The Traitors UK season 3 gets going on BBC1 on New Year's Day 2025, so get ready for another bout of deception and double-crossing, plus a fresh batch of contestants (see below) and more of Claudia Winkleman's now-infamous tweed outfits!
The BBC's hit reality show had us glued to our screens last year, as series winner Harry was revealed as a Traitor and walked away with a £95,000 cash prize all to himself!
Now, once again the undercover Traitors are tasked with "murdering" the Faithfuls without being caught in order to win up to £120,000. But this time there are some fresh format changes to look out for, plus some new twists that will have us on the edge of our seats!
So here’s everything you need to know about the new series of The Traitors UK season 3on BBC One…
The Traitors UK season 3 BBC release date
The third series of The Traitors will launch on Wednesday 1 January 2025 at 8pm on BBC1 and iPlayer, so a treat for New Year's Day. For episodes 1 and 2, The Traitors will air at 8 pm. From episode 3 onwards it will air at 9 pm. The January 2025 show will air on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday nights, as per the last series.
Is there a trailer?
Yes a trailer for The Traitors UK season 3 has been released! Take a look below..
The Traitors UK season 3 — what happens in the third series?
Much of The Traitors UK season 3 is being kept under wraps, including the number of contestants. But what we do know is that they're all back at Ardross Castle in Scotland and that the Traitors are once again tasked with "murdering" the Faithfuls without being caught, with a cash prize of up to £120,000 up for grabs.
Claudia Winkleman is also back as host. But expect bigger and better missions and some major new twists!
The BBC synopsis reads: "In this nail-biting award-winning, reality series, Claudia Winkleman greets a group of strangers as they arrive at a beautiful castle in the Scottish Highlands to play the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust, in the hope of winning up to £120,000.
"But hidden amongst them are the Traitors whose job is to secretly murder their fellow players, without getting caught. It’s up to the others, the Faithful, to try to detect who the traitors are, and banish them from the game, before they become their next victim.
"For the lucky ones who survive to the end, they have the chance of winning that life-changing cash. But if a Traitor remains undetected, they’ll take it all. New series and a whole new game. But who will make it through?"
* We will be adding a full Claudia Winkleman interview on The Traitors season 3.
interview: Claudia Winkleman on The Traitors UK season 3
Claudia Winkleman tells us much more on The Traitors UK season 3…
What can you reveal about series three of The Traitors UK?
Claudia Winkleman: "I’d love to tell you all about series three, but then I’d get fired! What I will tell you is that things are different this year. There are some really exciting things that have changed, which will keep everyone on their toes and will feed into the central premise of trust. I can’t wait for everyone to see it!"
So are the new contestants in for some surprises?
"Yes, like any good murder mystery, the plot is full of twists and turns. There’s one twist this year that will hopefully have viewers on the edge of their seats!"
Have the missions ramped up a gear, too?
"The missions in series three are really exciting. They keep getting bigger and better, and this year they also have more of a stake in the bigger picture of the game than ever before."
Why do you think people get so hooked on The Traitors?
"The game is so clever, and you can never predict what's going to happen. Watching people work out other people is fascinating. What’s also interesting is that we're told all our lives to trust our guts, but The Traitors suggests that maybe our guts don't know as much as we think they do!"
If you were a Faithful, do you think you’d be able to identify a Traitor?
"No, I wouldn’t have a clue how to find a Traitor. I think I’d be the worst player in history! I’m always so impressed by the way the contestants play the game – it often almost takes my breath away. I just love trying to be invisible at the round table and watching it all unfold!"
Your Traitors outfits have become a bit of a talking point. What looks can we expect this series? "Definitely more knitwear, quite a lot of tweed, and I sleep in fingerless gloves! Also expect more big sweaters – at one point I try to look like an actual Yeti!"
Meet the 2025 contestants in The Traitors UK season 3
Here's a brief rundown of the contestants for The Traitors UK season 3.
Anna, 28, is a swimming teacher from County Wicklow, Ireland...
"It’s the only TV show I've thought I’d be good at that! I've got a brain that can compartmentalise things and I can be quite personable. I think a lot of it does depend on your ability to control your emotions in that environment and your ability to get people on your side, which are two things that I think I have a bit of a skill for. I applied on a whim while my boyfriend was watching football. I just filled in the form, didn't think anything of it. I cannot believe that I got chosen."
Alex, 29, is a care manager from Whitby...
