Celebrity Traitors trailer drops with high-stakes game and star-studded cast

BBC One and iPlayer released the first trailer for Celebrity Traitors on Monday, offering a glimpse of a star-studded debut set at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands. The celebrity edition pits 19 participants against each other in a high-stakes game of detection, backstabbing and trust, with the prize pot rising to as much as £100,000 for the charities of their choice. The lineup includes Alan Carr, Cat Burns, Stephen Fry, Ruth Codd, Celia Imrie, Tameka Empson, Clare Balding, Jonathan Ross and Tom Daley, with Lucy Beaumont, Mark Bonnar, Nick Mohammed, Joe Wilkinson, Kate Garraway, David Olusoga, Niko Omilana, Paloma Faith, Joe Marler and Charlotte Church.

The teaser opens with comedian Alan Carr contemplating a possible dark side, a tonal shift from his usual buoyant persona. A rapid montage follows, showing stars being ripped from their cars by hooded figures, restrained with padlocks and, at one point, sealed inside a coffin before the lid is slammed shut. The footage underscores the show’s premise: a psychological test of loyalty and deception as contestants vie to win up to £100,000 for their chosen charity.

Host Claudia Winkleman then enters the frame to welcome the group and underline that fame will not grant privileges in this Highlands set game. "Players, welcome to the Highlands. Now I know out in the real world you're very important and successful. But here, there is no special treatment," she says, before outlining the rules: Traitors must remain undetected while trying to murder the Faithful, and Faithfuls must hunt down the Traitors. The teaser captures a mix of nerves and determination as celebrities take their seats at the round table and size up one another, eyes narrowing as alliances form and betrayals loom.

As the trailer progresses, the cast’s competitive drive is foregrounded. Celia Imrie declares she’s "here to win," while Olympian Tom Daley pledges to fight to the death. The clips also show glimpses of teamwork as players tackle challenges designed to add money to the prize pot, including a sequence in which the group labors to move a large wooden structure on wheels with Claudia urging them on from the sidelines. A secondary area of the game, the turret, appears to serve as the Traitors’ secret meeting space where they decide on a target without being seen or heard by Faithfuls, heightening the suspense.

Despite the glamour of the cast, the trailer emphasizes the psychological strain on participants. EastEnders star Tameka Empson voices a blunt resolve to win, while a tense Lucy Beaumont says, "This is life or death, isn’t it?" The promo closes with the moment when Claudia quietly selects which contestants will take on the role of Traitors, followed by her ominous line: "Tomorrow, the killing spree begins..."

Celebrity Traitors will officially debut on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at 9 p.m. on BBC One and iPlayer, with a bumper 70-minute first episode. The series will then air across two nights each week, Wednesday and Thursday at 9 p.m., continuing to build the mystery around who among the group is faithful and who is secretly plotting adversarial moves.

Beyond the trailer, producers have highlighted the intense, almost cinéma-like atmosphere of the show. Cast member Mark Bonnar recently described filming as intensely focused, noting that the cast lives without a phone and communicates through a group WhatsApp chat about the process and the experience with fellow stars such as Fry and Ross. Fry himself has described his stint on the series as "emotionally violent" and compared the experience to a Chinese foot massage—excruciating yet compelling enough to want more. He explained that he could not reveal who is a traitor or a faithful and that his role is part of the larger dynamic of the game.

Industry context around Celebrity Traitors’ compensation has also surfaced. A podcast episode from The Rest Is Entertainment cited that the celebrities were paid a flat £40,000 fee to appear, rather than individual wages, a point journalist Marina Hyde highlighted while contrasting BBC compensation practices with other reality formats. Radio host Richard Osman later weighed in, likening the pay model to The White Lotus where cast members receive a fixed base rate, while noting that praise for the show’s concept remains high despite the pay structure. In a separate reflection, Hyde and Osman discussed the broad appeal and expected scale of the celebrity iteration, suggesting fans should not be disappointed by the format or the caliber of participants.

The Celebrity Traitors cast spans presenters, actors, musicians and athletes, including Kate Garraway, Paloma Faith, Charlotte Church, Tom Daley, Stephen Fry, Alan Carr and Jonathan Ross, among others. The lineup’s breadth reflects BBC’s aim to blend wide public recognition with competitive, high-stakes gameplay, designed to test loyalties in a setting where social connections and strategic moves determine how much money goes to charity.

As anticipation builds for the UK’s first celebrity iteration of the format, viewers will be watching to see how quickly alliances form, who stays Faithful, who betrays, and how Claudia Winkleman’s introductory warning about equal treatment will influence player behavior over the course of the series.