The Traitors: fans left stunned by 'killer' cliffhanger

This article contains spoilers for The Traitors season 2 - don't read on until you're caught up on the first three episodes.

The BBC's devilish psychological game show The Traitors returned to BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Wednesday, January 3. 22 fresh competitors have arrived at the iconic castle for another round of sleuthing, and the game's already off to an electric start.

The first episode proved that the show has some fresh tricks. When they first arrived, all 22 stars were asked to rank themselves from most to least likely to win, just like the beginning of The Traitors series 1. This time, though, Claudia was quick to tell them the game wouldn't play out the same way, and no one was eliminated right off the bat. 

The twists kept coming throughout that first day, too. After Claudia selected her Traitors (Ash, Harry, and Paul) at the very first Round Table of the competition, she dropped another bombshell. When the group met at the Traitors' Turret for their first secret meeting that evening, they wouldn't be choosing to murder someone right away... they'd instead be deciding to recruit a fourth Traitor! 

Frustratingly, their selection wasn't revealed at the end of the episode, leaving anyone watching the series as it airs on TV with a huge cliffhanger. But that's not the cliffhanger we're talking about here.

As the first set of episodes were made available to stream on BBC iPlayer, plenty of Traitors fans couldn't wait to see what was to come and quickly binged all three parts.

The third episode (which airs on Friday, January 5) ends with two competitors on level pegging for being banished from the show. After a tense Round Table discussion that resulted in a three-way tie for Diane, Brian and Ash, another vote was called. When the new votes were revealed, Ash and Brian were both left with six votes each, and Anthony was on the cusp of revealing who he'd voted for... but we never found out who he had chosen. Plus, two of Ash's fellow Traitors had decided to throw her under the bus!

Fans who'd waited up to see how the series played out are livid, and plenty vented their frustration on social media, desperate to see who's going to be the next person banished from the castle. 

The Traitors season 2 airs Wednesday-Fridays at 9 pm on BBC One, and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. 

For more great shows to enjoy, check out our picks for the best BBC comedies and best BBC dramas you should be streaming right now.