11 Secrets From The Traitors Castle

The days are shorter, the nights are longer, and the cold is creeping in. It can only mean one thing: autumn has arrived, bringing a boat-load of brand new telly. And the star of the season? The Celebrity Traitors, of course. Since landing on the BBC with the civilian rendition back in 2022, the show has remained a roaring success – hooking audiences all over the world with its games of deceit, secrecy and murder. But have you ever wondered what goes into making the beloved reality series? From dodgy breakfasts and celebrity casting calls to ‘no jewellery on set’ rules, these are some of our favourite backstage secrets from The Traitors.

The Traitors Secrets: Behind-The Scenes Facts From The Show

(c) BBC / Studio Lambert

The BBC Has Booked Out The Castle Until 2030

As many fans of the show will now know, The Traitors is filmed at Ardross Castle in the Scottish highlands. The castle serves as the main backdrop (both for the UK and the US), and is where the players eat and socialise throughout the series. 

Outside of filming, the 19th century country house is also used as an events space and wedding venue – but to keep continuity for The Traitors, the BBC has booked Ardross Castle out until 2030. The long-term deal secures the castle for twice-a-year production windows, preventing it from being booked up for private weddings when The Traitors needs to be filmed.

As a TV insider told The Sun: ‘The ultimate nightmare would be if the producers tried to return to Ardross Castle after the Beeb commissioned more series only to find it was unavailable.

‘That’s a very real prospect as the Highlands pile is in huge demand for weddings, which have swelled in numbers since The Traitors became so popular. Without taking this bold measure, it was at risk of becoming a victim of its own success.’

But The Contestants Don’t Sleep In The Castle

Despite Ardross Castle being big enough to sleep up to 41 guests at a time – and those post-Round Table scenes of the contestants sitting in bed – neither Traitors nor Faithfuls actually sleep within its four walls. Instead, they are whisked off by 4×4 to the Courtyard by Marriott Inverness Airport hotel every evening and back again the next morning.

This is likely for a few reasons. The first, so that production crews can set up in side rooms of the castle and keep equipment settled in one place, and the second, so that it’s easier to film the breakfast arrivals in the morning. The contestants travel back to the castle in small groups in the morning, helping to amp up the tension of the reveal: who has been murdered?

But it’s not just the contestants, the show’s host doesn’t stay in the castle either. The Traitors US presenter Alan Cumming told The Daily Beast in 2023: ‘None of us stayed in the castle. None of us. [The contestants] all stayed in the airport hotel in the Inverness airport.’ Alan slept in a little house in Inverness, which may well be the case for UK host Claudia Winkleman, too.

(c) BBC / Studio Lambert

Breakfast Is Just There For Looks

Then there’s the food on The Traitors. While breakfast in the castle often serves as a key point of gameplay, the stunning spread on the table is, more often than not, just set dressing. Contestants, both civilian and celebrity, have described the breakfast buffet as ‘stale’, ‘cold’ and overall ‘not very nice’.

Ivan Brett, who appeared on the first series of the show, wrote on X: ‘I’m sorry guys, it’s time to come clean and leak something shocking about #TheTraitors. It pains me to tell you, but that breakfast is REALLY DRY AND NOT VERY NICE.’ 

Aubrey Emerson from series 2 had a similar experience. Speaking to The Traitors: Uncloaked host Ed Gamble, she revealed: ‘It was disappointing – one of the things I was expecting was this lovely buffet in the morning. You were lucky if you got a cup of coffee. When you got it, it was cold. There was lots of melons.’

Most contestants, in fact, eat before heading into the castle. As celebrity contestant Joe Marler revealed on Dish: ‘You have breakfast first in your lodgings.’ But for Marler, this just meant two helpings in the morning. ‘I’m like, “Double whammy. Get me in the breakfast room now.” We all do tuck in though.’ He added that many of the contestants – in particular those with a secret – tend to eat more at the breakfast table to avoid speaking.

The Celebrities Get Different Food

Does a star-studded cast mean star-studded food? Quite possibly. In series 1 of The Celebrity Traitors, we saw the cast tucking into dishes like lasagna (a favourite of contestant Nick Mohammed) and steak. The food was apparently a highlight for most of the celebrities, which Joe Marler emphasised on Dish. ‘I will say this, though: the amount of food was obscene. My wife, every time we’ve watched it, she’s gone, “Why in every single shot are you eating?” But that’s all I did. I just ate and ate. I put on 8kg. It was so much fun.’

The same, however, can apparently not be said for the normies. Ex-player Rayan Rachedi (series 1) said that the food on The Celebrity Traitors was a step up from the regular version’s offering. Posting on X, he wrote: ‘I can assure you steak was NOT an option at dinner for the non-celebrity series’.

Zack Davies, who was on series 2 of the civilian version of The Traitors, also gave mixed reviews of the catering on the show.  Speaking to comedy duo Luke and Elliott, he described the food as ‘good sometimes’, but noted a ‘vegan haggis that didn’t sit well with me’. He did however add that nerves often got the better of him: ‘I mean you hardly wanted to eat at times.’

(c) BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry

Contestants Are Assembled Like A Jury

Ever wondered what it takes to get on the show? It’s a pretty lengthy process to join the cast of The Traitors, kicking off with a very long, multi-page questionnaire that involves written, photo and video submissions. From there, the casting team will invite potential candidates for remote interviews and give a series of tests to make sure they can withstand the demands of filming.

These tests involve both psychological evaluations and strategy discussions, where prospective players are asked about their lying ability, strategy, resilience and how they respond to pressure.

Producers for the show are often described as taking a ‘jury mindset’ when casting contestants; they look for a balance of ages, backgrounds, jobs and mindsets to encourage as much relatability as possible, so audiences will stay hooked.

