The Traitors (British TV series)

British reality television series

For the British miniseries, see Traitors (miniseries). For other uses, see The Traitors (disambiguation).

The Traitors

Also known as| The Traitors UK
Genre|

* Reality
* Game show

Based on|

De Verraders

* Marc Pos
* Jasper Hoogendoorn

Presented by| Claudia Winkleman
Theme music composer| Sam Watts[1]
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
No. of series| 3
No. of episodes| 36
Production
Camera setup| Multi-camera
Running time| 59 minutes
Production company| Studio Lambert
Original release
Network| BBC One
Release| 29 November 2022 (2022-11-29) –
present

The Traitors (also known as The Traitors UK) is a British reality television series broadcast on BBC One, based on the Dutch series De Verraders. The show premiered on 29 November 2022 and is hosted by Claudia Winkleman.

Following the premise of De Verraders, the show features a group of contestants participating in a game similar to Mafia or Werewolf, where an informed minority (known as the "Traitors") must eliminate an uninformed majority (known as the "Faithfuls"). The "Faithfuls" are tasked to discover the "Traitors" and vote them out of the game. The series is filmed in and around Ardross Castle.

After the first episode aired on BBC One, the first three episodes were all released on BBC iPlayer. Each subsequent episode has been released one at a time. While the first and second series featured 22 contestants, the third series featured 25.[2][3][4]

Since the show launched, it has become a huge success for the BBC, with viewing figures growing substantially each series. It has become one of the most watched British reality gameshows of all time. The show has gained a cult following due to its success.[5][6]

## Format

[edit]

Over twenty contestants arrive at a castle in the Scottish Highlands where they will spend their entire time for the duration of the game. On the arrival day, host Claudia Winkleman 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.[a] 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 which can reach up to £120,000 by the end of the game. 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.[7]

### End Game

[edit]

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.

For Series 3, in the final Round Table and for all subsequent banishments around the fire pit, banished players no longer reveal their true affiliation. In addition, the role of "Seer" was introduced,[8] where a player, either Faithful or Traitor, can win the right in a task to meet in private with a player of their choosing who has to reveal their true identity to the Seer (the Seer's true identity is not revealed to the chosen player). Both players can tell the others players whatever they want about the contents of the meeting. In Series 3, the Seer's meeting happened before the final Round Table.

## Production

[edit]

The series was filmed at Ardross Castle (pictured in 2003)

The UK show was commissioned by the BBC in October 2021 following the airing of the Dutch series earlier that year. The series was to be produced by Studio Lambert Scotland.[9]

The first series was recorded in May 2022,[10] and action took place at Ardross Castle[11] in Scotland.

Presenter Claudia Winkleman was initially hesitant to host the programme but after watching the Dutch series became "obsessed" and jokingly "booked a train to Scotland".[12]

Applicants had to submit a video application and go through several rounds of interviews, as well as a psychological assessment. Contestants were filmed constantly over a long day, finding out just before breakfast whether they had been 'murdered'. 'Murdered' contestants were driven away immediately and sent home, without being able to say any goodbyes. Contestants were assigned a welfare person to help with their well-being.[13]

On 27 February 2023, the BBC announced that the show had been renewed for a second series, with Winkleman returning to host.[14] In May 2023, Studio Lambert revealed 40,000 people had applied to take part in the second series, in comparison with 1,500 who had applied for series one.[15] On 1 September 2023, it was announced that filming had begun.[16]

On 3 November 2023, it was revealed that a third series had been commissioned.[17] In January 2024, it was announced that applications for Series 3 had begun, with almost 300,000 applications received.[18][19] The series was filming as of May 2024.[20]

In August 2024, ahead of the release of the third series, the BBC announced that the show had not only been renewed for a fourth series but a celebrity series will also be produced.[21] Filming for both versions will commence during 2025.[22] Applications for the fourth series opened on 22 August 2024 and closed on 9 February 2025.[23]

## Series overview

[edit]

Series overviewSeries| Contestants| Episodes| Originally released| Winner(s)| Prize| Traitors| Average viewers (millions)

