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After the huge success of The Celebrity Traitors’ inaugural series last year, host Claudia Winkleman is back with a fresh crop of famous faces in the Scottish castle.
And once again, the BBC has booked an all-star line-up, with acting greats, chart-topping musicians and no less than five(!) comedians among the celebrities playing as either Faithfuls or Traitors.
There’s a huge prize for the winner – or winners – too, as those who are victorious will win up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.
Get to know the celebrities taking part in the ultimate game of deception below…
Michael Sheen
Stage and screen star Michael Sheen began his career with increasingly prominent theatre roles in the 1990s, culminating in Laurence Olivier Award nominations in 1998 and 1999, for his performances in Amadeus and Look Back In Anger, respectively. The Welsh star expanded his on-screen career in the Noughties, notably playing Tony Blair in three films penned by Peter Morgan (The Crown). His other film credits include the Oscar-nominated Frost/Nixon, British hit The Damned United and Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris.
In recent years, Sheen has appeared in TV shows including of Good Omens, Quiz (in which he played Chris Tarrant), and A Very Royal Scandal. He has also become known for his activism, thanks to documentaries including Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway and Buried with Michael Sheen. He was announced as the new host of House of Games earlier this year, taking over from Richard Osman.
Maya Jama
Love Island host Maya Jama is swapping cameo appearances in the ITV villa for a stint in the BBC Traitors castle.
She’s hosted Love Island and its various spin-offs since 2023. Bristol-born Jama moved to London to pursue an acting career in 2012, but soon realised she’d be better suited to presenting. After joining MTV as a presenter in 2014, she went on to front a series of Channel 4’s The Circle, ITV’s Saturday night gameshow Cannonball and BBC Three’s competition series Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star.
Jama’s other hosting jobs include the Mobo Awards and the Brit Awards, and she also previously enjoyed a stint in the Radio 1 studios, fronting her one twice-weekly show between 2018 and 2020. Her love life – including past high-profile relationships with rapper Stormzy, NBA player Ben Simmons and Portuguese footballer Rúben Dias – has also made headlines over the years.
Ross Kemp
Ross Kemp is best known for playing EastEnders hardman Grant Mitchell from 1990 to 1999, and he has reprised the role multiple times since first leaving Walford. Most recently, Grant was back in E20 in April to say farewell to his longtime friend Nigel Bates. Kemp’s other acting credits include a mid-Eighties stint in Emmerdale and a phenomenal guest appearance in Ricky Gervais’s Extras.
He has also made a name for himself as a presenter and journalist, fronting documentaries such as the Bafta-winning Ross Kemp on Gangs, Ross Kemp in Afghanistan and Sky’s Extreme World, which ran for six series. Kemp has presented daytime quiz show Bridge of Lies on BBC One since 2022 and went viral online over the summer after he shared increasingly passionate Instagram videos to cheer England on during the World Cup.
Julie Hesmondhalgh
Coronation Street legend Julie Hesmondhalgh played Weatherfield’s Hayley Cropper for 14 years. The much-loved Hayley arrived on the cobbles in 1998 and was the first regular transgender character to appear in a British soap. Viewers were left devastated when Hesmondhalgh decided to leave the ITV programme in 2014. The emotional exit storyline saw Hayley take her own life after receiving a cancer diagnosis; the actor had asked bosses to kill her character off so she wouldn’t be tempted to return to the soap.
Hesmondhalgh has since landed TV roles in the likes of Russell T Davies’ Cucumber, Happy Valley and Broadchurch, as well as branching out into theatre, winning an Olivier Award for her performance in James Graham’s 2025 play Punch. In January last year, she played subpostmaster Alan Bates’s wife Suzanne Sercombe in ITV’s groundbreaking drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office.
Rob Beckett
Rob Beckett was cast as one of five comedians in the Traitors castle. With his cheeky chappy persona, the south-east London born star soon won over fans when he started out on the stand-up circuit in 2009, and went on to appear on panel shows Mock the Week, 8 out of 10 Cats and the latter’s Countdown spin-off. In 2017, he won the third series of Taskmaster.
Beckett has also dipped his toe into the world of reality television on more than a few occasions, hosting three seasons of ITV’s I’m a Celebrity spin-off show, providing the voiceover for Celebs Go Dating and taking part in Celebrity Bake Off.
Together with Strictly Come Dancing host Josh Widdicombe, he fronts the podcast Parenting Hell. And Beckett is also part of a hugely popular double act with another of this year’s Celebrity Traitors contestants…
Romesh Ranganathan
Former maths teacher Romesh Ranganathan began his comedy career while he was still working full-time in the classroom. After a brief flirtation with freestyle rap, Ranganathan found his footing on the comedy circuit and enjoyed a huge boost in popularity when he appeared on the BBC’s Live at the Apollo in 2013.
Since then, he’s appeared on the likes of Taskmaster, Would I Lie To You?, Have I Got News For You and QI. Ranganathan has also fronted quiz shows including Sky’s A League of Their Own and the BBC’s The Weakest Link revival. He’s channelled his love of music into a weekly Radio 2 show, For The Love of Hip-Hop, and took over the station’s Saturday lunchtime slot from Claudia Winkleman in April 2024.
