The Traitors producers tease series 2 tagline after 40,000 people apply

The Traitors producers have said that series two of the BBC competition will be a “different” game due to the show’s overwhelming popularity.

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the Bafta-winning game show sees a group of strangers split into Faithfuls and Traitors, and tasked with playing the ultimate game of deception in order to win a large cash prize.

The show became a sleeper hit for the BBC over Christmas 2022, and will return to the network for a second series.

Speaking at the Wales Screen Summit on Tuesday (16 May), production company Studio Lambert’s executive producer Toni Ireland said that 40,000 people have currently applied to be on series two, compared to just 1,500 for series one.

Joking that series two was The Traitors’ “difficult second album”, she said: “We can’t give too much away at the moment, obviously, but we’re really looking forward to it.

“I’m excited because the game’s going to be different, people have watched the show now. When this cast came to us, they had never seen the show, they were just playing with their gut instinct and just going, ‘This is how I’m going to play this game.’”

BBC unscripted editor Syeda Irtizaali added: “I’ll tell you the tagline for series two, which is, ‘You think you know how to play the game, you don’t know anything.’ That’s all we’re [going to] say.’”

Based on a Dutch TV series, The Traitors shares similarities with party games such as Mafia or Werewolf, where Traitors must try and assimilate within the group, working together to kill Faithfuls while remaining undetected.

The series one finale featured an incredibly tense finale in which remaining Traitor Wilfred lost his nerve in the final moments, leading Faithfuls Aaron, Hannah and Meryl to split the £101,050 prize. Had Wilfred won, he would have taken the entire prize for himself.

On Sunday (14 May) night, The Traitors took home two awards at the Bafta TV Awards. The show won for Best Reality and Constructed Factual, while Claudia Winkleman won for Entertainment Performance.

You can find the full list of winners here.