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

First released| Last released
1| 22| 12| 29 November 2022 (2022-11-29)| 22 December 2022 (2022-12-22)| Aaron Evans
Hannah Byczkowski
Meryl Williams (Faithfuls)| £101,050| Alyssa Chan
Amanda Lovett
Wilfred "Wilf" Webster
Kieran Tompsett (from
ep. 11)| 3.74
2| 22| 12| 3 January 2024 (2024-01-03)| 26 January 2024 (2024-01-26)| Harry Clark (Traitor)| £95,150| Ash Bibi
Harry Clark
Paul Gorton
Miles Asteri (from ep. 2)
Andrew Jenkins (from ep. 8)
Ross Carson (from ep. 9)| 6.76
3| 25[24]| 12| 1 January 2025 (2025-01-01)| 24 January 2025 (2025-01-24)| Jake Brown
Leanne Quigley (Faithfuls)| £94,600| Armani Gouveia
Linda Rands
Minah Shannon
Charlotte Berman (from ep. 8)
Freddie Fraser (from ep. 10)| 9.19
Celeb| 19| 9| Autumn 2025| TBA| TBA| TBA| TBA

### Series 1 (2022)

[edit]

Main article: The Traitors (British TV series) series 1

No.
overall| No. in
series| Title [25]| Original release date| UK viewers
(millions) [26]

|
|
|
|

1| 1| "Episode 1"| 29 November 2022 (2022-11-29)| 3.88
2| 2| "Episode 2"| 30 November 2022 (2022-11-30)| 3.14
3| 3| "Episode 3"| 1 December 2022 (2022-12-01)| <2.71[b]
4| 4| "Episode 4"| 6 December 2022 (2022-12-06)| 3.33
5| 5| "Episode 5"| 7 December 2022 (2022-12-07)| 3.13
6| 6| "Episode 6"| 8 December 2022 (2022-12-08)| 3.37
7| 7| "Episode 7"| 13 December 2022 (2022-12-13)| 3.76
8| 8| "Episode 8"| 15 December 2022 (2022-12-15)[c]| 3.75
9| 9| "Episode 9"| 16 December 2022 (2022-12-16)[c]| 3.60
10| 10| "Episode 10"| 20 December 2022 (2022-12-20)| 4.09
11| 11| "Episode 11"| 21 December 2022 (2022-12-21)| 4.32
12| 12| "Episode 12"| 22 December 2022 (2022-12-22)| 4.73

### Series 2 (2024)

[edit]

Main article: The Traitors (British TV series) series 2

No.
overall| No. in
series| Title [27]| Original release date| UK viewers
(millions) [28]

|
|
|
|

13| 1| "Episode 1"| 3 January 2024 (2024-01-03)| 5.94
14| 2| "Episode 2"| 4 January 2024 (2024-01-04)[d]| 5.78
15| 3| "Episode 3"| 5 January 2024 (2024-01-05)[d]| 5.81
16| 4| "Episode 4"| 10 January 2024 (2024-01-10)| 6.48
17| 5| "Episode 5"| 11 January 2024 (2024-01-11)| 6.36
18| 6| "Episode 6"| 12 January 2024 (2024-01-12)| 6.50
19| 7| "Episode 7"| 17 January 2024 (2024-01-17)| 7.11
20| 8| "Episode 8"| 18 January 2024 (2024-01-18)| 7.03
21| 9| "Episode 9"| 19 January 2024 (2024-01-19)| 7.11
22| 10| "Episode 10"| 24 January 2024 (2024-01-24)| 7.40
23| 11| "Episode 11"| 25 January 2024 (2024-01-25)| 7.61
24| 12| "Episode 12"| 26 January 2024 (2024-01-26)| 8.03

### Series 3 (2025)

[edit]

Main article: The Traitors (British TV series) series 3

No.
overall| No. in
series| Title [29]| Original release date| UK viewers
(millions) [30]

|
|
|
|

25| 1| "Episode 1"| 1 January 2025 (2025-01-01)| 9.23
26| 2| "Episode 2"| 2 January 2025 (2025-01-02)[e]| 8.54
27| 3| "Episode 3"| 3 January 2025 (2025-01-03)| 8.64
28| 4| "Episode 4"| 8 January 2025 (2025-01-08)| 9.08
29| 5| "Episode 5"| 9 January 2025 (2025-01-09)| 9.06
30| 6| "Episode 6"| 10 January 2025 (2025-01-10)| 9.11
31| 7| "Episode 7"| 15 January 2025 (2025-01-15)| 9.16
32| 8| "Episode 8"| 16 January 2025 (2025-01-16)| 9.29
33| 9| "Episode 9"| 17 January 2025 (2025-01-17)| 9.33
34| 10| "Episode 10"| 22 January 2025 (2025-01-22)| 9.40
35| 11| "Episode 11"| 23 January 2025 (2025-01-23)| 9.53
36| 12| "The Final"| 24 January 2025 (2025-01-24)| 9.91

