“Celebrity Traitors” will return for a second series in 2026, BBC announces | Traitors

The Celebrity Traitors will return for a second series in 2026 after its record-breaking audience debut, the BBC said.

Scotland’s Ardross Castle and host Claudia Winkleman will welcome a new cast of stars to TV’s ultimate game of trust and betrayal.

Comedian Alan Carr was crowned champion of the first series last week, after he was revealed to be unfaithful to comedian Nick Mohammed and TV historian David Olusoga, who were loyal to him and pocketed the £87,500 prize pool for his charity.

Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of BBC Entertainment, said: “Studio Lambert have done a fantastic job with The Celebrity Traitors having well and truly captivated the nation, becoming one of the highlights of the year bringing record numbers of people together to enjoy every twist and turn.

“In 2026, the castle doors will open once again to welcome famous players into the game to see who can magic, who can scheme and ultimately who can survive in the second series, which promises to be as unmissable as the first.”

The BBC said viewers for the first episode of the first series were the largest for a single episode on television so far this year with 14.8 million views over 28 days, while the final episode averaged 11.1 million viewers and peaked at 12 million.

The show is the biggest unscripted title in the entire UK market since 2021.

Franchising across the UK and US has provided a £21.8 million boost to Scotland’s economy since 2022, the BBC’s Economic Impact Report says.

The reality show has had versions in other territories including Australia, Canada, Netherlands, Greece and India.

Alongside the second series of The Celebrity Traitors, podcast agency Platform Media will produce new episodes of the companion show The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, available on BBC Sounds, BBC Two and iPlayer.

The series one finale featured traitors Kat Burns and Carr and loyal Joe Marler, Mohammed and Olusoga. In a dramatic turn of events, Burns was first arrested and banished to the vote, and then Marler was wrongly identified as a traitor and banished as well.

The remaining three players voted to end the match, after which Carr revealed he was a traitor, adding: “I’m so sorry, it tore me apart.” The Guardian’s five-star review described the ending as “an absolute rubbish”.

Notable names from the first season include actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry, actress Celia Imrie, Olympian Tom Daley, singer-songwriter Paloma Faith and chat show host Jonathan Ross.

Famous moments in the series included Emery audibly farting during a mission, and Carr killing his friend Faith in plain sight at the first opportunity.

On the show, which began with 19 celebrities, contestants try to spot the traitors in the group while completing a series of challenges to win money to contribute to the prize pool. If at the end of the series a traitor remains among the finalists, the faithful, who are not traitors, will lose money and the traitor will win the full prize.

Stars who could appear in the second season

Gareth Southgate – The former England manager is a fan of the show and previously revealed that the England team and crew played their own version during their spare time at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022. When Chris Evans asked on Virgin Radio if he would score for the Celebrity Series, Southgate sheepishly replied: “Well…”

Danny Dyer The actor said he rejected the request to appear in the first series, but has since changed his mind. Speaking on Live and Let Dyers, he said: “They’ve been sniffing around about it. It was a ‘no’ because I hadn’t seen it, but now I’m interested in it… If the money is right, I might be in for the next series.”

Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary – After the finale, the ITV This Morning hosts said they were considering appearing in a second series. When asked whether she would rather be loyal or traitorous, Hammond replied: “I won’t tell you, just in case I do.” One fan posted on X: “Season 2 with Alison Hammond is on demand now.”

Mike Tyndall – 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 watching a snippet of the programme, he told presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Sheppard: “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 television that I would agree to be a part of”. “If Bob wants to do it next year, we would absolutely love it,” the show’s executive producer, Sarah Faye, told Metro last month.

Ruth Jones – The Gavin & Stacey star is rumored to be “in talks to appear”, although it is claimed she would only consider taking part on the condition she is faithful.