The Traitors: BBC announces series 3 release date – and it’s much sooner than expected

On By Littum

The traitors is back for more backstabbing and planning as the BBC has just confirmed a release date for the long-awaited return of the show.

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the reality TV show follows a group of contestants living together in a castle in the Scottish Highlands. Among them are a secret number of “Traitors” who must conspire to eliminate others in the group without being detected.

The show has been a huge success for the broadcaster. Earlier this year, over 7 million people watch contestant Harry Clark, 23, win £95,150 after conning his best friend Mollie Pearce in the season finale.

A third season has been recorded, with a fourth already underway along with a celebrity edition.

The new series will be released on New Year’s Day 2025.

For sections one and two, The traitors airs at 8 p.m. From episode 3 onwards, it is broadcast at 21:00. The show will be broadcast on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, as in the last series.

In a teaser for the new series, three hooded figures are seen walking up to an old building with lanterns to the show’s recognizable soundtrack.

Fireworks shoot into the night sky, spelling out “New Year’s Day” along with the traitor symbol hanging ominously behind. Winkleman appears at the end and says, “Start the new year with a bang”.

Claudia Winkleman returns with 'The Traitors'
Claudia Winkleman returns with ‘The Traitors’ (BBC)

“I’m so excited for this!” wrote one person, while another simply added “YAYYY!”

A third commented: “Perfect way to start the year”.

A celebrity edition of the show received a mixed reaction from fans when it was announced to be in the works earlier this year.

“Boring! we don’t need celebrities,” wrote one person. “We need to see traitors relentlessly tracked down by a ‘living love of laughter’ mum from Staines living out her detective dreams.”

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Others were more open to the prospect, calling it “intriguing”.

The BBC’s head of entertainment, Kalpna Patel-Knight, announced the news: “The traitors has well and truly established itself as an inevitable highlight of the year and the news of a fourth outing, along with a brand new celebrity version coming to the BBC, will take the series to a whole new level.”