## Reception

[edit]

### Critical reception

[edit]

The series was generally well received by critics, who praised the programme for being "fresh, yet familiar", likening it to party games such as Mafia or wink murder.[31][32] Rebecca Nicholson of The Guardian says the format "feels like a revival of the early, more innocent days of reality TV", calling it "The White Lotus meets Big Brother 1".[33] The Tab believed that social media helped the success of the show: "The memes and everyone live-tweeting it has played a big part in its success. Nobody wants to miss out on a reality TV show that everyone is talking about."[31] Isobel Lewis of The Independent was more critical, however, saying it "definitely isn't a perfect reality show, or even the best in its genre right now, but it is pretty entertaining."[34]

### Viewership

[edit]

The series saw an average audience of 5.4 million, with a peak of 6.2 million for the first episode. By the end of February 2023, The Traitors had been viewed over 34 million times on BBC iPlayer.[14]

The BBC stated that The Traitors was the biggest new series for young audiences across all BBC content in 2022, with a 1.3 million average audience across the series and a peak of 1.5 million for the final.[14]

The Traitors : UK viewers per episode (millions)

Series| Episode number| Average

|
|

1| 2| 3| 4| 5| 6| 7| 8| 9| 10| 11| 12
| 1| 3.88| 3.14| N/A| 3.33| 3.13| 3.37| 3.76| 3.75| 3.60| 4.09| 4.32| 4.73| 3.74
| 2| 5.94| 5.78| 5.81| 6.48| 6.36| 6.50| 7.11| 7.03| 7.11| 7.40| 7.61| 8.03| 6.76
| 3| 9.23| 8.54| 8.64| 9.08| 9.06| 9.11| 9.16| 9.29| 9.33| 9.40| 9.53| 9.91| 9.19

Audience measurement performed by Broadcasters' Audience Research Board[35]

### Awards and nominations

[edit]

Year  | Award  | Category | Nominee(s)  | Result | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2023  | 28th National Television Awards | Reality Competition  | The Traitors | Won
Edinburgh International Television Festival | Best Entertainment  | The Traitors | Won
2023 TV Times Awards  | Best Presenter  | Claudia Winkleman  | Nominated
Best Entertainment Show  | The Traitors | Won
Favourite TV Moment  | Wilf Webster revealed as a traitor  | Nominated
British Academy Television Awards | Best Reality and Constructed Factual | The Traitors | Won
Best Entertainment Performance | Claudia Winkleman  | Won
Memorable Moment | The Traitors: The final roundtable  | Nominated
Royal Television Society Programme Awards | Entertainment  | The Traitors | Won
Entertainment Performance  | Claudia Winkleman  | Won
2024  | 2024 TV Choice Awards  | Best Reality Show  | The Traitors | Nominated
29th National Television Awards | Reality Competition  | The Traitors | Won
Televisual Bulldog Awards  | Entertainment  | The Traitors | Won

## The Traitors: Uncloaked

[edit]

To accompany the second series in January 2024, a follow-up television programme and BBC Sounds podcast was introduced, called The Traitors: Uncloaked produced by Listen. The first episode aired on 5 January 2024. It was hosted by Ed Gamble and broadcast on BBC Two.[36] The final episode of Uncloaked which aired on BBC2 directly after the final received 3.97 million viewers.[37] Uncloaked returned with the same format to accompany the third series in 2025.

## Celebrity Traitors

[edit]

Series overviewSeason| Celebrities| Episodes| Originally released| Winner(s)| Prize| Traitors| Average viewers (millions)

|
|
|
|
|
|
|

First released| Last released
1| 19| 9| 2025 (2025)| 2025 (2025)| TBA| TBA| TBA| TBA

BBC announced that a nine-episode series titled Celebrity Traitors, featuring well-known public figures, is set to debut in the autumn of 2025. Filming and production began in April 2025.[38]

The announced cast is:

