By Lydia Spencer-Elliott

Copyright independent

The first-ever celebrity edition of The Traitors is officially on its way, with plenty of backstabbing and sleuthing promised by BBC producers.

An all-star version of the game show phenomenon will see 19 famous faces enter the castle in the Scottish Highlands, where host Claudia Winkleman will decide whether they’re playing as faithfuls or traitors.

The lucky players who survive to the end of the game have the chance of winning £100,000 for their chosen charity.

However, in a new twist, if a Traitor remains undetected, they’ll take it all.

Meet the famous faces who’ll be taking part…

Stephen Fry

Former QI host Stephen Fry reportedly “jumped at the chance” to appear on Celebrity Traitors. The actor, presenter and author rose to fame as a member of the comedy duo Fry and Laurie, alongside Hugh Laurie, and starred as General Melchett in Blackadder. In 1997, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his role playing Oscar Wilde in the film Wilde.

He has since become a major proponent for mental health awareness, exploring bipolar disorder in the documentary Stephen Fry: The Secret Life of the Manic Depressive in 2006 and being named president of mental health charity Mind in 2011. He was knighted for services to mental health awareness in 2025.

Alan Carr is one of Britain’s best-known comedians, having risen to prominence on Manchester’s stand-up scene in the early 2000s. He went on to front the Channel 4 variety show The Friday Night Project before hosting his own entertainment show Alan Carr’s Celebrity Ding Dong and his comedy chat show Alan Carr: Chatty Man. The latter ran from 2009 to 2016, where he interviewed huge names including Rihanna, Bradley Cooper and Ryan Reynolds. He has also judged RuPaul’s Drag Race UK since 2019.

Jonathan Ross

Veteran broadcaster Jonathan Ross has interviewed some of the biggest names in the entertainment business. His show, Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, first launched on the BBC in 2001, where it ran until 2010, before he moved to ITV in 2010 to front The Jonathan Ross Show, which has now run for 15 years.

Ross began his career as a television researcher and presenter of numerous radio and television shows, including the BBC’s Film programme, before landing his eponymous chat show. He was awarded an OBE for services to broadcasting in 2005 and has won three TV Baftas for Best Entertainment Performance.

Kate Garraway

Good Morning Britain host Kate Garraway has been a journalist since the Nineties and started her presenting career with ITV News Central before moving to GMTV from 2000 to 2010. Alongside her Thursday and Friday slot on GMB, she presents the Smooth Radio show Mid Mornings with Kate Garraway and came fourth in the nineteenth series of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! in 2019.

Garraway was awarded an MBE in 2022 for services to broadcasting, journalism and charity. She won the National Television Award for Best Authored documentary three times in 2021, 2022, and 2024 for films about her late husband Derek Draper, who died in 2024 after suffering major Covid health complications.

Celia Imrie

British thespian Celia Imrie has a career spanning five decades. Her credits include Calendar Girls, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Bridget Jones, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again and, most recently, the Netflix adaptation of Richard Osman’s Thursday Murder Club. Imrie was awarded a CBE in 2023 for services to drama. She’s also written six chat-topping novels, including Not Quite Nice and Sail Away.

Nick Mohammed

Actor Nick Mohammed is best known for his role as Nathan “Nate” Shelley in the hit sitcom Ted Lasso, for which he was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Mohammed has portrayed the comedy character Mr Swallow for more than a decade, after first developing the idea for the megalomaniac magician while in Cambridge Footlights. This year, he’s touring the UK as Mr Swallow in the new live show, Show Pony.

Tameka Empson

Empson joined the cast of EastEnders as Kim Fox, the half sister of Denise Fox (Diane Parish) in 2009. The role has won her numerous awards, including the 2012 Inside Soap gong for Funniest Female Performance. Empson has also appeared in the BBC sitcom Beautiful People and the ITV thriller Whitechapel.

Mark Bonnar

Scottish actor Mark Bonnar appeared in the BBC crime procedural series Line of Duty as DCC Mike Dryden. He’s also known for his roles in the dramas Guilt and Shetland and Sharon Horgan’s Channel 4 comedy series Catastrophe. This September, he joined the cast of the hit detective series Ludwig, starring David Mitchell, where he will play newspaper editor Gareth Fisher in the forthcoming second series.

