The Traitors Series 5: Everything We Know So Far

Our treacherous Celtic duo Rachel Duffy and Stephen Libby bagged the cash prize in the tense finale to The Traitors series 4, making TV history: this is the first time more than one Traitor has beaten out all the Faithfuls.

This just in from the BBC: series 4 is far from the last we will see of Ardross Castle. The BBC has signed a new three-year deal that will keep both The Traitors and The Celebrity Traitors on our screens until at least 2030. And with series 4 attracted 22 percent more viewers than series 3 (thanks to the popularity boost of The Celebrity Traitors) it makes perfect sense that the British broadcaster would remain totally Faithful to its most successful unscripted series in history.

If you are already excited for series 5, you are in good company: we’ve gathered everything we know so far about the series return below – plus how to throw your own hat in the turret.

MORE: A Stage Version Of The Traitors Is In The Works

The Traitors series 4 players. (© BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry)

The Traitors Series 5: Everything We Know So Far

It’s safe to say the BBC is 100 percent faithful to The Traitors. Since it debuted in 2022 – with players like Wilf, Meryl and Aaron capturing our hearts – the series has grown its following with every outing, reaching a zenith with The Celebrity Traitors at the end of 2025. That star-studded instalment became the BBC’s most successful unscripted title ever. Add a raft of awards to the pile – including two BAFTAs and a National Television Award – and you’ve got a firmly sealed deal.

Unsurprisingly The Celebrity Traitors will be returning for a second series, likely in autumn 2026, announced just days after Alan Carr bagged the £87,500 cash prize for his chosen charity Neuroblastoma UK. While the first series featured plenty of so-called ‘big dogs’ – think Stephen Fry, Celia Imrie, Claire Balding, Jonathan Ross and more – the rumour mill is already working overtime for series 2. Whispered names include Danny Dyer (who reportedly turned down a spot in series 1), Alison Hammond, Daisy May Cooper (possibly alongside her brother and fellow comedian Charlie Cooper), Ruth Jones and the Night Manager himself Tom Hiddleston.

Alan Carr beat out a stellar cast of celebs to win the inaugural series of The Celebrity Traitors. (© BBC/Studio Lambert/Paul Chappells)

But in September 2025, the British broadcaster also revealed a fifth cohort of civilian players would flock to the Scottish Highlands in summer 2026 for The Traitors series 5. It is expected that The Celebrity Traitors series 2 and The Traitors series 5 will be filmed in quick succession at Ardross Castle, the now-cemented home of The Traitors. In 2025, the celebrity version was filmed in April and May, swiftly followed by the civilian version in June.

Series 4 of The Traitors US, presented by Alan Cumming, was also filmed at Ardross Castle in June 2025, utilising the same challenges as the British version. In fact it is this alliance between the BBC and NBCUniversal in the US that makes the whole operation viable. As Hayley Valentine, BBC Scotland’s director, put it in an economic impact report: ‘Without that collaboration, it’s unlikely the US series would have been based [in Scotland], and the UK series may not have progressed at all. The budget would have been prohibitive without the economies of scale achieved by filming both series back-to-back.’

The ‘Secret Traitor’ was a twist introduced in series 4, but will it return in The Traitors series 5? (© BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry)

What Will Happen?

Naturally we can expect the game of lies and treachery we know and love. As Stephen Lambert (founder of the company behind The Traitors, Studio Lambert) put it at a recent talk at the University of East Anglia, ‘A good format is something that’s designed in such a way that people feel a sense of familiarity with it, which is why they want to keep coming back to come back and watch it. But intrinsically it’s designed so that there’s sufficient variation — partly, obviously, through the change of cast, but also you want to make little changes within it… What I like about The Traitors is there’s so many ways that story can go, that once you add a different cast and once you think of some additional tweaks here and there.’

But he also revealed the crucial Secret Traitor twist from series 4 will not be returning in series 5. ‘After the huge success of The Celebrity Traitors, we introduced the idea of a Secret Traitor as a way of doing something that was different,’ Lambert continued. ‘But it wasn’t something we wanted to keep going with. It was a clever way of signalling we were doing something different.’

In series 4, Welsh local government officer Fiona Hughes took on the role of Secret Traitor, lurking under the radar of our main Traitors trio Stephen, Rachel and Hugo Bailey (before she spearheaded a campaign to have Hugo ousted, of course) – and under the radar of many viewers, too. Meddling with their plans, once Fiona was revealed to the surviving Traitors, it wasn’t long before Rachel turned the dagger on Fiona’s back, rallying the Faithfuls to vote the Swansea local out.

Considering the fun of the Secret Traitor twist, Lambert conceded he ‘[goes] back to the pleasure of the show being that the audience doesn’t know who the Traitors are’, adding: ‘There have been other shows which have done something similar, where the audience didn’t know who the mole was. The trouble is, you’re completely a victim of the edit… And that doesn’t feel very satisfying.’

Here Lambert taps into a common criticism from audiences at the time: It’s especially difficult to guess who the Secret Traitor is when the show is edited and viewers aren’t in the castle themselves. Alas, it was fun while it lasted.

Fiona was the very first (and perhaps last) Secret Traitor in series 4. (BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry)

How To Apply

When the BBC gave The Traitors series 5 the greenlight in September, applications were also officially opened. Brits still have until 31 May 2026 to enter. All the BBC asks is that you are ‘fun, smart and strategic’ and prepared for a bit of ‘trickery, betrayal and backstabbing’, as well as being at least 18 years old, having the right to reside in the UK and having up to four weeks spare in summer or autumn 2026 for filming.

Applicants are asked to submit a one minute video plus answer a series of written questions, including ‘Have you watched The Traitors? If so, what did you think of previous players’ games?’, ‘What is the best lie you have ever told? Did you get away with it?’ and of course ‘If given the choice, would you choose to be a “Traitor” or a “Faithful”?’

If you think you’ve got what it takes, you can enter here.

Do you have what it takes to enter The Traitors? (© BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry

Release Date

No official confirmation from the BBC just yet, but we expect The Traitors series 5 to air in January 2027, following The Celebrity Traitors series 2 in autumn 2026.

All episodes of The Traitors and The Celebrity Traitors are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.

WATCH