* Alan Carr \- Comedian
* Cat Burns – Singer/Songwriter
* Celia Imrie – Actor
* Charlotte Church – Singer/Activist
* Clare Balding \- Broadcaster and Author
* David Olusoga \- Historian and Filmmaker
* Joe Marler – Former England Rugby Player and Podcaster
* Joe Wilkinson \- Comedian
* Jonathan Ross \- Presenter
* Kate Garraway \- Broadcaster
* Lucy Beaumont \- Comedian
* Mark Bonnar \- Actor
* Nick Mohammed \- Actor and Comedian
* Niko Omilana \- Content Creator
* Paloma Faith \- Singer/Songwriter and Actor
* Ruth Codd \- Actor
* Stephen Fry \- Actor, Writer, Presenter
* Tameka Empson – Actor and Comedian
* Tom Daley – Olympian, Author, Broadcaster and Entrepreneur

## Interactive merchandise

[edit]

After the first series, the BBC published a Traitors card game and puzzle book. In September 2023, a board game, called The Traitors, was released.[39]

For Series 2, a Traitors app was released, allowing users to predict what will happen in the series and gain points for correct predictions. It was described as "the perfect synchronicity between programme content and interactive platform".[40]

## International broadcast

[edit]

In Australia, the series was made available to stream on 10 Play in March 2023, as a companion to the Australian version aired by the network.[41]

In the United States, the show is available to stream on Peacock, the broadcaster of the American version.[42]

In Canada, the show is available to stream on Crave.[43] The Canadian version of the series began on 2 October 2023 on CTV.

In New Zealand, the show is available to stream on ThreeNow, the same broadcaster as the New Zealand version.[44]

In Sweden, the first series was made available with Swedish subtitles on TV4 Play not long after the premiere of Förrädarna, TV4's own version. Many other countries have followed the same route.

In Poland in December 2024, the first series was broadcast on TVN 7 in nighttime slot and each episode (after it had aired) was made available to watch on a streaming service Player.

The Croatian network RTL, which is set to broadcast the Croatian edition of the series, began releasing The Traitors UK on its streaming service Voyo on 1 January 2025.[45]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ In the event of a tie, the tied players make a final plea before the remaining players vote between them again – if a second tie occurs, one player is chosen for banishment randomly among the tied players.
2. ^ This episode did not make it into the top 50 most viewed programmes of the week and therefore full figures are not available.
3. ^ a b This episode was originally scheduled for the night before, however it was rescheduled due to changes to the BBC schedule for this week due to the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
4. ^ a b This episode was released on BBC iPlayer on 3 January 2024 (2024-01-03).
5. ^ This episode was released on BBC iPlayer on 1 January 2025 (2025-01-01).

