Come all ye Faithfuls (and Traitors) – 21 stars are about to enter Claudia Winkleman's remote castle in the Highlands for series 2 of Celebrity Traitors which will air from Thursday 1 October. With nine actors, six comedians and two musicians - it's set to be a truly entertaining and undoubtably dramatic ride as they battle it out in the ultimate game of deception.
But will the comics follow in last series' Traitor Alan Carr's victorious footsteps and use their humour to sneak their way over the finish line? Or, could a more conspicuous contestant, or even a self-confessed "game- player" take the crown? We've gone through all the contestants from Jerry Hall to Professor Hannah Fry to uncover their secret (or not so secret) advantages that might help them bag the charity £100,000 jackpot.
Bella Ramsey
Bella, 23, has been acting since the age of four, scoring their breakthrough role on Game Of Thrones aged 11 before going on to star The Last of Us. But, as well as early exposure to acting they’ve been playing a version of The Traitors since they were 10 and have hosted regular games nights ever since. ‘I’ve had game evenings and hosted them at my house and been to other’s evenings, so I’m familiar with the game,’ they said. ‘I love it so much.’
James Acaster
James, 41, is known for his stand-up comedy and hit podcast Off Menu, which he hosts alongside Ed Gamble. As for what could stand him in good stead for the game? He’s an adept puzzler and former Scout. ‘I do all the New York Times puzzles in the morning. Could be useful. I don’t know if drumming is going to come in handy, but I do that too. I don’t think it will, but who knows?’ he told the BBC.
Joe Lycett
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Joe, 38, is swapping The Lycett Arms for the Scottish Highlands and is another comedy maverick joining the castle. While he’s a pro at disarming people with humour, he’s also a self-confessed ‘lone wolf’. ‘I really love my own company and I’m not very reactive, so I don’t respond in the moment to things. I will take information in, and then I’ll go away and think about it, and then respond with a year to 10-year-long campaign to destroy the person who’s wronged me,’ he told the BBC.
Miranda Hart
Miranda, 53, the comedian best-known for her BBC sitcom Miranda, jumped at the chance to join the cast after recently recovering from long-term health issues. She believes she has a proven track record for sniffing out liars. ‘When I watch Would I Lie To You?, about 90% of the time I get it right. I very much see myself as a psychological sleuth, with no training whatsoever and nothing to back that claim up. I like to think that I could guess when people are lying. I don’t like lying in real life,’ she revealed.
Myha’la
American actor Myha’la, 30, is known in the UK for playing Harper Stern, the ruthless investment banker and trader in BBC’s Industry. She’s attempting to leave her character’s reputation behind and ensure her status as her superfan doesn’t affect her chances of success. As for her secret skill – she loves a discussion.
‘I don’t know if you could call this a hobby, but I love a debate. I can talk my way in and out of almost anything. That is probably a strength as well,’ she told the BBC. ‘I’m pretty good at convincing people that I’m right. My mom was always like, “I can’t believe you’re not a lawyer.”’
Romesh Ranganathan
Romesh, 48, is another comedian seeing if his quick wit will fare well in the castle. The host of The Romesh Ranganathan Show says he’s going to under-explain as much as possible, has read sports psychology books to prepare and reckons his love of hip-hop could help him in a mission.
‘I think that one of the things that you tend to do when you're lying is really over explain,’ he said. ‘When you're trying to defend yourself, you really over explain too. So, my strategy in that regard is going to be to try and under explain.’
Amol Rajan
Amol, 43, is a journalist and hosts University Challenge so is hoping to rely on his intellect and ability to draw out the truth. However, he admits that going in bullishly to the first round table discussion as ‘Mr Forensic Ingestigator’ could make him an easy target.
‘I’m a sport nut, music nut. I love games, I quite like memorising things. I love committing poetry to memory and I like facts. I’ve got a job that involves knowing facts on University Challenge.’
Professor Hannah Fry
Hannah, 42, is a mathematician whose ability to spot patterns and crack codes could give her an advantage in the game – she’s even using the same maths Alan Turing used to crack the Engima machine to analyse previous contestant patterns!
‘I’m here to fulfil the nerd quota for the year and I’m taking my responsibility extremely seriously. Have I gone back through the data of all the previous games and tried to find statistically significant patterns? Yes! Are any of these going to help me? Honestly, who knows? There is a pattern in the way that Traitors behave. For example, they often do a burn vote in the first few episodes when they’re settling in,’ she said.
James Blunt
James, 52, is known for his music career, but before he picked up the mic to make hits such as You’re Beautiful, he served in the military – which could prove invaluable in the missions. As well as his strategic background, his unfamiliarity with the show could be advantageous since superfans have traditionally become easy targets.
The singer admitted he’d never seen the show and had to ‘speed-watch’ it after his wife secretly signed him up. ‘I haven’t watched much TV, but I found out from my wife that I was on Celebrity Traitors – she signed me up for it,’ he said on The One Show.
