Published: 29 September 2025
The award-winning reality series returns, but this time, host Claudia Winkleman is inviting a group of celebrities to the beautiful castle in the Scottish Highlands to play this ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust, in the hope of winning up to £100,000 for their chosen charities.
Hidden amongst the group are The Traitors whose job is to secretly murder their fellow players, without getting caught.
It’s up to the others, the Faithful, to try to detect the Traitors and banish them from the game before they become their next victim.
The lucky players who survive to the end have the chance of winning the money. If a Traitor remains undetected, however, they’ll take it all. New series, whole new game.
The Celebrity Traitors launches on Wednesday 8th October 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer. There will be two episodes per week on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
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Claudia Winkleman
The Traitors is back, but for its first ever Celebrity version. What were your first thoughts when the idea came about?
I was scared. Only because I’m in love with this show and I wanted to keep it small. Once a year or maybe once every two years felt like enough. My bosses thank goodness ignored everything I said.
What does it mean to you, to have celebrity fans of the show who love it so much they want to play the game themselves?
It’s an absolute honour. I could barely breathe when I saw them all in the Highlands. I’m such a fan of every single one of them. The whole team were just in awe, it was hard not to scream ‘you’re here!” When I talked to Stephen Fry I almost welled up, I told him “this was my dream”. We’re incredibly lucky to have the cast that we have. Each one of them is tremendous.
How does hosting the celebrity version compare to the regular series?
I think it was scarier, because all I wanted to do was chat to them and make them like me. But of course, I have to be extremely unlikable. It was tricky!
What surprised you the most about having celebrities play the game?
They’re incredibly smart and kind. They play the game beautifully and were fully engulfed in it. It was an extraordinary experience and we’re so so lucky this nineteen said yes. It’s something we never take for granted and are so grateful for.
What was the biggest challenge with leading the game with celebrities?
The biggest challenge was being ‘strict’. All I wanted to do was chat and be friendly but my role is aloof and grumpy. I found it hard not to just sit down with them and have a cup of tea. My family and I are obsessed with Joe Wilkinson, I had to stop myself getting his autograph for my son.
Alan Cumming said he goes full Bond villain presiding over The Traitors in the US. If you had to channel a character from popular culture as you get yourself into The Traitors mode, who might they be?
Cruella de Vil with a touch of Miss Trunchbull.
Are you ever tempted to help in the Missions? Or has there been one where you’ve been desperate to have a go?
I am DESPERATE to help them all the time. Sometimes I try and drop big clues, but my producer tells me off.
Have you been tempted to, or have you in fact taken, any little keepsake from the castle?
I am always tempted but know better. They’d search my bags!
What can we expect from your wardrobe this series?
It’s absolutely nuts. Unhinged in taffeta was where we went…
Meet The Celebrity Traitors Contestants
Clare Balding
Why have you decided to take part in The Celebrity Traitors?
I love the show. Yes, I really find it fascinating; the way group thinking can be influenced. I don’t know whether I can resist that or whether I can influence that and I’m kind of interested in it from a psychological perspective. Also, I really want to see the castle, I want to see the grounds and I want to meet the peacocks. Genuinely, I think it’s a fascinating programme and it’s like nothing else.
We’ll have a complete digital detox. We’ve got to connect with each other, talk to each other and how do you work out who to trust? That’s different from who you like. Who you like is easier, but who you trust is really hard.
Are you quite good at reading people?
I think I am, but I can be much too trusting so that it would be very easy for somebody to convince me that they were not a Traitor. I have a few things that I’ll try and look out for responses to and if I spot anyone being a bit casual about trying to get a shield, that will be very telling!
Have you got a strategy?
