The Celebrity Traitors is officially back for season 2 as a host of 21 celebrities convened in the solemn setting of a church for a first, nerve-racking meeting – as the BBC series finally revealed Faithful and Traitors.
Tonight’s premiere kicked off with a spectacular entrance from the one and only Claudia Winkleman. Some masked pallbearers carried a coffin along the aisle, carefully positioning it to reveal a sleepy Claudia waking up from her slumber.
“That was quite the nap,” she said as she welcomed the stars to the Traitors Chapel.
BBC
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Claudia had a task for the players, asking them to choose “the most trustworthy” contestant amongst them. The gang picked Julie Hesmondhalgh, with Claudia gifting her two shields.
“I have two very special objects for you. Not one, but two,” Claudia declared, explaining that the shields protected whoever had them from the first murder.
Julie kept one and gave the other to Joe Lycett as the group headed to the castle for the first round table of the season.
Celebrity Traitors season 2: Who are the Traitors?
Claudia had private conversations with each contestant ahead of the big decision, with players trying to steer her.
As Love Island host Maya Jama said she relied on her “welcoming energy” to conceal she had “murder on [her] mind”, while Romesh Ranganathan said he had “indifferent resting face”, the first tense moment in a long series began.
As usual, Claudia asked everyone to put on blindfolds before she proceeded to tap two players on the shoulder – Maya and Oscar nominee Richard E Grant.
BBC
Maya had her wish granted as she stated her “villain era” had begun. Meanwhile, Richard said he was “absolutely thrilled” and couldn’t wait to “murder”.
In full Traitors fashion, Claudia left the players to mull over her decision with a twist. There would be no murder tonight, but the Traitors line-up wasn’t yet complete.
“It will be, though, by the time the Traitors claim their first victim,” she said.
At the castle, it didn’t take long for chaos to unfold as Richard casually admitted he was a Traitor.
“He’s messing with us!” Leigh-Anne Pinnock said.
“That may be the biggest mistake I’ve ever made in my life,” the Withnail and I star told the camera later on.
BBC
Naturally, this first, huge Traitor twist went down a storm with fans, with one person noting on Instagram: “Richard is having a blast!”
“This season is going to be GOLD,” was another comment as someone else asked: “Does Richard know how to play😭😭😭”.
On Twitter/X, one person put in writing our collective thoughts: “Well… Richard E Grant… What have you done?…You could actually hear the noise of millions of jaws dropping.”
“Richard E. Grant is going to put on a pink tutu; waltz into breakfast with a neon sandwich board with ‘Traitor’ written on it and probably won’t last a single round table,” someone else offered.
Claudia swore in Maya and Richard separately, commenting on his bold move: “Can I say already iconic?”
In the turret, Maya and Richard first laid eyes on each other in their cloaks, with Maya branding Richard “hilarious”.
BBC
“I can’t believe you’re pulling this game though!” she said. “You are mad. You’re in trouble already.”
Before disbanding the meeting, Claudia told Maya and Richard they’d have to recruit a third by choosing two potential Traitors, though there’d be only one vacancy.
Both Faithful would be pleading their case, leaving Maya and Richard no choice but to murder the other one to keep their identities a secret.
Celebrity Traitors season 2: The first mission
Still confounded by Richard’s admission, the group headed to a loch for the season’s first mission.
Claudia presented them with the shipwreck of the Lady Claudia, where the contestants would have to find three treasure chests to increase their prize pot.
The final explosive moment of the challenge saw the group crack open the captain’s safe thanks to Professor Hannah Fry’s input. As they stole the gold, the players only had 90 seconds to flee before the ship blew up.
They managed to escape to safety, having added £15,000 to the final cash prize that would go to a charity of their choice.
Maya and Richard recruit a third Traitor
BBC
Adamant they had to get everyone off Richard’s back, the two Traitors picked James Acaster and Amol Rajan as potential recruits.
James, who had called himself a “proper TV detective” earlier on and was quite happy with being a Faithful, and Amol, who had called Richard “the King of Chaos”, were forced to appeal to the Traitors to save their skin.
Claudia oversaw this “decision of life and death” as a “torn” Maya and a bashful Richard picked a favourite.
“The decision that Maya and I have made is monumental for my survival,” Richard said later on.
Which one will they choose? Only one way to find out…
The Celebrity Traitors airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
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Reporter, Digital Spy
Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times and Digital Spy.
Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).