Jerry Hall
Jerry, 70, is a model and actor – and her star power could just blind other contestants. She became a supermodel in the 1970s and went on to appear in films such as Batman. She’s also a keen hostess and entertainer, which might make her a popular addition to the castle. ‘I love hostessing and homemaking – very old-fashioned, feminine stuff,’ she previously told British Vogue.
Joanne McNally
Joanne, 43, is the Irish queen of comedy known for her unapologetic chaotic energy and hit podcast My Therapist Ghosted Me with co-host Vogue Williams. Her warmth and charisma will probably make her a likeable member of the celebrity clan. She’s even hinted at the impact she had on the show by joking in an Instagram post about her exclusion from the show’s trailer.
‘Every time I’m not in any of them! I’m like, “OK, that’s cool. I’m sure it’s fine.” Probably they’re like, “She makes such an impact on the show that we don’t want to oversaturate her at this stage.” I’m sure it’s fine,’ she joked.
Julie Hesmondhalgh
Actor Julie, 56, is best-known for playing Hayley in Coronation Street from 1998 to 2014. While Julie has kept quiet about her Traitors tenure so far, the fact that she’s a national treasure and known for her character’s kind-hearted nature could put her at an advantage – who’d have the heart to deceive Hayley Cropper?
King Kenny
Kenny Ojuederie, 29, is an internet personality known as King Kenny and is part of a five-part YouTube collective known for their pranking content. His ability to pull off a good practical joke and his background in boxing could prove helpful for both bluffing and succeeding in the missions.
Leigh-Anne Pinnock
Leigh-Anne, 34, is a pop sensation best known for being in the girlband Little Mix. Her popularity could dazzle other competitors, while her success in one of the UK’s biggest pop bands proves she knowns how to be a team player and can adapt to get along with different personalities. Also, fans suspect she’s been studying previous series after she shared an Instagram post in late April of her watching the show – so she’s going in prepared…
Maya Jama
Maya, 31, is a vivacious presenter known for her fun-loving nature and hosting Love Island. Her time behind the scenes on reality TV might make give her insight into to how act in front of the camera, while she’s a brilliant communicator and conversation-steerer, which could come in handy for the round tables.
However, she admitted to Grazia that having no control of what was filmed or how it was edited was a daunting prospect for her. ‘In Traitors you don’t have your outside life, so you’re completely consumed by it. I’m quite an unserious person, so trying to remain serious in that intense situation was hard,’ she said.
Michael Sheen
Michael, 57, has made a career out of playing complex and controversial historical and political figures - and this learned persuasiveness could come in very hand. Also his Welsh accent could help him out as players might instinctively trust him more – just as Londoner Charlotte Berman from series 3 had hoped when she adopted a fake Welsh way of speaking.
Richard E Grant
Richard, 69, is another actor swapping the stage for the Scottish turrets. The Saltburn star is a self-confessed Traitors superfan and he told TTG media that he’d seen every single international iteration of the franchise, so he’s swotted up on tactics. He also revealed he’d caught up with his long-time friend and previous contestant Celia Imrie for some tips – and she offered him some advice.
‘I said, “Celia, what is the thing that you can’t be prepared for?’” he told The Independent. ‘She said, “The cruelty of people who you instinctively want to trust, in a room like this where suddenly every single person suspects you.” I think that’s a very accurate thing to have said,’ he added.
Rob Beckett
Rob, 40, is yet another comedian joining the group – and he also has credits in the world of reality gameshows as former co-host of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Now!, which could be beneficial since he knows some of the mechanics behind reality TV.
He’s also a long-term friend of Romesh – but could their friendship help them form a pact or make them targets as a pair? About his experience, Rob told The Sun: ‘I’d say it’s more fun to watch than being on. It’s quite intense.’
Ross Kemp
Ross, 62, is an actor known for playing EastEnders’ Grant Mitchell and as a presenter who’s used to throwing himself into hostile environments with his documentary series Ross Kemp On Gangs and his reporting on military action. His experience of being on the frontline, reacting and interviewing under pressure could make him an agile game-player.
Sebastian Croft
Sebastian Croft, 24, is an actor (yes, another one!) known for the Netflix series Heartstopper. Since he’s young and charming, he could fare well in the castle since the older contestants might not see him as a target. He’s also a keen singer and performed his songs at school when he was 16, despite being badly bullied – a resilience that could carry him far in the contest.
‘It was just before I left the school I was at, and there was a boy who I’d been having a secret relationship with,” he previously told The Standard. “I’d written loads of songs about him, but no one knew they were about him.”
Sharon Rooney
Sharon, 37, is a Scottish actress known for her roles on My Mad Fat Diary and Barbie. She’s previously opened up to being shy and a homebird – so could her introverted nature prove to be her secret weapon in a house full of extroverts? ‘The best part for me about going away is the coming home,’ she previously told Ayrshire Magazine.