Celebrity Contestants Also Go Through Castings

While most reality shows seem to have dried up with celebrity talent in recent years, The Celebrity Traitors is an exception. The original show has sparked a strong fanbase since it first aired in the UK in 2022, including a small army of celebrities. This became all the more apparent when the BBC announced the celebrity debut of the show, and picked up big names like Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, Celia Imrie, Nick Mohammad and Alan Carr.

‘I think it might be the most impressive lineup ever recruited for a reality show in the UK,’ said Peter Fincham, a former BBC One controller and co-presenter of Insiders: The TV Podcast.

‘It seems to be full of people who, when you’re trying to cast a reality show with celebrities, you would normally say, “well we’ll never get them, they won’t do it”… You can make phone calls you would otherwise be very nervous to make.’

In series 1, celebrities were vying for a seat at the Round Table – and going to castings in the hopes they would secure one. ‘It was bonkers,’ Joe Marler said on Dish. ‘I was a big fan beforehand. When I went for a booking meeting [with the BBC], I was like, “’How much does it cost me then?” They asked, “What do you mean?” And I was like, “I’ll obviously pay to come on the show.” That’s how desperate I was. 

‘The names on the cards were just brilliant. To be able to sit around the same table as Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, and Celia Imrie and have the ability to tell them to “shut up” or “grow up” [laughs]. It was great.’

And it seems the fervor continues, with Richard E. Grant, Michael Sheen, Jerry Hall and Bella Ramsey all battling it out in series 2 of The Celebrity Traitors to win the charity prize pot.

(c) BBC/Studio Lambert/Paul Chappells

UK Celebrities Play For Charity, US Celebrities Play For Money

The biggest difference between the US and UK versions of The Traitors in early seasons was the types of contestants. In the UK, there are separate series for civilians and celebrities, while in the US it began with a half-celebrities, half-civilians before moving to an all-celebrity cast. 

This also reveals another big difference between sides of the Atlantic: in the US, celebrities play to take home the prize pot for themselves, while in the UK celebrity contestants play for a charity of their choosing. 

Both sets of celebrities do accept appearance fees – but again, this plays out quite differently. UK celebrities are paid a flat fee of £40,000 (a number confirmed by The Rest Is Entertainment podcast host Marina Hyde), while US celebrities are set on individual contracts with salaries that can range from $74,000 to $400,000.

Claudia Winkleman’s Wardrobe Has A Theme

It’s safe to say that Claudia Winkleman’s outfits on The Traitors have become just as iconic as the series itself. And while generally she can be seen wearing an eccentric collection of black capes, knitted wrist warmers and heritage fabrics, her styling team is quite granular on the details of each outfit she wears. In fact, ahead of filming, Winkleman and her stylist Sinead McKeefry put together a specific theme for her wardrobe, which changes with each new series.

Winkleman almost always teases the theme to the BBC, giving the audience a flavour of what to expect in the weeks leading up to a new game. Ahead of series 3 of The Traitors, for example, it was tactile fabrics and dramatic silhouettes: ‘more knitwear, quite a lot of tweed… more big sweaters and at one point I try and look like an actual yeti.’

And for the new series of The Celebrity Traitors, she described her wardrobe as ‘human crows meets golf caddy meets the Artful Dodger’. Not the crossover we imagined, but we’re loving it regardless.

(c) BBC/Studio Lambert

And Over 24 Looks Are Created Each Series

Themes like these require a lot of planning, stylist Sinead McKeefry told C&TH. ‘There are 12 daytime looks, then 12 round table looks,’ she revealed. This results in about 24 looks for each series of The Traitors – although this can quickly become more, if you count the styling swaps (usually a big coat, a pair of wellies and a fresh set of wrist warmers) between breakfast and the day’s challenge.

‘Within the game, there are the missions,’ McKeefry added. ‘The missions can determine whether we can be a bit more theatrical, but we often don’t know what those missions will be until we get there. So, we have to go out on a bit of a limb.’ One of those ‘limbs’ came up in the very first series of the show, during the funeral challenge. ‘That brief came very late – we had 24 hours to send a veil up to Inverness.’

She’s Not Allowed To Wear Jewellery At The Round Table

There isn’t much the team will say ‘no’ to when it comes to Claudia Winkleman’s Traitors wardrobe – but jewellery, especially at the Round Table, is apparently a big no-no.

Speaking on The Celebrity Traitors series 2, executive producer Sarah Fay revealed at a BBC screening that, ‘Claudia is not allowed jewellery when we do the Traitors pick. We’re very strict on that, in case it jangles.’ This is so that she doesn’t make any sudden noises that could clue the contestants in on who she’s selecting to be Traitors.

Winkleman, meanwhile, has said that this part of the show is often the most intense for her. She revealed at the same screening for the new series that she ‘gets scared’ and ‘panics’ during the Traitors pick, adding: ‘I have to wear spiky, noisy, scary shoes. I feel like I’m doing flamenco because I stop a lot.’

(c) BBC/Studio Lambert/Euan Cherry

There Are More Than 35 Versions Of The Traitors Across The World

The Traitors might now be a UK mainstay, but the show is actually based on the Dutch series De Verraders. The original show aired for the first time in the Netherlands back in 2021, with the Claudia Winkleman-hosted rendition following suit shortly after in 2022. Its English name, The Traitors, stuck when the format was brought to the UK.

Since then, there have been more than 35 national versions of The Traitors – each with its own eccentric host. Some of the most popular regions in recent years include the US (hosted by Alan Cumming), Canada (featuring both an English-language version and a French-language Quebec version), Australia, New Zealand and, of course, the UK. Some of the more further afield series of the show, meanwhile, take place as far out as India, South Korea and Mongolia.