After losing her job as a barber in the pandemic, Irish star Ruth Codd began posting videos on TikTok and within a year had more than 670,000 followers. She was discovered by casting agents and placed in the role of Anya in the Netflix thriller series The Midnight Club before going on to play Juno Usher in the 2023 Edgar Allan Poe adaptation miniseries The Fall of the House of Usher.

Paloma Faith

Singer Paloma Faith is known for hits including “Stone Cold Sober” and “New York”. Her third studio album, A Perfect Contradiction, was certified double platinum in the UK and spawned the top-ten singles “Can’t Rely on You” and “Only Love Can Hurt Like This”.

When asked whether she’d rather be a Traitor or a Faithful, Faith said: “I’d still vote out boring people if I’m a Faithful. If I don’t think someone is contributing much to our entertainment, I’ll just exert my influence at the Round Table.”

Charlotte Church

Welsh singer Charlotte Church rose to prominence as a popular classical singer when she was a child. In 2005, she made a foray into pop music, with singles including “Crazy Chick” and “Call My Name”. She went on to host The Charlotte Church Show on Channel 4, which ran for three series. In recent years, she’s been a vocal supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, Plaid Cymru and the Welsh independence movement.

Singer Cat Burns had her first hit with her 2020 single “Go”, which gained increased popularity on TikTok and eventually reached number two in the UK singles chart in 2022. The Streatham-born singer was nominated for a Brit Award for the song in 2023, and was also recognised in the British Pop/R&B Act and Rising Star category in the same year. She released her debut album Early Twenties last year.

Joe Wilkinson

Comedian Joe Wilkinson is best known for appearing on panel shows, including 8 Out of 10 Cats, as well as the Prime Video series Last One Laughing. His comedy career began in the early 2000s and went on to support his fellow Traitors contestant Alan Carr. He has also taken on acting roles in the Netflix series Sex Education and Ricky Gervais’s After Life.

Lucy Beaumont

Another comedian, Lucy Beaumont, who is the ex-wife of 8 Out of 10 Cats star Jon Richardson, will also appear on The Traitors. She won the BBC Radio New Comedy Award in 2012 and her 2014 debut show at the Edinburgh Fringe, We Can Twerk, was nominated for that year’s Best Newcomer Award. When asked if she was good at telling if people are lying to her, Beaumont replied: “No. When I was a teenager, I was good at spotting 15-year-old boys that were lying but things have changed since then. I hope the skills might return in this game.”

Clare Balding

Sports broadcaster Clare Balding has reported from eight Olympic Games and fronts coverage of a wide variety of sporting events across the BBC and Channel 4. She serves as one of the presenters on BBC Sports Personality of the Year and BBC Radio 4’s walking interview programme Ramblings. Ahead of the competition, Balding said she was going to channel advice from Sir Alex Ferguson, who told good professional athletes not to let others rush them into a decision and not to undervalue themselves. “Things are going to go wrong in this…I’m going to say something stupid,” she said. “How do I not get myself dragged down by this?”

Olympic swimmer Tom Daley is the most successful diver in British history, having won five medals – one gold, one silver and three bronze at the Games. Daley retired from diving last year and has since released a knitting book, Get Stitched and released the documentary about his career, Tom Daley 1.6 seconds.

Joe Marler

Professional England rugby player Joe Marler has won the Six Nations three times. He played as a prop for the Premiership Rugby club Harlequins and retired in November 2024. The 35-year-old made his England debut in 2012, winning 95 England caps over his career. Marler played his last game for Harlequins against Bristol Bears just 48 hours after announcing his retirement.

David Olusog

With a three-decade career spanning the creative arts and academia, Historia Professor Olusoga has been a trailblazer for the television industry, leading a reappraisal of how history has been traditionally told. He was recognised with a special award by Bafta in 2023 for services to the film industry and his 2016 film Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners won the Specialist Factual Bafta in 2016.

Niko Omilana

YouTube prankster Niko Omilana ran as an independent candidate in the 2021 London mayoral election and the 2024 UK general election but was unsuccessful in both. Omilana, who has 3 million Instagram followers, famously stood behind the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holding an “L” sign while he gave a speech after being ousted from power in a devastating landslide for Labour in 2024. Ahead of the Traitors launch, Omilana said: I’m experienced in playing games similar to this and this is as big as it gets, really. I think I’ll try and spice it up a little, bring a little bit of sauce to the game. I’ll bring up the vibes, maybe a bit of chaos, just as much as I can.”

Celebrity Traitors launches on Wednesday, 8 October on BBC One at 9pm.