The Traitors series 2 confirmed: Everything we know so far and how to apply

Katie Archer
·TV Reporter, Yahoo Entertainment UK
·5-min read
Claudia Winkleman hosts The Traitors. (BBC)
Claudia Winkleman hosts The Traitors. (BBC)

The Traitors was the breakaway TV hit of 2022, proving to be addictive viewing and surprisingly emotional - so fans will be thrilled by the news that a second season has now been confirmed by the BBC.

Its back-to-basics approach to reality TV tempted viewers back to the overcrowded genre and reminded us how, done well and with minimal meddling from show bosses, reality can be one of the most entertaining forms of TV.

Read more: All of The Apprentice winners and what they did next

But the question on every Traitors fan's lips is...when is season two arriving? Here's everything we know so far.

Is there a season 2 of The Traitors?

The Traitors. (BBC)
The Traitors fans want to see a new group take on the castle. (BBC)

Yes! The BBC has now confirmed that The Traitors is definitely getting a season two, with Claudia Winkleman - hugely popular in her role as ruthless host - signed up again.

Winkleman said: "I can’t wait to go back to the castle to watch people play the greatest game on television. I’m knitting a high funnel sweater immediately."

Read more: The most exciting TV coming in 2023

Kalpna Patel-Knight, head of entertainment at the BBC, confirmed: "Last year’s ambitious and bingeable hit The Traitors with Claudia Winkleman is coming back with the brilliant team at Studio Lambert set to bring viewers another magnificent series full of drama and suspense. We can certainly expect even more deceit and psychological games for the Traitors and Faithfuls."

The show's debut was a hit with critics and viewers, becoming the BBC's biggest new entertainment launch in two years with 34m views on iPlayer.

Season one filmed over the summer in 2022, back-to-back with the US version which immediately followed it at the same location, and it's expected to follow the same timeline this year.

It was a no-brainer for the BBC to bring back The Traitors as the first season was so popular, with the final episode watched by 4.6 million people.

How to apply for The Traitors season 2

Could you play to win the cash? (BBC)
Could you play to win the cash? (BBC)

If you spent season one shouting at the TV that you could have done a better job as a Faithful or a Traitor, now's your chance to prove yourself.

The new season is currently open for applications, which will close on 31 July 2023.

An application form for the series states that you must be 18 or over to take part, and be available for filming for six weeks in the summer and autumn of this year.

To find out more, go to BBC's Take Part site.

What happens in The Traitors?

The infamous round table. (BBC)
The infamous round table. (BBC)

Reality TV series The Traitors is a compelling game of trust, lies and mental strength, as a group of contestants move into a castle together and are split into a large group of Faithful, and a much smaller group of Traitors.

The contestants take on physical and mental challenges to boost a prize pot of money for the group, which those left in the final will have the chance to win.

However, none of the Faithful know who the Traitors are, and if there are any Traitors left in the group by the final they will walk away with the entire prize; if they are all flushed out, the remaining Faithful contestants share it between them.

Claudia Winkleman hosts the games. (BBC)
Claudia Winkleman hosts the games. (BBC)

Each night, the Traitors meet in secret and decide on a contestant to "murder", who then gets their marching orders from the castle with the rest of the group discovering who is gone at breakfast the next morning.

The whole group meet every day at the round table to discuss their theories on who is a Traitor and have to vote to banish someone, who then reveals whether or not they were a Traitor.

Contestants must form alliances, but make sure not to alienate people who might vote them out, all while convincing those around them of their Faithful status - whether it is real or not.

Where is The Traitors filmed?

The group gathers at Ardross Castle. (BBC)
The group gathers at Ardross Castle. (BBC)

Viewers and contestants loved the show's stunning location, which is expected to be used again for season two.

The group set up home at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, 30 miles north of Inverness and set in a beautiful countryside location with challenges making use of the nearby lake and forests.

Contestants also took a scenic route into the show as they arrived by steam train in the first episode.

The US version, hosted by Alan Cumming, filmed at Ardross Castle directly after the UK series wrapped up.

Traitors superfans can even get married at the luxe castle, which is available to hire for weddings and other events.

Who won The Traitors season 1?

The Traitors season one's finalists with Claudia Winkleman. (BBC)
The Traitors season one's finalists with Claudia Winkleman. (BBC)

The Faithful were triumphant in season one's dramatic finale, which originally looked set to be scooped by Traitor Wilf Webster.

Wilf had managed to get most of the Faithful contestants on side and convinced that he was one of them, but he made a fatal mistake by deciding to recruit Kieran Tompsett to the dark side in the final days of the contest.

After becoming worried that Kieran could not hide his new Traitor status, Wilf engineered his banishment - but Kieran came uncomfortably close to breaking the rules of the game by strongly suggesting to the rest of the Faithful that Wilf had conned them.

Faithfuls Aaron Evans, Meryl Williams and Hannah Byczkowski agreed to banish Wilf and won the prize money, but in an unexpectedly emotional final scene Wilf explained how he had made sure his favourite Faithfuls stayed in until the end to give them the best chance of winning.

The Traitors season one and The Traitors US are available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Latest stories

  • Strong shaking felt in Pakistani, Afghan capitals

    Strong shaking has been felt in Afghanistan's capital Kabul and across northern Pakistan, according to Reuters witnesses.Shaking could be felt as far as the Indian capital New Delhi on Tuesday evening.

  • Safeguard offsets plan won't change a thing: Forrest

    Billionaire Andrew Forrest has spoken out against the federal government's safeguard mechanism legislation which would allow big polluters to offset their emissions.The mining magnate and green hydrogen proponent has urged Australia to take bold steps to transform its energy sector after the United Nations warned "warp speed" action was needed to prevent a climate catastrophe.