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Sam Watts | Composer – Film and television composer". Retrieved 23 December 2022.
2. ^ Dubey, Shivani (11 November 2022). "Strictly's Claudia Winkleman to host BBC's psychological reality competition The Traitors". Digital Spy. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
3. ^ Duke, Simon (8 December 2022). "The Traitors remaining episodes dates confirmed by BBC". ChronicleLive. Retrieved 8 December 2022.
4. ^ McIntosh, Steven (22 December 2022). "The Traitors: Why viewers became so loyal to the BBC reality series". BBC News. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
5. ^ Dray, Kayleigh. "The Traitors isn't just addictive; it's a pop culture phenomenon. Here's why". stylist.co.uk. Stylist magazine. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
6. ^ Evans, Greg (27 January 2025). "The Traitors finale viewing figures set new record". The independent. Retrieved 29 January 2025.
7. ^ "BBC One – The Traitors – The Traitors: How the Show Works". BBC. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
8. ^ "What is the brand new 'Seer' power on the hit BBC show The Traitors?". Your Local Guardian. 24 January 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
9. ^ Shaun Linden (5 October 2021). "Psychological adventure series 'The Traitors' for BBC One". ATV Today. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
10. ^ Brett, Ivan (21 December 2022). "Ivan 🗡️ The Traitors on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
11. ^ Metro (26 November 2022). "The Traitors: Where is the BBC One series filmed? All about Ardross Castle". MetroUK. Retrieved 9 December 2022.
12. ^ "Claudia Winkleman originally turned down The Traitors hosting role". Radio Times. Retrieved 1 January 2023.
13. ^ Baxter-Wright, Dusty (11 January 2024). "'I was on The Traitors, and this is what it's actually like' - Alex Gray from season one reveals all". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
14. ^ a b c "The BBC is 100% faithful to The Traitors as series two confirmed". www.bbc.co.uk. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 27 February 2023.
15. ^ Lewis, Isobel (17 May 2023). "The Traitors producers tease series 2 tagline after 40,000 people apply". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
16. ^ Nisbet, Megan (1 September 2023). "BBC The Traitors bosses warn 'the game is going to be different' in exciting series 2 update". Wales Online. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
17. ^ Stedman, Emily (3 November 2023). "The Traitors renewed for season 3". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
18. ^ "How to apply for The Traitors: Registration details and application". Radio Times. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
19. ^ "Celebrity Version of 'The Traitors' Set to Launch Next Year on the BBC". 18 April 2024.
20. ^ "'The Traitors' Producer Wants Former Prime Minister Liz Truss for BBC Celebrity Series". 12 May 2024.
21. ^ "A celeb version of The Traitors is coming - here's what we know so far". Good Housekeeping. 4 March 2025. Retrieved 7 March 2025.
22. ^ "Celebrity Series of The Traitors is coming to BBC One and BBC iPlayer with fourth series also confirmed from Studio Lambert". BBC. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
23. ^ "Applications are now open for The Traitors series 4". Rayo. Retrieved 9 January 2025.
24. ^ "The Traitors season 3 cast officially revealed". Digital Spy. January 2025.
25. ^ "The Traitors – Series 1". BBC. Choose appropriate episode. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
26. ^ "Most Viewed Programmes (See relevant week(s))". BARB.
27. ^ "The Traitors – Series 2". BBC. Choose appropriate episode. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
28. ^ "Most Viewed Programmes (See relevant week(s))". BARB.
29. ^ "The Traitors – Series 3". BBC. Choose appropriate episode. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
30. ^ "Most Viewed Programmes (See relevant week(s))". BARB.
31. ^ a b McIntosh, Steven (22 December 2022). "The Traitors: Why viewers became so loyal to the BBC reality series". BBC News. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
32. ^ Long, Camilla (4 December 2022). "The Traitors: I'm a TV critic, get me out of here". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
33. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (19 December 2022). "I'm 100% faithful: The Traitors is the most exquisite reality TV of the year". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
34. ^ Lewis, Isobel (29 November 2022). "The Traitors might not be very Christmassy, but it sure is fun – review". The Independent. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
35. ^ "Most viewed programmes". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board.
36. ^ "Sleep with One Eye Open: Traitors US and Traitors UK Now Available on 10 Play". TV Zone. 3 January 2024. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
37. ^ "Four-screen dashboard (7-day data)". BARB. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
38. ^ "All the celebrities rumoured to be joining Celebrity Traitors". Red Online. 23 April 2025. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
39. ^ Kate Goodacre (September 2023). "The Traitors board game is finally available to buy". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 October 2023.
40. ^ Keith Stuart (10 January 2024). "Pushing Buttons: Why the Traitors online game is a new frontier for the way we watch TV". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
41. ^ "Uncloaked: Ed Gamble to host The Traitors spin-off on BBC Two". 23 March 2023.
42. ^ "UK, Australian versions of the Traitors uncovered by Peacock for US".
43. ^ "U.K., U.S. & Australian Versions of "The Traitors" Now Streaming on Crave". 9 April 2023.
44. ^ "New to streaming: What to watch on Netflix NZ, Neon and more this week". 4 September 2023.
45. ^ "The Traitors UK | RTL". rtl.hr (in Croatian). RTL. Retrieved 6 January 2025.

## External links

[edit]

* The Traitors at BBC Online
* The Traitors at IMDb
* The Traitors at UKGameshows.com

* v
* t
* e

The Traitors franchise

* Netherlands (original)
* Australia
* Canada
* Denmark (civilian)
* Finland
* Greece
* India
* United Kingdom
* 1
* 2
* finale
* 3
* Celebrity
* 4
* United States
* 1
* 2
* 3
* 4

* v
* t
* e

BAFTA TV Award for Best Reality

* Young Apprentice (2012)
* Made in Chelsea (2013)
* Gogglebox (2014)
* The Island with Bear Grylls (2015)
* First Dates (2016)
* Muslims Like Us (2017)
* Love Island (2018)
* I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2019)
* Race Across the World (2020)
* The School that Tried to End Racism (2021)
* Gogglebox (2022)
* The Traitors (2023)
* Squid Game: The Challenge (2024)
* The Jury: Murder Trial (2025)

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