The Celebrity Traitors: A recap of series 2

It's fair to say The Celebrity Traitors is one of the most-talked about TV shows around at the moment! Following the spectacular first series last year, which saw Traitor Alan Carr crowned the winner, series two aired throughout October — with an all-new celeb cast!

With the explosive final having now aired, here's everything that happened in The Celebrity Traitors 2026 — including who won. Oh and if you hadn't guessed, spoilers ahead...

When was The Celebrity Traitors on TV?

The second series of The Celebrity Traitors kicked off at 8pm on Thursday 1st October and aired its final later the same month, on 30th. The 2026 series aired twice a week on Thursday and Friday evenings at 8pm.

You can catch up on all the episodes on the BBC iPlayer.

Which celebs were on the show?

Following months of rumours swirling as to who would be taking part in the second series, the line-up was announced on Saturday 2nd May 2026 on social media. A short video was shared showing an airport arrivals, with people waiting to pick up the celebrities, with their names written on blackboards.

21 celebs took part in total, including:

Amol Rajan – Journalist and Broadcaster

Bella Ramsey – Actor

James Acaster – Comedian and Podcaster

James Blunt – Singer/Songwriter

Jerry Hall – Model and Actress

Joanne McNally – Comedian

Joe Lycett – Comedian

Julie Hesmondhalgh – Actor

King Kenny – Content Creator

Leigh-Anne Pinnock – Singer/Songwriter

Maya Jama – Broadcaster and Entrepreneur

Michael Sheen – Actor and Presenter

Miranda Hart – Actor and Author

Myha’la – Actor

Professor Hannah Fry– Broadcaster and Mathematician

Richard E. Grant – Actor and Author

Rob Beckett – Comedian

Romesh Ranganathan – Comedian

Ross Kemp – Actor and Presenter

Sebastian Croft – Musician and Actor

Sharon Rooney – Actor

Who was a Traitor?

During the opening episode of series two, host Claudia Winkleman chose Love Island host Maya Jama and actor Richard E. Grant as her Traitors.

In hilarious scenes, just moments after discovering his identity as a Traitor, 69-year-old Richard revealed during a public conversation with Joe Lycett that he was in fact a Traitor — messing with the minds of the cast.

After Maya and Richard met in the turret for the first time, they were joined by Claudia, who informed the pair they would have to choose two celebrities to meet them in person, to argue why they should stay, with the winner joining them as a third Traitor and the loser becoming the show's first murder victim.

Richard and Maya chose James Acaster and Amol Rajan, after the pair both put pressure on Richard about his true identity. James and Amol then met the Traitors in the church to argue their case to be recruited instead of murdererd.

In the second episode, we saw the Traitors picked Amol for the chop, with James later donning his cloak and joining the dark side as a Traitor.

When Richard became the first victim of the round table, being correctly banished by the Faithfuls, the Traitors recruited Professor Hannah Fry to fill his cloak.

However, in episode five, Hannah was banished at the round table, leading Traitors Maya Jama and James Acaster attempting to recruit King Kenny...

Kenny was quick to accept, meaning Maya, James A and Kenny became the remaining Traitors.

Then, in a shock twist in the penultimate episode, James A announced he'd been recruited as a Traitor, after the evidence stacked up against him. He was then banished by a unanimous vote.

Who won?

In a tense final which aired on Friday 30th October, Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft won The Celebrity Traitors series two for the Faithful.

James Blunt VERY nearly joined them in the win, but was voted out after he opted to banish again in the final round.

It followed the banishments of Traitors King Kenny and Maya Jama, and Faithful Leigh-Anne Pinnock, earlier in the episode.

NOW READ: The Celebrity Traitors winners revealed after tense final

How much did they win?

Romesh and Sebastian 'Bash' split the prize fund of £83,000, which they gave to their charities Choose Love (Bash) and the Refugee Council (Romesh).

After James Blunt was voted out at the very last moment, Romesh also very kindly donated to his charity, Blue Marine Foundation, too.

And proving what a sweetie she is in real life, Traitor Maya Jama donated what she 'would have won' to her charity, Action For Children.

Who was murdered?

The Traitors wasted no time in murdering their fellow celebrities, with Amol killed at the beginning of the second episode. The murders of Bella Ramsey and Rob Beckett then took place, with Ross Kemp being murdered in plain sight in episode seven. Check out all the 'murders' throughout series two:

Episode 2: Amol Rajan

Episode 4: Bella Ramsey

Episode 5: Rob Beckett

Episode 7: Ross Kemp

Episode 8: Miranda Hart

Episode 9: Sharon Rooney

Episode 10: Michael Sheen

Who was banished?