  • Move to probe IBAC 'dirt' claims set to fail after deal

    A motion to establish a parliamentary inquiry into accusations Victorian Labor MPs told an independent auditor to "find dirt" on the corruption watchdog is likely to fail after an 11th-hour deal.It was revealed this month former Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) boss Robert Redlich wrote to parliament's Speaker and president with complaints about a Labor-majority committee.

  • NSW leaders face off in final pitch to undecided voters

    NSW political leaders will go toe-to-toe in a bid to win over undecided voters in the final debate of the election campaign.Premier Dominic Perrottet and Labor leader Chris Minns will look to expose any weakness in each other's policies or characters as the pair face off.

  • Electric car-charging fees rise as energy prices bite

    The price of refuelling electric vehicles in Australia is rising, with a third provider lifting the cost of some public chargers in response to soaring electricity prices.Chargefox, which operates the largest electric vehicle-charging network in Australia, has revealed plans to raise the cost of recharging cars at selected sites in NSW and Victoria.

  • Survivors back coercive control criminalisation

    Most victim-survivors of coercive control want the behaviour to be criminalised while also fearing it would not actually improve safety.Coercive control is a form of family violence involving long-term control and manipulation, but does not necessarily involve physical abuse.

  • Hot Commodore bids for land speed record

    Rain in South Australia's north is hampering a bid to break the Australian land speed record for a piston-driven car.Lionel West is looking to smash his existing record of 271 miles per hour (436 kilometres an hour) in a run on Lake Gairdner this week as part of the Dry Lake Racers Australia meeting.

  • Study shines light on depth of poverty in Australia

    Renters, single parents, women, students, the unemployed and people with a disability are the Australians most at risk of poverty, a new study has found.The Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) partnered with the University of NSW to examine which groups were at risk of poverty in their lifetimes.

  • Space technology to monitor, forecast quality of water

    A forecasting service for water quality, with implications for human health, aquaculture, the environment and recreation, has been launched by Australia's national science agency.The CSIRO's AquaWatch Australia project seeks to deliver a world-first ground-to-space water quality monitoring system providing near real-time updates and predictive forecasting using an extensive network of satellites and ground-based water sensors.

  • Scheme to tackle youth homelessness gets $90m boost

    More than $90 million will be injected into a program aimed at breaking the cycle of homelessness.The federal government funding, which will keep the existing nationwide program in operation, coincides with the official homelessness data collected during the last Census that will illustrate the scale of Australia's homelessness problem.

  • Samoan PM to push Australia on climate, fossil fuels

    Australia and Samoa are set to sign a new deal on education and health, as Anthony Albanese welcomes Fiame Naomi Mata'afa to Canberra.The Samoan prime minister will receive a ceremonial welcome at Parliament House and sign a bilateral agreement.

  • Thousands of US marines land in Top End for training

    US marines have touched down in the Top End and will train with Australian troops as tensions in the Pacific continue to heighten.Up to 2500 marines will conduct combined exercises over the next seven months, some of which will include co-operation with regional partners.

  • Rural residents to benefit least from planned tax cuts

    Australians in regional and rural areas will be left behind the most when stage three tax cuts come into effect, new analysis has shown.A report by Anglicare Australia found the tax cuts would most benefit people living in wealthy areas of major cities, while those most likely to miss out were in regional areas.

  • Crows could appeal McAdam's three-game suspension

    Adelaide could appeal the three-match ban given to forward Shane McAdam as the fallout continues from the first-round flashpoint.The Crows have until noon on Wednesday to lodge any appeal after McAdam expressed disappointment with the three-match suspension.

  • Kylian Mbappe named France captain at age of 24

    Paris St Germain forward Kylian Mbappe has been named France captain, succeeding Hugo Lloris who has retired from international football."Didier Deschamps has named Kylian Mbappe the new captain of Les Bleus.

  • Wall Street gains as bank contagion fears ebb

    Wall Street's main indexes have climbed after the rescue of Credit Suisse calmed nerves about a bigger banking crisis while investors awaited the outcome of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meet.Traders largely expect a 25-basis-point rate hike from the Fed on Wednesday, half the 50-bps increase expected before the banking crisis triggered by Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank's collapse.

  • Lanning and Jonassen into WPL final with Capitals

    Australia captain Meg Lanning has steered the Delhi Capitals into the final of the inaugural Women's Premier League in India, leading from the front with a rapid 39 as UP Warriorz were beaten by five wickets.That condemned Warriorz, skippered by another Australian Alyssa Healy, to Thursday's playoff against Mumbai Indians for the right to face Delhi in Sunday's final.

  • French police, protesters clash at refinery

    Three police officers have been seriously injured during clashes with protesters at ExxonMobil's Fos-sur-Mer oil refinery near the port city of Marseille, the Marseille police department says.This happened as the government took steps to order workers to resume operations at the refinery.

  • Pakistani court grants Khan bail in terrorism cases

    A Pakistani court has granted former prime minister Imran Khan a week-long bail in two new cases in which he faces terrorism charges, officials say.The ruling gave the embattled ousted prime minister and now popular opposition leader another brief reprieve from arrest.

  • No evidence I deliberately misled UK MPs: Johnson

    Former United Kingdom prime minister Boris Johnson has told a parliamentary inquiry there is no evidence he intentionally misled lawmakers about illegal parties held at his office during COVID-19 lockdowns.Parliament's Committee of Privileges has been investigating statements Johnson, who was ousted from Downing Street last September, made to parliament in December 2021.