Claudia Winkleman reveals new twist to The Traitors

Claudia Winkleman has revealed a new twist to The Traitors for its second series.

The gripping psychological reality show returns on Wednesday with 22 contestants arriving at a magnificent castle in the Scottish Highlands.

Welcomed by Claudia Winkleman, they embark on a high-stakes game of detection, betrayal, and trust, aiming to win up to £120,000.

Among them are ‘The Traitors’, tasked with clandestinely ‘murdering’ a contestant each night without being discovered. The rest, known as ‘The Faithfuls’, must identify and expel these traitors from the game before they become their next targets.

The survivors who make it to the end stand a chance to win the substantial cash prize. However, if any traitor remains undiscovered, they claim all the money for themselves.

In a change for the second series, the show’s armoury – which offered contestants the chance to avoid being eliminated – has gone.

Instead, contestants will now be able to compete for shields as part of daily missions, where they must also work to increase the prize fund.

Those who win the shields will avoid being murdered that night, although it will not protect them from being voted out.

Claudia revealed the change to the game while appearing on The Graham Norton Show‘s New Year’s Eve special.

Speaking about the show’s cast for the second series, Claudia shared: “They are all excellent. They come having seen the first series so are more quick to suspect but they all play a brilliant game. I wish I could say more but I’ll be fired…”

She added “[The first series] definitely gave them some tips and you can see some arrive and play the game immediately. But the game itself is so strong that however prepared you think you are, you’re not.”

Catch the second series of The Traitors on BBC One and BBC iPlayer starting 3 January 2024.