After much rumour and speculation, the BBC have today (August 22nd) confirmed that there WILL in fact be a celebrity version the hit psychological reality tv gameshow The Traitors.
Announcing the news at the 2024 Edinburgh TV Festival, both the corporation and Studio Lambert said the nine-part series – which is set to go into production next year – will be hosted by Claudia Winkleman, and follow the same format as the civilian version of the multi-award-winning show.
The BBC was also revealed that there will be a fourth series featuring members of the public, and a third has already been filmed in the Scottish Highlands.
Speaking following the announcement, Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC said: “The Traitors has well and truly established itself as an unmissable highlight of the year and the news of a fourth outing, alongside a brand new celebrity version coming to the BBC, will take the series to a whole new level. It will once again be fascinating for our audiences to see who’ll outwit, outplay, and outlast. Let the mind games begin!”
With Mike Cotton, Creative Director Unscripted at Studio Lambert and Executive Producer for The Traitors adding: “We are thrilled to be inviting some celebrities into our castle to come and play the game. Seeing famous faces navigate the round table or don the infamous green cloaks will be unmissable TV, and what a double treat for the fans with Series 4 also confirmed too. There’s a whole lot of exciting treachery and deception yet to come from the Highlands… Claudia’s going to have to pack some extra knitwear.”
Since the series debuted on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in 2022, the show has established a 100% faithful audience.
A breakout hit at series one, series two saw phenomenal growth with 46m views on BBC iPlayer and an average of 8.1m views per episode.
The series has also won several prizes, including a TV Bafta, a National Television Award and a Royal Television Society award.