‘Wild and chaotic’ is how British viewers are describing the long-awaited season two premiere of The Traitors. (Minor spoilers ahead.) Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the BBC One series follows 22 strangers as they arrive at a castle in the Scottish Highlands to play “the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust” in the hope of winning up to £120,000.
Amongst them are “Traitors”, a group of contestants selected by Winkleman whose job is to “murder” their remaining players – the “Faithfuls” – while remaining undetected to steal the final prize fund for themselves.
Season one was an unprecedented smash hit for the BBC, particularly amongst the LGBTQIA+ community as a result of the various queer contestants, dramatic gameplay and Winkelman’s camp-as-tits role as host.
The Traitors returned with its highly-anticipated second season on Wednesday 3 January; the premiere aired at 9pm, with the following two episodes streaming shortly after on BBC iPlayer.