BBC One's The Traitors appeals to humanity’s most primal instincts and is a masterclass in reality TV cruelty. Inside an isolated castle in the Scottish Highlands, contestants come together to complete a series of tasks to increase the prize pot, with a possible maximum of £120,000 (approximately $149,050) to be split among the winners. Seeing celebrities and civilians work together and battle it out for money already seems like the basis for a pretty good show, but thanks to host Claudia Winkleman the series becomes iconic.
Winkleman turns this competition on its head and secretly designates three contestants as “traitors.” While fans of the reality TV genre might begin to think of fan-favorite competition series The Mole, the traitors not only deceive but have the power to “murder” one contestant a night. And the stakes for not getting rid of the traitors are very high. All of this makes for a wild experience that will have audiences hooked from the beginning when the U.S. version comes to Peacock in January 2023.
The Traitors Is a Wildly Addictive Competition Show
The rules of The Traitors are quite simple: survive, complete tasks and weed out who the traitors are. While the traitors can remove one person a night from the competition, the group tries to determine which of them is lying and also eliminate one person a day in the hopes of ridding the competition of the secret villains. But if a traitor makes it to the end, the traitor takes the whole prize pool. With a lot of money on the line and discord sown throughout every minute of the game, The Traitors is a ruthless individual psychological competition that thrives on paranoia and guilt.
This 12-week addictive adventure benefits highly from its casting department. While 22 contestants is a large number to keep track of, the bright personalities of the cast and Winkleman’s incredible hosting make it hard to forget their names. Winkleman’s warmth also keeps the show from spiraling into an out of control hellscape while the contestants are forced to think multiple steps ahead. Production company Studio Lambert has a hit on their hands with the U.K. original, but the U.S. iteration can pack the same punch.
Peacock Is Bringing The Traitors to America
Hosted by Alan Cumming, the Peacock version of The Traitors will see 10 stars from popular reality shows and 10 civilians join together in completing tasks, creating alliances and murdering the other contestants. With competitors like Big Brother's Rachel and Cody, this may be one of the wildest casts ever put together for TV. And since it's filmed in the very same Scottish castle, fans of the BBC version can assume to watch the same incredible game of manipulation and deceit. The U.S. version will also include three designated traitors, but Deadline’s report states they’ll be devising “a plan to steal the prize from the other contestants coined ‘the faithful.’” With the cash earnings being raised to $250,000 in this version, how far anyone will go for money will certainly be tested.
The Traitors is the ultimate game of suspicion and secrecy that will have viewers shocked at the twists and turns. There’s just something about watching ordinary people come undone for large sums of money that becomes addictive. And with the U.S. series adding reality TV stars in the mix, Peacock is contributing another layer to the chaos that will make the show even more enjoyable.
The Traitors premieres Jan. 12, 2023 on Peacock.