Richard Osman accidentally revealed that the second season of BBC reality game show "Celebrity Traitors" will begin on September 23, while hosting a live podcast at London's Southbank Centre with journalist Marina Hyde and special guest Joe Marler. Marler and Osman discussed the upcoming series, which sounds like it was more intense than the first season. The new series will feature 21 celebrities competing for up to £100,000 in prize money, including Michael Sheen, Maja Jama, and James Blunt. The first season of "Celebrity Traitors" drew a peak audience of 15.4 million viewers and an average audience of 14.9 million people during its run last autumn.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-06,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Richard Osman, co-host of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast and former TV presenter, accidentally revealed on his show that the new series of BBC reality gameshow Celebrity Traitors will begin on September 23. During a live episode at London's Southbank Centre, Osman confirmed that he had been asked to keep the launch date under wraps, saying "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?" The new series is expected to be more intense than the first one, according to Osman. Former Celebrity Traitors finalist Joe Marler joined the podcast and shared his thoughts on the upcoming series, saying that he believes it will have a different tone from the first season, which was more focused on socializing and having fun.
Written for “Celebrity Traitors Series Two Launch” on 2026-09-07,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 4962 · logged 2026-09-06
During a live edition of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, which he hosts with journalist Marina Hyde, at London’s Southbank Centre on Saturday, the 55-year-old said the new series of the BBC reality gameshow would begin on September 23.
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series → host → September
The pair were joined by special guest, former Celebrity Traitors finalist Joe Marler, who when speaking about the advice he would give new contestants, said: “What is it September 23 the next series?”
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it → join → contestants
To which Osman confirmed: “By the way to point out, it’s absolutely embargoed that it starts on September 23…
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it → confirm → September
let’s talk about what we call the events of September 23 this year, the cat’s out of the bag isn’t it?
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it → let → bag
Osman also said that from what he had heard from those involved, the new series “sounds like it was quite intense”.
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it → say → those
Marler added: “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’.
“
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we → add → game
It’s not just for the laughs, ‘oh do you remember going to that party darling?’…
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you → ’ → party
“Whereas this lot really want it from the start, and then I guess they see how well the first series has gone
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series → want → start
there’s a little bit of pressure on them to be like, ‘oh I’d quite like a bit of that’.”
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I → ’ → that
Marler went on to reveal that Osman had helped him get a place in the first series of The Celebrity Traitors.
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him → go → Traitors
Speaking about when he went to meet the show’s booker, the former England rugby player said: “I turned up – ‘Hi, how are you doing? Nice to meet you’, and things.
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you → speak → you
“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’.”
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you → go → guy
The Celebrity Traitors will return to screens with a new batch of 21 celebrities who will face one another for the chance to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.
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who → return → 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, who kill off players in the middle of the night.
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who → Set → night
Stars taking part in the new series include Welsh actor Michael Sheen, Love Island presenter Maja Jama, The Last Of Us star Bella Ramsey, singer James Blunt, and former Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
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Stars → take → Us
The first series of The Celebrity Traitors aired on the BBC last autumn, with its nail-biting finale hitting a peak of 15.4 million viewers, according to the broadcaster.
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finale → air → broadcaster
It featured a star-studded cast including actors Celia Imrie and Nick Mohammed, singer Paloma Faith, author and actor Sir Stephen Fry, broadcaster Jonathan Ross and comedian Alan Carr, who went on to win as a Traitor.
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who → feature → Traitor
The spin-off series brought in an average audience of 14.9 million people during its run – the biggest TV audience of 2025.
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series → bring → 2025
The BBC has been contacted for comment.
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BBC → contact → comment
