Celebrity Traitors 2026 Live: Maya Jama and Richard E. Grant Chosen as First Traitors

Celebrity Traitors 2026 live: The castle is open again.

Celebrity Traitors 2026 live coverage is under way after the BBC’s celebrity version of its hit deception game returned on Thursday night with a new group of famous faces and an immediate helping of chaos.

Claudia Winkleman welcomed 21 celebrities to the Scottish Highlands for Series 2, where they are competing to raise money for their chosen charities.

The opening episode aired on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 8pm on Thursday, 1 October. This year’s series contains 10 episodes, one more than the first celebrity series.

And it didn’t take long for the biggest question to be answered: Who are the traitors?

Maya Jama and Richard E. Grant become the first traitors.

The first major reveal of Celebrity Traitors 2026 saw Claudia select Maya Jama and Richard E. Grant as the initial Traitors.

The other celebrities began the game as Faithfuls, unaware of which people sitting beside them had secretly been chosen to deceive the group.

Maya appeared to settle quickly into her new role.

Richard, however, produced one of the launch episode’s most extraordinary moments when Joe Lycett directly asked whether he was a faithful or a traitor — and Richard answered: “Traitor.”

The other contestants were understandably surprised.

Whether the admission ultimately helps him by appearing too obvious to be true or makes him an immediate target at the Round Table is one of the biggest questions coming out of Episode 1.

But there’s a twist: another traitor is coming.

Maya and Richard aren’t necessarily going to operate alone.

Claudia revealed another twist: a third traitor would be added before the first murder was completed.

Later, Maya and Richard were instructed to choose two celebrities.

One would be offered the opportunity to become a traitor.

The other would be murdered.

Their choices?

Amol Rajan and James Acaster.

The episode ended without revealing which of the two would survive and potentially join the Traitors.

That gives Friday night’s Episode 2 a ready-made cliffhanger. The BBC’s official description confirms that Episode 2 will see the Traitors “complete their line-up” before the first Round Table begins.

Celebrity Traitors 2026 cast

This year’s line-up features actors, comedians, musicians, broadcasters and television personalities.

Among the 21 celebrities are Michael Sheen, Maya Jama, Miranda Hart, Ross Kemp, Bella Ramsey, James Acaster, James Blunt, Jerry Hall, Joe Lycett, Romesh Ranganathan, Richard E Grant, Amol Rajan and Joanne McNally.

The larger cast means Claudia has more personalities — and potential rivalries — to work with than in the first celebrity series, which featured 19 contestants.

Episode 1’s mission brings more chaos.

After the traitors were selected, the celebrities faced their first mission.

The challenge involved retrieving crates from water while racing against the clock, with a dramatic boat element adding to the pressure.

James Blunt and Ross Kemp emerged as particularly vocal figures during the task.

As with the regular edition of The Traitors, the missions give contestants an opportunity to build the prize fund and observe how their fellow players behave under pressure.

Those observations can become important later when accusations begin flying around the Round Table.

Richard E. Grant is already under suspicion.

Richard’s accidental — or perhaps strategically reckless — declaration immediately became one of Episode 1’s biggest talking points.

Julie Hesmondhalgh was among those who appeared suspicious of him.

That creates a potentially difficult situation for the traitors.

If Richard attracts too much attention too early, Maya may have to decide how closely she wants to defend her fellow Traitor. Defending him too strongly could expose her; abandoning him could leave her operating with a newly recruited partner.

Those are strategic possibilities rather than confirmed developments, but Richard’s remarkable first-night performance has certainly given the Faithful something to discuss.

Who will become the third Traitor?

This is the big cliffhanger.

Maya and Richard selected Amol Rajan and James Acaster, who were brought before the Traitors and asked to make their cases.

One is set to survive, while the other faces becoming the first murder victim.

The identity of the successful recruit wasn’t revealed before Episode 1 ended.

That means viewers will have to wait for Episode 2 to discover exactly what Maya and Richard decided.

When is Celebrity Traitors Episode 2?

Fortunately, viewers don’t have long to wait.

Episode 2 airs Friday, 2 October, at 8pm on BBC One, with the programme scheduled to run for an hour.

The BBC says the episode will feature the completion of the Traitors’ line-up, another mission and the first Round Table of the series.

That means viewers should finally discover whether the faithful can turn their early suspicions into a successful first banishment.

The companion programme The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, presented by Ed Gamble, follows at 9pm on BBC One.

How many episodes are there?

Celebrity Traitors Series 2 contains 10 episodes.

New episodes are airing on Thursdays and Fridays, and current scheduling information places the finale on Friday, 30 October 2026.

The expanded format gives the programme plenty of time for alliances to form, suspicions to change and the Traitors to attempt to eliminate players who are getting too close to identifying them.

Celebrity Traitors 2026 Episode 1 Recap

The opening night delivered almost everything viewers would expect from The Traitors: dramatic entrances, suspicious behaviour, a large-scale mission, secret meetings and an enormous cliffhanger.

But the defining development was undoubtedly the selection of Maya Jama and Richard E. Grant.

Maya’s ability to remain undetected will now face a test as the Faithful begin comparing notes.

Richard faces an even more immediate challenge after openly calling himself a traitor in front of other contestants.

And somewhere between Amol Rajan and James Acaster lies the answer to the biggest unresolved question of the night: who becomes Traitor number three?

Conclusion

Celebrity Traitors 2026 live coverage has begun with an unusually eventful opening episode.

Maya Jama and Richard E Grant are the first confirmed Traitors, while Amol Rajan and James Acaster are at the centre of a recruitment-and-murder twist.

No contestant was banished during Episode 1, meaning Friday’s episode should provide several major answers.

The BBC has already confirmed that Episode 2 will complete the Traitors’ line-up and feature the first Round Table.

For anyone publishing live coverage, avoid revealing whether Amol or James becomes the third Traitor until Episode 2 airs — tonight’s episode deliberately ended before that decision was shown.