Official lineup confirmed for second series of The Celebrity Traitors | Television
Considering that Traitors is a bloody game of betrayal played out in a castle, the Shakespeare actors in the cast of the famous new spin-off series must be well-calibrated.
Oscar winner Richard E Grant, acclaimed actor Michael Sheen and The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey are among the actors vying for victory this year, all with Bard on their resumes.
They are joined by Industry star Myha, comedian Miranda Hart and Love Island presenter Maya Jama.
Actor, model and Rupert Murdoch’s ex-husband Jerry Hall, former Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock and singer-songwriter James Blunt will also compete.
21 stars of the popular BBC reality game show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, will travel to a Scottish castle in the Highlands for the chance to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.
The game is about famous contestants who kill players in the middle of the night and try to find the murderous traitors among them.
The first series of Famous Traitors had the nation on the edge of their seats. Comedian Alan Carr, an unusual choice for the role of the traitor, managed to win the game, beating out Stephen Fry, Celia Imrie and Nick Mohammed.
According to the broadcaster, the series reached a huge audience, with its finale peaking at 15.4 million viewers. The series achieved the biggest TV audience of 2025, averaging 14.9 million viewers during its run.
The program was also a hit with young viewers, whom broadcasters complained they were turning away from traditional television. Overnight ratings for the first series of The Celebrity Traitors – measuring the number of people watching live or later on iPlayer that evening – revealed that more than half of the 16 to 24-year-olds who watched the series in that time period watched every episode of The Celebrity Traitors as soon as it aired.
A number of comedians will also join the second series of the spin-off series, including James Acaster, Joe Lycett and Romesh Ranganathan, as well as Rob Beckett and Joanne McNally.
Others joining the cast include Coronation street star Julie Hesmondhalgh, broadcaster Amol Rajan and Scottish actress Sharon Rooney.
Broadcaster and mathematician Prof Hannah Fry completes the line-up, along with content creator King Kenny and actor Sebastian Croft.
After the success of The Traitors, Winkleman launched her own Friday night talk show, The Claudia Winkleman Show; This was a reasonable, if somewhat modest, effort. Its premiere on March 13 attracted 1.5 million viewers; this was little more than the final show of the 33rd series of The Graham Norton Show. Capture viewing added another 700,000.
The show has dominated UK screens since its release in 2022. It’s a two-hour immersive experience, there’s a board game, a card game, and the opportunity to purchase branded full length hooded capes.
The treacherous play will also be adapted for the stage, which producers say will be a “bold and surprising” theatrical experience opening in London in 2027.
The stage production will include Studio Lambert, the production company behind the TV series, and Neal Street Productions, co-founded by Sam Mendes.