I mean, you can’t. The trouble is, how do you strategise when, firstly, you don’t know if you’re a Traitor or a Faithful yet, and secondly, if you’re a Faithful, how do you stop yourself getting killed? So, I think if I have a strategy, I’d be looking at the people like Harry and like Leanne, who’d been very successful and Charlotte, who could have won the whole thing. My strategy would be to try and keep myself under the radar. Do not be the loudest person in any situation. Be good at the Missions, because if you’re good at those you have a value. So even if they thought you were a Traitor, would it be worth having you around? That’s what I think. If you’ve got a real athlete on the team, I’d want to keep them even if I thought they were a Traitor, because they’ve got value.
So given the choice, Traitor or Faithful?
I just don’t think I’d be a very good Traitor!
Do you have a good poker face?
You can’t pretend to be something you’re not and the interesting factor in this series in particular is that we’ll have some level of knowledge of each other. It’s going to be very hard to put aside the knowledge you have of people, and the trust you have. Tom Daley I’ve known since he was very young so equally I’d want to be around him. I’d want to look out for him but then he could be a Traitor, of course.
Having interviewed so many sports professionals who are at the top of their game, has anybody ever given you a really good piece of advice? Imparted any winner’s mentality wisdom as you embark on this game?
Roger Federer, having retired, came in to do an interview at Wimbledon last year and I asked him a question about the speech he’d given to the students at Dartmouth College. He talked there about his stats – of all the matches he’d won, actually how many points did he win? And it’s much lower than you think it should be proportionally. Because, he said, what you have to learn is which are the key points? I think that’s a good strategy to take into this. I don’t have to win every point. You look at someone like Roger Federer; he was fiercely competitive. He really cared about winning, but he never quite made it look like he did. There was an elegance to him that I think is very hard to master.
Another piece of advice Sir Alex Ferguson gave me really early on in my career was ‘don’t let people rush you into a decision and don’t undervalue yourself.’ I think the way that top level sports people respond to things going wrong is very educational. They don’t let it stay with them. Things are going to go wrong in this. I’m going to mess up, I’m going to say something stupid, bound to, how do I not get myself dragged down in that? And part of what I do, certainly when I work, is I don’t internalise much. I look out and I think that it helps me in a group.
Are you looking forward to the Missions?
Oh God, yeah! That’s your chance to get a team together, working with the same aim. That side of the programme I’m all over. It’s deception and the expelling of people that I’m not so comfortable with.
Do you think we might see a different side to you?
Well, it’s interesting, not a different side from how I am in everyday life but how I am in everyday life is not how I am on telly, because I’ve got to be super charged on telly in my usual job. I have to be well researched, know the facts and be sort of seemingly in control the whole time. I’m not in control of this so I guess to the outside world, it will be a bit different.
Lucy Beaumont
Why have you decided to take part in The Celebrity Traitors?
Well, I love the show. It’s the best telly I’ve ever seen and I’ve watched every series. You just get totally involved and it’s a really clever game.
What do you think you’ll bring to the game?
I really don’t know. You can imagine what you’d be like, but until I’m in it I just can’t say. People who know me have said I’ll either be the worst person they’ve ever had on the show or I’ll win it. Nothing in between.
Have you got a strategy?
No, I don’t think game plans work. I’ve seen people think they have a game plan but it always comes undone. I think it’s just luck that they’ve said the right thing at the right time and were aligned with the right people. I don’t have a plan for anything, I’m going to go with the flow.
Are you looking forward to the Missions? What might your strengths be in those?
No strengths! I’m not good at anything physical or logical. I will be carried during those and I’ll try to look busy.
Have you done anything to prepare?
Just lying a lot, seeing how good I can lie.
Have you got away with any of it?
Yeah, people don’t know I’m here at the castle. They think I’ve just popped down to the shops.
Do you want to be a Faithful or a Traitor?
I don’t mind which. I think there’s a bit less pressure with being a Faithful, but then it’d be hard if people suspected you were a Traitor. If you are a Traitor, you can’t really blame anyone for pointing the finger at you. All things considered, if I had to pick, I’d rather be a Traitor. I think it’s more interesting. But I’d probably not be a very good one.
Would you say you’re good at reading people?