"I think some things will definitely hinder me. Sometimes I cannot help myself but say something. I'm always the one that fights for the underdog, I will speak my mind, it’s how my mum brought me up. If you're going to start being really opinionated, right at the beginning then your head’s on the chopping block straight away."
Alexander, 28, is a former British diplomat from London (pictured above)...
"I love doing new things, and I always take opportunities where I can. I just finished visiting all 15 of London’s disused underground stations. When I was in Bologna recently, I went down the sewers. I went to Murmansk a couple of years ago to see the world's northernmost McDonald's and nuclear icebreaker. I've lived around the world in different countries. I hope this will be something I’ll enjoy... and if not, it’ll be something new! I think it would be fun to bring my diplomatic skills to the game - a diplomat is meant to win people over and be good at influencing and negotiating!"
Armani, 27, a financial investigator from London...
"I don’t want to sound vain, but I'm pretty good at most things I put my mind to. I've got a law background, I’ve worked as a financial investigator, and what I've been doing for the past five years involves being analytical. Day to day and in my job, I try to see whether someone has done something wrong, and I try to investigate it and discover what needs to be put right. I like to help people, I like to do things in a team, I've always been that way inclined. The Traitor side of it sounds like a really fun game. You've got to try to see what you can do to make other people follow your game plan. So, it's just a really interesting concept. I know I'll be good at the activities, I'm pretty good at most physical challenges, I love riddles and all those kinds of things. I'm quite a people person and I am a bit of an all-rounder. I can see myself being a good member of the team."
Dan, 33, is a bank risk manager from Liverpool...
"I've always loved strategy games; I've always loved the opportunity to see how people manipulate and deceive in different types of games. And I just really wanted an opportunity to do something that you don't do in your everyday life; throw myself into a game like this and see how I do. The first two seasons were really engaging, and I wanted to be a part of the next part of the story."
Charlotte, 33, is a business director from London, who has recently moved to Hampshire...
"I will be friendly and chatty, and hopefully bring people together and be great on missions. But I am not afraid to go against someone and vote for them. Just because they are a friend, doesn't mean they are not a Traitor! In terms of actually being there, I’ve just got to see how it goes. I think the reality of playing the game will be very different to thinking about playing the game. But in terms of an overarching game plan? I have one. Not sure if it will work or not."
Elen, 24 is a translator from Cardiff (pictured below)...
"I'm a very bubbly and energetic girl. English is my second language, Welsh is my first. Because of this, I'm not as articulate in English as I am in Welsh, so people tend to associate that with being dumb. Every time I mix with English speaking people, they tend to underestimate me. However, how I present myself on the outside, doesn't really represent what's going on inside. That’s something I feel like I can use in the castle to my advantage."
Fozia, 50 is a Community Development Manager from Birmingham...
"I'll go in and make friends, and make sure that I can be trusted, I'd be myself, talk about stuff outside of work, show some level of compassion, you know, I want them to see the real me. But at the same time, I want to be strategic about it because you can't trust anyone. I am going to be careful about what I share and don't share. And normally I can smell a rat."
Francesca, 44 is an Interior Designer from East Sussex...
"I feel like I have a lot of life experience. I trained as an actress and then I started my own interior design business without any training whatsoever. I've had to learn to be a very good judge of character. I’ve developed these skills through times of being a single mum, as well as having to work with large groups of people and deal with clients across the commercial, private and residential sector who vary quite a lot. You can always suss out a fibber. If I think someone's really telling lies, then I will call them out and say, that's not the case. Sometimes people think I'm a ditzy blonde, and that I just make things look pretty. But what I do involves a lot of engineering and architecture. Sometimes people assume I’m one thing but actually there are different layers, and I like to surprise people."
Jake, 28, is a project manager from Barrow-in-Furness...
"I really like the show. That might be quite a bog-standard answer but I do just really like the show. It's actually the only thing I've ever applied for. I've always been into mysteries, even when I was younger in my Scooby Doo days, I've always liked the guess who’s the murderer game so this show is the perfect kind of game for me. I think I'll be good at it as well. When you watch it from home, you're only getting half the experience because you know who the Traitors are, but I’ve always said that I'd love to be on the other side of it and be in the castle and get the full experience of not knowing anything and not trusting anyone."
Freddie, 20 is a politics student from Peterborough...
"I’m quite big fan of The Traitors, I've watched the first two series of the UK show and I've watched the Australian one as well. I just think it's such an interesting concept for a game, it's very strategic and psychological, and it’s all about using your brain. I think I’ve got a skill set that makes me suited to being quite good at the game and I thought why not just give it a go and apply, and here we are."
