Richard Osman accidentally revealed the Celebrity Traitors series two launch date at a live event in London. The 55-year-old said the new series of the BBC reality gameshow would begin on September 23.
Live podcast slip-up
The potential reveal came during a live edition of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast at London's Southbank Centre on Saturday (September 6). Osman and his co-host Marina Hyde were interviewing season one contestant Joe Marler when the former rugby player asked: "What is it September 23 the next series?"
Richard confirmed: "By the way to point out, it's absolutely embargoed that it starts on September 23… Let's talk about what we call the events of September 23 this year, the cat's out of the bag isn't it? Not to repeat it."
What to expect from the new series
Richard went on to tease that from what he had heard from those involved, the new series 'sounds like it was quite intense'. Joe noted: "I believe it was a slightly different emotion than our experience, ours was very laugh-led, and everyone was sort of enjoying catching up, you know, pratting about to the point where they went, 'guys we're trying to play a game'.
"It's not just for the laughs, 'oh do you remember going to that party darling?'… Whereas this lot really want it from the start, and then I guess they see how well the first series has gone and there's a little bit of pressure on them to be like, 'oh I'd quite like a bit of that'."
Series one success and new contestants
Series One of The Celebrity Traitors debuted on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in October last year, drawing in an average audience of 14.9m viewers across its run, with 15.4m tuning in to watch the finale. It was hailed as the top entertainment episode across the whole market since 2016.
The new series will feature 21 celebrities competing for a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice. Set in a Scottish castle in the Highlands, the game follows the celebrity contestants, the majority of whom are known as faithfuls, as they try to seek out the murderous traitors among them.
Stars taking part include Welsh actor Michael Sheen, Love Island presenter Maya Jama, The Last Of Us star Bella Ramsey, singer James Blunt, former Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Richard E Grant, comedian Romesh Ranganathan, EastEnders' Ross Kemp, Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh, Scottish actress Sharon Rooney, Industry actress Myha'la Herrold, comedians James Acaster, Joe Lycett and Joanne McNally, American supermodel Jerry Hall, broadcaster and mathematician Professor Hannah Fry, presenter Amol Rajan, content creator King Kenny and actor Sebastian Croft.
Joe also revealed that Richard had helped him get a place in the first series of The Celebrity Traitors. "I turned up – 'Hi, how are you doing? Nice to meet you', and things. And this lady, she went, 'Look, I'll be straight up, I have no idea who you are, I don't know a lot about rugby, I've not really heard of you, a good friend of mine, Richard Osman, has put me in touch and said you should have a look at this guy'," Joe shared.