No. When I was a teenager, I was good at spotting 15-year-old boys that were lying but things have changed since then. I hope the skills might return in this game.
Have you got a good poker face yourself?
It depends on the situation. If I was a Traitor, I think I could convince myself that I was a Faithful and then I don’t think it’s so much like lying. If I could make myself genuinely believe that then I think that’s what would get me through it.
As a comedian, do you think you might use some of the skills you’ve developed there on the other players? Diffuse a tense moment with your humour maybe?
Maybe that might help to an extent until it starts to annoy people. I think I am good at getting on with people so that’s the only thing I can offer. It’s a sort of fairly okay demeanour! I haven’t got any type of plan and I doubt I’ll contribute much to the missions so the only thing I’ve got going is that I’m moderately pleasant.
Do you think we’re going to see a different side to you in this game?
I was thinking about going in speaking Welsh and pretending I’ve actually been Welsh all this time. Sort of a reverse of Charlotte. You know, I’ve been pretending all this time that I’m not Welsh. Or I could be really posh. I have thought about that a bit, but I probably would only manage for the first hour. Really, there’s only one side to me.
Maybe you’ll discover a new side. Maybe you’ll be amazing at the missions…
This time next year I might be on Team GB. I might get really into archery or something. I don’t know. Doesn’t feel at all likely…
What do you think you’ll enjoy most about the game?
I like the side of someone telling me what to do all the time. To the point I think I probably would be OK in prison, having no communication with the outside world. I think it’s just lovely.
Paloma Faith
Why have you decided to take part in The Celebrity Traitors?
I’ve never done something like this before, but I think it’s an interesting game.
Have you got a game plan or a strategy?
I keep changing my mind, which is sort of what I’m like – adaptable! Sometimes I think my game plan is that I’m just going to be really honest, because there’s no way that I can do anything else than genuinely be myself. My main concern is that when I’ve watched the show, I feel that the people who tend to get through to the end are the ones who have maybe been a little bit under the radar.
I’m in favour of having a voice of any kind, rather than sitting on the fence. I’d get rid of the boring ones!
Does that mean you’ve decided you’d rather be a Traitor than a Faithful?
Oh, I’d still vote out boring people if I’m a Faithful. If I don’t think someone is contributing much to our entertainment, I’ll just exert my influence at the Round Table.
Would you say you’re a competitive person?
I always say no to this question, and everyone who knows me says I am! I believe in doing the best you can, and I have high expectations for myself. I’m not somebody who gives up, but I don’t have the desire to win. I think in my life, all the winning I’ve ever done has been like an alternative type of winning.
Are you looking forward to the Missions?
I am because I’m really physical. I work out four times a week and I was a trained dancer so the physical stuff I’ll love. My mind’s not great when it comes to maths. If there’s a Mission that involves a lot of logic count me out.
Have you done anything to prepare?
Got some great outfits! It’ll be the first time that I’ve been on TV and self-styled. I can let loose and see if people like my actual style.
Would you say you’re good at reading people? Can you spot a liar?
That’s my worry. I’m exceptional at reading people, and I’m worried that I’ll get voted off or murdered, because they’ll see that in me. I need to keep it under the radar about how good at it I am. I’m at the point in my life where people don’t even want to introduce me to their new boyfriend because they’re worried I’ll say I don’t get good vibes from him.
Have you got a good poker face yourself?
No. Oh no. Really bad. I’ve sort of lied though, pretended if you like, because I’ve acted. I was Bet Sykes on Pennyworth, an actual murderer. I’ve stood in a courtroom and denied crimes, albeit for TV, so I can just take myself to that place and believe my own lie wholeheartedly.
I could do it, I just don’t do that in real life, because I think morally it goes against what I’m like. This is a game and it’s all fair in the game.
Do you think we might see a different side to you on the show?
I quite like murdering people! Haha. I might see a different side to myself. I think that I’m always very moral and on my high horse so I might be surprised if I do some backstabbing.
Watch this space for more from the rest of the celebrities heading to the castle soon…