Check out who the celebrities believed was a Traitor throughout series two:

Episode 3: Richard E. Grant and Myha'la

Episode 4: Julie Hesmondhalgh

Episode 5: Professor Hannah Fry

Episode 6: Joe Lycett

Episode 7: Jerry Hall

Episode 9: Joanne McNally

Episode 9: James Acaster

Episode 10 (the finale): Maya Jama, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, King Kenny and James Blunt

NOW READ: ‘He was nailed to a post’: James Blunt details James Acaster’s dramatic unedited Celebrity Traitors exit

Bored to Death: Which Faithful yawned in episode seven?

In one of the show's most bonkers cliffhangers yet, Friday 16th October's episode saw the Traitors attempt to murder in plain sight — by trying to make a Faithful yawn. A Traitor then had to seal the Faithful's fate by asking: "Am I boring you?"

Despite numerous attempts by Maya Jama and James Acaster to yawn and pass it on to Ross Kemp or Jerry Hall in the library, the sandtimer was slowing running out — leaving their chance of whittling down the Faithful hanging in the balance.

With the plan underway, Maya looked stressed when Joanne McNally walked into the room, later telling the camera: "I love Joanne so much, I don't wanna do it to you yet, please." Thankfully for Maya, Joanne soon left the room, meaning it would be either Ross or Jerry.

Fans discovered the outcome during episode seven on Thursday 22nd October, where Ross was murdered after he yawned first.

Claudia's game of Hide and Seek

In the fourth episode, which aired on Friday 9th October, four celebrities were selected by the Traitors for a game of Hide and Seek in the woods! Each player was told to shut themselves away in crypt, while the Traitors chose one to be 'murdered' face-to-face.

The four players selected were Ross Kemp, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett. But what the Traitors didn't know was, Leigh-Anne was voted to receive a key to lock her crypt door — meaning if the Traitors did choose her, they would have failed and nobody would be sent home.

Luckily for the Traitors, they chose to murder Rob Beckett.

Where is it filmed?

The Celebrity Traitors returned to Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands for series two.

When was filming?

Celebs started to arrive on Sunday 3rd May, with filming take place over a three-week period.

What channel is it on?

The Celebrity Traitors airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

When was the second series announced?

BBC bosses confirmed the amazing news on Monday 10th November 2025, revealing the show would return in 2026.

Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC, said at the time: “Studio Lambert have done an outstanding job as The Celebrity Traitors has well and truly captivated the nation, becoming a bona fide highlight of the year bringing record numbers of people together to enjoy every twist and turn. In 2026 the doors of the castle will be opened again to welcome celebrity players to the game to see who can charm, who can scheme and ultimately who can survive in series two which promises to be just as unmissable as the first. Plus with Uncloaked returning and today’s news of the positive contribution The Traitors brand has made to Scotland’s economy, there is plenty to celebrate.”

Hayley Valentine, Director BBC Scotland said: “The Traitors is an immense TV success story and it’s fantastic to have multiple versions of it filmed in Scotland. We welcome and celebrate it. This report highlights the many ways that Scotland is seeing a direct economic benefit from The Traitors filming here and, working together with our partners, we will use this success to promote sustainable growth within Scotland’s creative industry.”

The official trailer then dropped on Tuesday 15th September, along with the start date of Thursday 1st October 2026.

Watch the official trailer below:

The Celebrity Traitors Series 1

Kicking off on Wednesday 8th October 2025, host Claudia welcomed 19 celebrities into Ardross Castle in Scotland, including the likes of Paloma Faith, Clare Balding, Stephen Fry and Celia Imrie.

After picking Alan, Cat and Jonathan as her Traitors, the trio managed to carry out a large number of murders and banishments, before Jonathan was successfully caught.

Despite the entire nation thinking Alan was making it incredibly obvious that he was a Traitor, he managed to use his humour to mask his true identity, making it to the final alongside Cat.

During the final, after Cat was banished, Alan somehow managed to persuade Nick and David to banish Joe, leaving him victorious.

The record-breaking first series of The Celebrity Traitors is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now.

Author: Amy Shephard

Amy Shephard is an SEO Writer for Rayo brands, including Hits Radio, KISS, Magic Radio and Greatest Hits Radio. Starting her media career in 2011, she joined Bauer Media in 2023 as a reporter before moving over to entertainment news. She specialises in movies and TV dramas, and enjoys a range of music across all decades and genres.

Additional content by: Alex Ross