The Traitors returns to BBC One tonight with new series

Hit psychological reality TV show The Traitors is back on TV screens tonight with a brand new series.

The nail-biting reality game show first debuted in the UK in November 2022 and viewers have been hooked ever since.

Set in the Scottish Highlands and hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the show sees 22 strangers compete in the ‘ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust’ by completing a series of challenges together as a team in the hope of winning up to £120,000.

Among the ‘faithful’ contestants are ‘traitors’ hiding in plain sight secretly looking to sabotage the game and eliminate their fellow players one by one.

The traitors’ aim is to go undetected, while the Faithfuls must find out who the traitors really are. 

After completing their daily challenges, the group finishes the evening with a round table where they ‘banish’ the suspected traitor from the game.

Here’s everything you need to know about The Traitors season two.

The first episode of the new season will debut on BBC One and iPlayer at 9pm on Wednesday, January 3rd. 

The following two episodes will be available to watch right away afterwards on iPlayer. The show will air on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights and will be 12 episodes long, running for four weeks.

Host Claudia Winkleman will be back to take the contestants on their journey of truth and deceit in a castle set against the stunning backdrop of the Scottish Highlands. She says ‘the missions this year are epic’.

The 22 contestants have been revealed as follows:

Andrew

The 45-year-old insurance broker from Talbot Green in Wales, says he wants to inspire people who have ‘had a traumatic experience or suffered with their mental health’ never to give up.

More than 20 years ago, he nearly died on a roadside and was left with brain damage, in a coma and his parents were told he would never walk again.

Andrew said: “You only have one life, and I know that more than anyone because I suffered a serious accident many years ago. Your life is short, and it can get taken away at any moment.

“I live my life as best I can and take as many opportunities as possible that come my way. I never thought I’d get on the show in a million years.” 

If he wins Andrew says he would like to pay off a couple of debts and start his own business.

Anthony

The 45-year-old chess coach from Birmingham says when he first saw the show he thought, ‘this has me written all over it! It’s like a real life, live game of chess’.

He says he has a very good poker face and is very good at ‘being able to manage my emotions’.

The chess extraordinaire says he has a ‘very loose game plan’ and is prepared to be ‘adaptable’.

Ash

The 45-year-old events co-ordinator from London says she is ‘looking for an adventure’ and thinks ‘the best way for me to win is to be a traitor’ where she can bring ‘strong alliances’.

Ash said if she wins she will spend the money on getting on the property ladder as she does not want to be ‘renting when I’m 60 years old, renting with housemates’.

Aubrey

The retired shop owner, 67, believes his moustache will come in handy to maintain his poker face.

Aubrey, from Loughborough, Leicestershire said if he wins he will ‘travel more’ and give money to the Mykonos Animal Welfare charity in Greece, where he likes to go on holiday.

Brian

The 33-year-old photographer, from Glasgow, plays the Werewolf game with his family which has a similar format.

Brian says if he wins he’d like to use the money to ‘take my girlfriend and her family away on holiday’ as well as put some ‘towards a house’.

Charlie

The mental health area manager, 34, from Bristol, says she would not want to do a challenge based around sound as she wears hearing aids.

Charlie hopes to use the money to get married following a nine-year engagement to her partner.

Charlotte

The 32-year-old recruitment manager from Warwickshire, who used to compete in poker tournaments, says she thinks people will not suspect her as she can play the ‘the ditzy one’.

Charlotte says: “I think I’m really good at pretending I don’t know what’s going on, when actually, I have a very good idea.” She wants to use the money to take her dogs Lady and Lolly on a private jet.

Diane

The 63-year-old retired teacher, from Lancashire, says she has taught ‘some very difficult kids’ and knows how to remain calm.

If she wins Diane says she would ‘love to take my children, and grandchildren, on a holiday’.

Evie

The veterinary nurse, 29, from Inverness says she entered as she is ‘having a bit of an existential crisis’ ahead of approaching 30.

Evie said she has a good poker face and would make a good traitor because people would not suspect someone who is blonde, with dimples, who works with animals.

Harry

The British Army engineer from Slough says he wants to be a traitor as he is a bit of a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’.

Harry, 22, a corporal, says if he wins he would like to take his girlfriend and family on a holiday. He would also like to use some of the money towards a new chapter in his life.

Jasmine

The 26-year-old sales executive from London says she would be happy to be a traitor so she can ‘steal the big pot of money’ but being ‘naturally very empathetic’ she would make a good faithful.

If she wins Jasmine said she would use the prize money to help her parents, who have been ‘through some tough financial times’.

Jazz

The 30-year-old national account manager from Manchester says nothing apart from his wife and his wedding day has meant more than competing on The Traitors.

He says he will bring ‘pure energy’ to the game. If he is a traitor he will be ‘buzzing’ and if he is a faithful he will be ‘a team player’, he says.

If he wins, Jazz would like to use some of the prize money to take his mum ‘on the Orient Express’.

Jonny

The 31-year-old from Bedfordshire is ex-military, and described himself as someone with disabilities who enjoys ‘psychological things’ and is ‘a problem solver’.

With no game plan in mind, Jonny says he is just going to wing it.

Kyra

The apprentice economist, 21, from Kent, says if she is made a traitor then she will ‘feel a mix of emotions’ but will have to be ‘adaptable’.

Meg

The 22-year-old illustrator from Herefordshire says she ‘wouldn’t throw somebody under the bus so that I could win more’ money so is unsure about being a traitor.

But watch out as she says she is ‘very competitive’.

She wants to spend the money on ‘the most expensive pair of dungarees ever’ and a motorhome trip around Scotland.

Miles

The 36-year-old Brummie veterinary nurse who now lives in Worcestershire, said he has done the ‘cookie cutter’ life by having a husband, going to college and having a family and thinks this will be a change.

After joking about spending the money on ‘loads of plastic surgery’, Miles says if he wins he would spend it on a ‘forever home’.

Mollie

The 21-year-old disability model from Bristol says looking ‘innocent’ and young will help in the game if she becomes a traitor.

Mollie, who also works as a healthcare assistant, believes she is also able to be ‘quite good at building that relationship but also separating myself in a way which I feel like will be really good in the game’.

Paul

The business manager from Manchester says as someone who has done stand-up he can use his comedy skills to ‘diffuse situations when they get so tense’.

Paul, 36, said if he becomes a traitor he is ‘never washing’ his top when Winkleman touches his shoulder – the host taps the contestants during the round table to secretly let them know what side they are on.

Ross

The 28-year-old video director from Lancashire says he sees it as a ‘good excuse to tell my business partner that I just can’t work for three weeks’.

Ross also said that being a traitor would make him feel a ‘bit gutted because then I’ve actually got to play a game’.

Sonja

The 66-year-old volunteer business mentor from Lancashire says she learned to read body language cues from her son Dan, who died two years ago, and was ‘severely disabled with autism and other disabilities, and was nonverbal’.

Sonja would use the prize money to start her own charity and take her sister on a cruise.

Tracey

The sonographer and clairvoyant, 58, from Inverness says she is ‘quite eccentric’ and ‘good at lying’.

Tracey, who used to be in the air force, said: “The only thing that would be my downfall is that I do really like to be liked.”

Zack

The parliamentary affairs adviser, 27, from London says he thinks he would be ‘cutthroat’ as a traitor and not ‘factor in sentimentality’.

He says he has a good poker face but does ‘do this stupid thing where my lips curl up’ that he can’t help doing.

He also said his girlfriend does not know he wants to spend the money, if he wins, on a Mazda MX-5 and he will tell her it will go on a flat deposit as he says she ‘will break up with me if I didn’t say it’.