Jack, 25, is a Yorkshireman, market trader and landscaper...
"I have secretly trained as an actor. I moved to London when I was 18, moved away from Yorkshire and I didn't really tell too many of my family and friends that that’s what I was going to do, because I think there's a bit of a stigma around it in the area that I live in, people think ‘oh he wants to go off and chase the acting dream.’ So, I think I'm used to being put into situations which are hostile and unfamiliar. I think I can kind of play it a little bit dumb, maybe act like the ditzy gardener and landscaper who secretly has his own agenda, and hopefully a couple of acting skills to back that up. I'm the type of person who likes to think I have a game plan, but as soon as I'm in there, it's just going to be balls to the wall. Let's go. I think my entire life; I have been a bit of a winger. I have been the sort of person who talks the talk, and then normally, when it gets down to brass tacks, I'm finishing my assignment 20 minutes before the deadline. I'd like to think that I've got a decent game plan, but I'm not too sure how that's going to work."
Joe, 37, is an English teacher from Southampton...
"Because I'm a teacher, my life is based around planning. I have to plan for every moment, every possible question, everything that could go wrong. So, I think I'm already going to be in that mode, and I think it will be helpful. I think I'll be more tactical with things. I think I'll read between the lines, I won't listen to just what's being said, I'll think about what's not being said. I'm going to find it tricky, but I know that I need to befriend the ones that I think might be the Traitors because that's what I need to do to get through. However, if I suspect something I'll find it very difficult not pointing it or calling it out. So, that is one of the things I'm going to have to think: Joe, just keep your cool, don’t say anything yet. I need to think about the long game."
Kasim, 33 is a doctor from Cambridge...
"I really liked the first series, and I actually applied for the second, but didn't really think much about it. I never heard back, and I was thinking I can see why because I did a really bad job on the application! Then out of curiosity before the second season came out, I saw applications for season three were open and I thought, I might as well chuck another one in because I know what went wrong last time. It was definitely the right thing for me, because season two was phenomenal. I thought whatever is going to happen next time, I need to be involved in it."
Linda, 70 is retired opera singer from Hertfordshire...
"I'm older, obviously, so I’ve maybe got more experience. I think I'm quite good at convincing people of things that aren't true! And I think I've got quite a funny personality, so I’ll bring a bit of fun! Sometimes I can be a bit of an airhead too, so I might try and use that to my advantage!"
Keith, 65 is a window cleaner from Bournemouth...
"I'm one of nine in my family. I've got a very big family, lots of brothers and sisters who used to play tricks on each other, wind each other up, the works! So, with all that in mind, that’s why I applied for The Traitors."
Leanne, 28, is an Army veteran from Holywell North Wales...
"I think I'll be great at the Missions. I've been in the Army for 12 years. I've done a lot of physical exercise. However, I have had children very recently, so I'm also really hoping my physical side won't let me down. I'm really looking forward to the Missions. I can be a bit bossy, but I'm going to try and hold back from giving out instructions and be a really big team player."
Leon, 40 is a retail store manager from the East Midlands...
"I just love the dynamic of the show and what it entails. Having worked in retail all my life, I always joke around at work about the good versus evil. I think about it when someone comes in and tries to get the cheapest deal but I'm on the other side trying to make them spend as much money as possible! The Traitors really grabbed my attention. I like the fact that everyone is working towards the same goal in the tasks and putting money in the pot, but then as soon as that task is finished, it's weird how it’s suddenly a different game that you’re all playing. I just really wanted to be a part of it."
Lisa, 62, is an Anglican Priest from Cornwall...
"I like to think that I can think a little bit laterally and I like to think that I'm a pretty good judge of character. Although this is an artificial scenario, because people are bringing to the game, and this includes me, not necessarily who they are as a real person. In standard life I'm sure people are not that treacherous; I'd like to think. I think I'm quite calm. I'm quite a realist. And so, I'd like to bring some sort of calm to situations if they get a bit overwrought. And be there for people as well. Listen to them, but also be looking at people from outside the box. I'm quite an observer."
Olivia (Livi), 26, is a beautician and model from Horsham...
"I used to think I'd be amazing as a Traitor, but I've thought about it and I'm actually an honest person. I think if I lie, nothing good will happen for me, so I always avoid lying. I do really want to be a Faithful and I think I'd be a good Faithful. I think I get on with everybody, I'm a good problem solver so I'd be able to help the team track down a Traitor. I've always sussed people out in my life and if somebody has lied to me, I've known straight away. I think I'm a good people reader."