Beckett and Ranganathan have landed a number of joint gigs, with the former’s chirpy attitude being balanced out by the latter’s often sarcastic and deadpan musings. The pair have a popular Sky series, Rob and Romesh Vs…, and co-hosted the TV Baftas in 2023 and 2024.
Jerry Hall
One of this year’s truly wildcard bookings, supermodel Jerry Hall is bringing old-school glamour to the castle.
Hall’s modelling career began in the 1970s, when she appeared as a mermaid on the cover of Roxy Music’s album Siren. She became synonymous with the glamour of the Seventies disco era, appearing on magazine covers for the likes of Vogue UK, Cosmopolitan and Interview, and often being photographed at Studio 54 with close friend Andy Warhol, who counted Hall as a muse, and then-boyfriend Mick Jagger.
Hall and the Rolling Stones frontman remained together until 1999, with the pair welcoming four children during that time. Throughout their relationship, Hall continued to expand her career and moved into acting, landing roles in Tim Burton’s Batman, TV series Cluedo and a Broadway production of The Graduate.
Hall married media mogul Rupert Murdoch in a low-key London ceremony in 2016. The couple remained together until 2022, when Hall filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.
Joe Lycett
Birmingham-based funnyman Joe Lycett’s comedy has become increasingly surrealist and absurd over the years – with a touch of Martin Lewis thrown in for good measure. He’s appeared on all of the major comedy and panel shows on British television (think Taskmaster, 8 out of 10 Cats, Last One Laughing UK) and fronted his own consumer rights show Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, Channel 4’s Travel Man and The Great British Sewing Bee.
In 2023, he began hosting his very own live variety show, Late Night Lycett. The star has also leaned in to comedic stunts in recent years, legally changing his name to Hugo Boss to draw attention to the fashion brand’s use of cease and desist letters against small businesses.
James Blunt
James Blunt made the unlikely journey from British Army captain to chart-topper when he released “You’re Beautiful” in 2005, three years after leaving the forces. The single went straight to the top of the UK charts, and boosted the popularity of his debut album Back to Bedlam, which had actually been released a year before. With the record top of the charts, Blunt also also released “Goodbye My Lover” as a single.
At the 2006 Brit Awards, he was named best british pop act and best british male solo act, and a follow-up album, All the Lost Souls, followed in 2007. He has since released five more albums, with another – titled Airplane Mode – coming out in November this year. When he’s not in the studio, Blunt is a keen user of X and has frequently gone viral thanks to self-deprecating, sarcastic and pithy comebacks.
Bella Ramsey
Bella Ramsey was just 11 years old when they began filming Game of Thrones. The child star played Lyanna Mormont, the young ruler who found herself at the head of her family following her mother’s death. After appearances in CBBC’s The Worst Witch, Phillip Pullman adaptation His Dark Materials and anthology series Time, Ramsey landed a leading role in HBO’s The Last Of Us.
Adapted from the hugely popular PlayStation game of the same name, The Last Of Us sees Ramsay’s Ellie attempting to survive alongside unlikely guardian Joel (Pedro Pascal). The show and its leading stars both received awards nods for the first two seasons, with Ramsey nominated for an Emmy, a Critics’ Choice award and a Golden Globe. Two series of The Last Of Us have so far aired, with a third set to arrive in 2027.
Richard E Grant
Legendary actor Richard E Grant has one of the most impressive CVs in the business. The Swazi-English actor made his debut as the titular character in 1987’s Withnail and I, and is also known for films including The Portrait of a Lady, Gosford Park, The Iron Lady, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Emerald Fennell’s controversial Saltburn. He received an Academy Award nomination for 2018’s Can You Forgive Me?, a biographical drama about American author Lee Israel.
On the small screen, his credits include Doctor Who, Frasier, A Series of Unfortunate Events and Game of Thrones. In 2022, he released a best-selling memoir, A Pocketful of Happiness, which chronicled his 40-year marriage to dialect coach Joan Washington, and her death from cancer in 2021.
Leigh-Anne Pinnock
Singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock rocketed to fame as one fourth of Little Mix, the first group to ever win The X Factor. Pinnock triumphed with bandmates Jade Thirlwall, Perrie Edwards and Jesy Nelson in 2011 and Little Mix went on to become the UK’s most successful girlband since the Spice Girls, with hit singles including “D.N.A”, “Shout out to my Ex”, “Black Magic” and “Power”.
Nelson departed the group in 2020 and Little Mix continued as a trio until 2022, when they announced an indefinite hiatus. Pinnock has since pursued a solo career and initially signed with Warner Records, before leaving after the label decided against releasing her debut album. Pinnock then moved to Virgin and My Ego Told Me To came out in February this year. The singer and her husband Andre Gray are parents to twin daughters, and announced in May this year that a third child is on the way.
