“The new family tree”: We’ve worked out all the “hidden” Celebrity Traitors connections – here’s who’s who

Celebrity Traitors series 2 is heating up! After last night’s chaotic banishment, it’s safe to say tensions are rising. With voices starting to be raised and tears already shed, we think there is another pattern emerging that predicts who is on the chopping block and what tactics are afoot: there’s a new family tree! We’ve worked out all the ‘hidden’ Celebrity Traitors connections – here’s who’s who.

Everyone remembers in the regular series of Traitors how there are often multiple secret family connections between the players. Last year, in series 4, we had mother-and-daughter-duo Judy and Roxy, and secret couple Ross and Ellie – and who could forget the iconic mother-son reveal of Ross and Diane in series 2? All secret alliances that were never revealed to other players and had a huge impact on how the game unfolded – who trusted who, and who was secretly protecting each other. And while we know none of the celebrities are related, that doesn’t mean there are no connections.

Many of the players have already mentioned their friendships and relationships outside of the castle – working in the same industry will do that. But we believe that it’s these pre-existing relationships that could predict who is vulnerable. While you might think alliances such as these would keep players safe, there’s already plenty of evidence to suggest the opposite is true.

Jerry and Richard

Early on in episode 1, American model Jerry Hall mentioned her close connections with the dearly departed traitor Richard E Grant. The two are neighbours in London and we think it’s this shared fondness and familiarity that could lead Jerry to banishment. They’re tight: Richard even attended Jerry’s 2016 wedding to media tycoon Richard Murdoch and the model mentioned how they spent a lovely holiday together in Africa just last year – facts that rendered her incapable of believing her good pal could be a traitor (how wrong she was).

Jerry said: ‘I just don’t believe Richard's a traitor. I’ve known him 30 years and he’s my neighbour.’ So, naturally, she was one of very few players who did not vote for him at the first banishment. Of course, it was revealed he was in fact a traitor – and a bad one at that. And now we’ve seen that this blind loyalty, as well as some other eccentric behaviour, has led to much suspicion of Jerry, proving how these loyalties could be a trap, lulling players into a false sense of security.

Rob and Romesh

Another close friendship referenced early on in the series is between comedians Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan. Having worked the comedy scene together for many years, not only do these two have a very long and close friendship but they’ve also worked together repeatedly, including on their travel show, Rob & Romesh Vs.

They’ve mentioned how annoyed they’d be with each other if one was a traitor, but could this lead to panicked betrayals down the line? Or powerful blind loyalty?

Joe and James

Pretty much all of the comedians on the show are very well acquainted with one another through the comedy circuit and panel show appearances, but James Acaster and Joe Lycett are particularly friendly, appearing together on shows such as Travel Man and James’s podcast Off Menu (also co-hosted by comedian Ed Gamble, host of Traitors: Uncloaked).

Joe has already demonstrated his traitor-hunting skills, being the one who asked the fateful question that ultimately led to Richard’s demise. Now that James is a traitor, will this make him more or less likely to be sniffed out by his pal?

James and Maya

A lesser known and slightly unusual pairing comes in the form of fellow traitors Maya Jama and James Acaster. While you may not initially put the two together, they’ve crossed paths many times, in which their chemistry with each other was on full display.

In 2020, the pair appeared on the panel show The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year. Despite being on separate teams, the two seemed to have a very charming rapport, with Maya even saying she thinks the two would’ve been friends at school. Could this chemistry be the secret to a double traitor victory?

Bella and Bash

More often than not, the younger players in Celebrity Traitors often end up being voted off early due to their lack of connections or familiarity with other players, but actor Bella Ramsey is no such player.

The 23-year-old is connected to quite a few players. They’ve worked with singer James Blunt on recent film Sunny Dancer and have also done a very chummy interview with James Acaster on his podcast, along with having appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show alongside Romesh Ranganathan.

But, as we saw in last night’s episode, they have a clear strong friendship with fellow young actor Sebastian Croft – both starred in season 6 of Game Of Thrones. While Sebastian has said he thinks playing with people who, in his words, ‘don’t know me and don’t know how I work’, will be an advantage to him, this friendship with the very astute Bella could be more of an asset.

Maya and almost everyone

Traitor Maya Jama has been playing a blinder so far, keeping a low profile and out of the other players’ suspicions. As a well-connected TV host, she’s used to working a room – and her friendly, easy-going manner makes her seem perfectly harmless, even as she slips away to murder under the cover of darkness.

Her career has also brought her into the orbit of several fellow players. Earlier this year, she presented a Brit Award alongside James Blunt, just months before filming of this series began. She’s appeared on Romesh Ranganathan’s hip-hop podcast, been pictured with Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock at Milan Fashion Week and shared The Big Fat Quiz Of The Year stage with Joe Lycett and James Acaster.

Joanne and Joe

A very tight friendship outside the castle is shared by fellow comedians Joanne McNally and Joe Lycett. They’ve not been quiet about their connection: when speaking to Hits Radio Breakfast Show, Joe called Joanne ‘one of my favourite people in the world’. With Joe being hot on it in tracking down the traitors, we could see Joanne following him faithfully – a very powerful tool to have in his belt.

He also admitted that all the other comedians ‘all talk to each other’, which could suggest a very well-knitted game of cahoots.