate – The former England manager is a fan of the show and previously revealed that the England team and staff played their own version during their free time at the Qatar World Cup in 2022. Asked by Chris Evans on Virgin Radio if he would ever sign up for the celebrity series, Southgate coyly replied: “Well ...”
Danny Dyer – The actor said he turned down a request to appear on the first series, but has since changed his mind. Speaking on the Live and Let Dyers podcast, he said: “They did sniff around me about it. It was a ‘no’ because, for one, I hadn’t seen it, but now I’m into it … If the money’s right, I might get involved in the next series.”
Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary – After the finale, the ITV This Morning hosts said they would both consider appearing in a second series. Asked if she would rather be a faithful or traitor, Hammond replied: “I’m not going to tell you that, just in case I do it.”A fan posted on X: “Season two with Alison Hammond needed NOW.”
Mike Tindall – The former rugby star, who is married to Princess Anne’s daughter, Zara Tindall, expressed his interest in joining the show during a chat on the TV show This Morning. After viewing a snippet of the programme, he told the presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard: “Having watched that, I think I would definitely enjoy doing that.”
Bob Mortimer – After the comedian’s name was in the mix for the initial series, Mortimer said it was “the only show of its kind on TV that I would agree to get involved with.” The show’s executive producer, Sarah Fay, told Metro last month: “If Bob wanted to do it next year, we would absolutely love it.”
Ruth Jones – The Gavin & Stacey star is rumoured to be “in talks to appear”, though it is claimed she would consider taking part only on the proviso she would be a faithful.
