Copyright The Hollywood Reporter
It’s official: a handful of Britain’s celebrities will return to the Scottish Highlands in 2026 for a second season of The Celebrity Traitors. The hugely popular reality show — now an international success after installments in various territories, including in the U.S., Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Greece and India — is set to return to BBC One and BBC iPlayer next year, with Claudia Winkleman playing host. The first season of the U.K.’s Celebrity Traitors, which Thursday wrapped with a jaw-dropping finale that saw comedian-turned-traitor Alan Carr swoop in and nab the entire prize fund for his chosen charity, has become the biggest unscripted series in the U.K. since 2021. The debut episode of the show is now the biggest unscripted title on TV so far this year with 14.8 million views over 28 days in Britain. The finale also broke records, according to the BBC, averaging 11.1 million viewers with a peak of 12 million, making it the biggest overnight audience in the market since the BBC’s own record-breaking Gavin & Stacey viewing on Dec. 25 last year, and biggest overnight share (81 percent) since the European Championships of soccer. The final episode had 1.9 million live requests on BBC iPlayer, which makes it the highest live-viewing number for any entertainment episode on iPlayer of all time. Among some of the more high-profile names on the first season were actor-presenter Stephen Fry, Bridget Jones star Celia Imrie, singer-songwriter Paloma Faith, Olympian Tom Daley, chat show host Jonathan Ross and Ted Lasso‘s Nick Mohammed. As well as series two of The Celebrity Traitors, podcast agency Platform Media will produce new episodes of companion show The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, available via BBC Sounds, BBC Two and iPlayer, the BBC said. The announcement of series two coincides with the publication of a new report that reveals the entire Traitors franchise has generated an estimated £21.8 million boost for Scotland’s economy since 2022. Head of entertainment at the BBC Kalpna Patel-Knight said: “Studio Lambert have done an outstanding job as The Celebrity Traitors has well and truly captivated the nation, becoming a bona fide highlight of the year bringing record numbers of people together to enjoy every twist and turn.” “In 2026 the doors of the castle will be opened again to welcome celebrity players to the game to see who can charm, who can scheme and ultimately who can survive in series two which promises to be just as unmissable as the first,” she added.