James Acaster
James Acaster has said he’s worried previous winner Alan Carr’s success in the Traitors castle has “tainted” this year’s comedians. “I think we’re going to be the first ones under the magnifying glass being looked at – particularly at the beginning when you have absolutely nothing to go on,” he told the BBC.
The comedian is another of this year’s recruits who cut their teeth in stand-up, and has taken multiple shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with Repertoire also being released on Netflix. He hosts the popular foodie podcast Off Menu with Traitors Uncloaked host Ed Gamble and has written two books about music, James Acaster’s Classic Scrapes and Perfect Sound Whatever.
Miranda Hart
Actor, comedian and writer Miranda Hart is best-known for her self-titled BBC sitcom, which landed multiple TV Bafta nominations and British Comedy Award wins across its three seasons. She also appeared as midwife Camilla “Chummy” Fortescue-Cholmondeley-Browne in Call the Midwife and made her Hollywood debut opposite Mellisa McCarthy in the action comedy Spy.
She’s release numerous books, including 2012’s Is it Just Me?, which merged anecdotes from her life with advice, and The Girl With The Lost Smile. In 2024, she released the memoir I Haven’t Been Entirely Honest with You, revealing on the book’s promotional tour that she had secretly married at the age of 51. The book also recounted how she’d been experiencing a decades-long struggle with Lyme disease, which turned into ME (Myalgic encephalomyelitis), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome.
Amol Rajan
Broadcaster Amol Rajan got his start in journalism at this very publication in 2007, and moved up the ranks before serving as editor between 2013 and 2016. After leaving, he became the BBC’s first media editor, before joining the Today programme’s presenting team in 2021 – a role he recently left.
On the small screen, Rajan has hosted University Challenge since 2023, and appeared on the likes of The One Show, Have I Got News For You and House of Games.
Joanne McNally
Completing the series’ quintet of comedians, it’s Irish star Joanne McNally.
After years on the comedy circuit, McNally took her her dark one-woman show Bite Me, about her bulimia, to Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017. She hit the road with her Prosecco Express show in 2022 and the tour was extended multiple times. By the time it was done and dusted, McNally had performed a record-breaking 78 sold-out shows at Dublin’s Vicar Street venue, while her crowd at the London Palladium broke the 118-year old venue’s record for most alcohol sold.
McNally followed it up with the Pinotphile tour, which began in 2025, squeezing in appearances on Taskmaster and Channel 4’s The Big Fat Quiz of Everything in between. She co-hosts the popular My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast with close pal Vogue Williams.
Sharon Rooney
Scottish actor Sharon Rooney landed her breakthrough role in Channel 4’s acclaimed comedy My Mad Fat Diary back in 2013. Subsequent television roles have included parts in Sherlock, The Capture and Finding Alice, as well as appearing as series regular Sophie in Two Doors Down.
On the big screen, Rooney popped up in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie film, as a lawyer version of the famous doll, and played Miss Atlantic in Disney’s live-action remake of Dumbo, performing the track “Baby Mine”.
King Kenny
While he’s not technically a comedian, social media star King Kenny loves to bring the laughs with pranks and stunts. Kenny, full name Kenny Oghenovo Ojuederie, is a former boxer who primarily fought other influencers, before quitting the sport earlier this year due to injury.
He’s built a huge audience on TikTok and YouTube, with almost three million followers across the two platforms. Kenny’s most popular videos include pranks – often involving his younger brother – and gaming-related videos. He was previously part of the Beta Squad collective with fellow pranksters including Niko Omilana, who appeared in the first series of Celebrity Traitors but went out early.
Professor Hannah Fry
Broadcaster and mathematician Professor Hannah Fry has been making television and radio appearances for more than 10 years. Some of her most notable cameos include the BBC Two series The Secret Genius Of Modern Life, the post-pandemic documentary Unvaccinated and number-crunching for Channel 4 during their general election coverage in 2024.
Fry also hosts The Rest Science podcast alongside Michael Stevens and has a huge following online, with more than 100 million views on her YouTube channel.
Sebastian Croft
Actor and musician Sebastian Croft is another Traitors star who has had a brush with Westeros – as a child star, he played a young Ned Stark in two episodes of Game of Thrones. Croft’s more recent credits include Netflix’s Heartstopper and Amazon Video romcom How to Date Billy Walsh.
On the music front, Croft has independently released two singles, “Toyko” and “Better than ever”. The star identifies as queer and in 2022, he designed a t-shirt featuring “two gay dinosaurs kissing, reminding everyone that Queer has always been here”, with profits from sales going to two charities that support LGBT+ refugees.
Myha’la
American actor Myha’la Herrold, known just by her first name, is best known for playing chaotic antihero Harper Stern in Industry.
Born and raised in California, the star began her acting career with a string of theatre roles, including parts in Shrek the Musical and a touring production of Book of Mormon. Myha’la has also appeared in the Loch Henry episode in series six of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, the New York Times-inspired series Modern Love, and films Dumb Money and Leave the World Behind.
