BBC Confirms UK Celebrity Edition and Season 4 of Hit Show

The Traitors is set to return with a twist, featuring celebrities, as announced by the BBC.

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, this reality TV show involves contestants living together in a castle in the Scottish Highlands. Among them are secret “Traitors” who must conspire to eliminate others without being detected.

The show has been a massive hit. Earlier this year, over 7 million viewers tuned in to watch contestant Harry Clark, 23, win £95,150 after deceiving his best friend Mollie Pearce in the season finale.

A third season has already been recorded and will air in January 2025. A fourth season and a new celebrity edition are also in the works.

The announcement came during the Edinburgh TV festival on August 22. Details about the cast or the release date are yet to be confirmed.

While the US has tested a celebrity version of the show, which is based on the Dutch program De Verraders, this will be the UK’s first celebrity season.

In the US, the celebrity Traitors included former Love Island contestant Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu, Real Housewives stars Tamra Judge and Phaedra Parks, and former Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow.

Reactions to the announcement were mixed. Some fans insisted that the show’s charm was its lack of famous faces.

“Boring! We don’t need celebrities,” wrote one person. “We need to see Traitors get relentlessly tracked down by a ‘live laugh love’ mum from Staines living out her detective dreams.”

Others were more open to the idea and found it “intriguing.”

Announcing the news, BBC’s head of entertainment, Kalpna Patel-Knight, said: “The Traitors has well and truly established itself as an unmissable highlight of the year. The news of a fourth outing, alongside a brand-new celebrity version, will take the series to a whole new level.

“It will be fascinating for our audiences to see who’ll outwit, outplay, and outlast. Let the mind games begin!”

Mike Cotton, creative director for unscripted at Studio Lambert and executive producer of the show, added: “We are thrilled to be inviting some celebrities into our castle to play the game.

“Seeing famous faces navigate the round table or don the infamous green cloaks will be unmissable TV. What a double treat for the fans with season four also confirmed.

“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.”