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The second season of Celebrity Traitors is almost upon us, with a huge prize pot up for grabs.
The star-studded cast, which includes Michael Sheen, Richard E Grant, Maya Jama, Ross Kemp and Bella Ramsey, will all be paid for their participation – and according to reports, the celebrities are paid a flat fee of £40,000 for appearing in the series.
On The Rest Is Entertainment podcast in July 2025, host Marina Hyde said: “Look at the calibre of the people they got. They were able to pay everybody a blanket 40k fee, right? They’re paying them a 40k fee.”
However, rugby player Joe Marler said this varies from star to star as he was paid £30,000 to appear on last year’s series.
The BBC declined to comment on the fee when asked by The Independent.
As for the prize money, the celebrities will be competing for up to £100,000, with the exact figure depending on how well the celebrities perform in each challenge.
Unlike the regular version, where the contestants keep the jackpot, the celebrities will give their prize winnings to a charity of their choice.
In the civilian version of the game of deception, a slightly higher total prize of £120,000 can be won by the contestants.
Much like the civilian version, Claudia Winkleman is also the host of the celebrity series, which will start on BBC One next week.
Also appearing on the series this year are comedians Joe Lycett, Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Miranda Hart, Joanne McNally and James Acaster, who is convinced that last year’s winner Alan Carr has ruined comedians’ chances of reigning supreme.
“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 before filming the series earlier this year, calling it a real “concern”.
Elsewhere, the series will have a contestant unlike any before, with mathematician Professor Hannah Fry bringing her statistical expertise to the game in a bid to sniff out the suspicious contestants.
The full list of celebrities taking part in the series can be found here.
Claudia Winkleman will be back to host the smash-hit show’s second season on 1 October at 8pm.