Minah, 29, is a call centre manager from Liverpool...
"I'd like to think I'm easy to get on with – I do just gel with different types of people from different walks of life. But I’m also very playful and always wanting to have a laugh. If I was a Faithful I'd probably be a bit scatty and feel paranoid, I'd have to remind myself to calm it down a bit. I think overall, I would bring team spirit, getting everyone involved, making sure everyone's included. I think that's from my job – I’m asked to be like that at work so I think naturally I’m like that in general. I’m the mother of the group but also the one that wants to organise everything for everyone, and then sometimes a bit of a control freak, but always getting everyone involved."
Maia, 25, is a full-time mum from Essex...
"I binge watched the last series when it aired, and I was so invested. I always thought to myself, I could do it better. I literally was thinking you guys aren't lying properly, you're not lying correctly, there are too many emotions going on, this is money. So yeah, one was that I felt like I could do it better. Second one was the money. My daughter is going to nursery soon and that's expensive. It's like having a mortgage, so that was also a motivator. I am also a very competitive person in general. Growing up, I was a natural liar. And then I stopped lying, because my family said it was getting really bad. I would always blame my sisters. So, I went the opposite way and I got really, really blunt instead. And it was blunt on the borderline of being rude. So, I’ve had to learn how to assess what's good to say, what's not good to say. Now I'm kind of excited to be able to lie again, if I’m being honest! I'm excited to be able to twist some stories and make up things and that will be kind of fun."
Nathan, 39, is a property consultant from London...
"It's a game and you have to always remember it's a game. I've got no qualms in lying to someone's face or getting where I need to get to because I know it's a game. You just have to play the game and I'm not going to take it personally if people want to accuse me. I've got to be quite strategic, but I think I will be planting a lot of seeds and spreading a bit of gossip because I quite enjoy it. I just think it's fun. I'd rather go out with a bang and be the guy that was planting seeds and just causing havoc. We've all come here to win money, and I know it's going to be so much harder than it looks on TV, but I can’t wait."
Yin, 34, is a doctor of communication from Berkshire...
"Communication and rhetoric are the two main reasons why I really wanted to do this. I have over the past, developed in my spare time, and also during my PhD, my own discipline, and I've called it communication science. And you have to view it in a scientific way in order to improve it. So be systematic and strategic and really try to measure how well your messages are landing emotionally as well as informationally. This discipline of communication science is basically my secret weapon. It's going to get me through the process, either as a Faithful or a Traitor. I'm always analysing, it's not just words, it's the tone, it's body language, it's also what's not being said, what's not being done and actions over time, how they match with the words. There's all of this stuff around it that I notice that I don't think a lot of people pay attention to."
Tyler, 29, is a barber from Leicester...
"I think my job sets me up well. Every day I'm gaining trust as I cut people's hair. They're chatting to me about upcoming weddings and birthdays, if they're going on holiday so I feel like I can gain people's trust quite easily. Also, I feel like I can adapt to any situation. I've always said, I get on better with older people. Not many people my age really enjoy getting to know older people and I feel like I can just adapt with anyone. I like getting to know people’s stories and when I'm talking to someone, I can kind of feel if they're telling the truth or not. I'm a good reader of people so I bring that as well. I'll be really good at the Missions I think because I'm fit and healthy anyway and I like my gym, I enjoy walking and things like that."
Who are the past winners of Uk version of The Traitors?
The Traitors UK Season 1 winners: Aaron, Hannah and Meryl — Faithfuls
The first series of The Traitors UK was won by Faithfuls Aaron, Hannah and Meryl, who successfully banished all the Traitors to share a prize pot of £101,500.
Since winning, Aaron has appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, First Dates and Love Island USA.
Meanwhile, Hannah has been busy with her podcast Ghost Huns with comedian Suzie Preece, and call centre agent Meryl has changed jobs and also appeared on the 2023 Christmas special of The Weakest Link.
The Traitors UK Season 2: Harry — Traitor
In a must-watch final episode of The Traitors season 2, Harry strategically manipulated his way to victory by conning Traitors' bestie Mollie, avoiding banishment and walking away with £95,000.
Since then Harry has left the Armed Forces and is capitalising on his newfound fame with red carpet events, vlogging and an appearance on Celebrity Antiques Road Trip.
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