The Traitors season two: 100 per cent, this is everything we need to see when hit show returns
Claudia Winkleman will reportedly return for The Traitors season 2. (BBC)
The BBC has reportedly decided that The Traitors season two is “a no brainer”, so here’s our list of demands for the follow-up. And yes, Aaron’s trousers are on the list.
The first season of the BBC show saw 22 contestants try to figure out who were the titular Traitors among them.
Selected by host Claudia Winkleman, it was the Traitors goal to kill off the Faithful one-by-one without being detected. If at least one Traitor made it to the end, they would win the entire prize pot.
The show was a huge success, and season two is reportedly now in the works.
A source told The Mirror: “These days almost every new series is a reboot of something that’s gone before, so it’s really nice to try something fresh – and for it to do well. The Traitors got everyone talking, so bringing it back was a no-brainer. Claudia was perfect.”
We don’t yet know when The Traitors season two will air – but when it does, this is what we want to see.
No format changes in The Traitors season two
The first season worked because its concept was complicated enough to make it interesting, and simple enough to allow the cast to breathe without being bogged down by rules and regulations.
The twists came naturally – secret relationships, players turning on each other, and the earth-shattering news Maddy was an actor who’d played a homeless woman on EastEnders.
The return of two eliminated contestants threw a nice spanner in the works, and changes to the elimination format (the golden shield that gave protection from murder, the Traitors getting to recruit) were enough to heighten the stakes without it feeling forced.
We don’t need any gratuitous twists in season two – keep it simple, please, BBC.
Another cast of ‘normal’ people
Another reason that the first season worked so well was its varied and incredibly normal cast, which felt like a direct (and much-needed) response to the Love Island-ification of casting processes around the country.
The BBC struck gold when they chose not to include any influencers (wannabe or otherwise), instead opting for an ensemble from a range of backgrounds and occupations.
Maddy was an actress from Essex who famously played a woman with no womb on Casualty, John was a spa therapist (not a masseuse) from Edinburgh, Andrea was a retired lesbian who prompted important conversations about representation for elder LGBTQ+ people, and Theo was a cheerleading coach who cried at the drop of a cloak.
For season two, we implore the casting department to bear in mind that people don’t want to see 10/10s in bikinis prancing about a villa in Mallorca. We want to see more clueless school teachers (we love you Fay) get outsmarted by particularly devious business students (Alyssa, you were gone too soon.)
That said – the 23rd cast member of the first season of The Traitors was Aaron’s trousers, and we were so very happy to see them along for the ride. More of the same, please.
Even more round-table shenanigans
Everyone remembers Maddy’s “Faithful, faithful, traitor,” rant, the entire cast voting Ivan off because Tom “reads people for a living,” and Kieran triple-crossing Wilf in the final with the line: “A parting gift.”
And of course, who could forget where they were when Wilf threw the second coming of Princess Diana (Amanda) under the bus to save his own skin.
But the best part of each episode was watching contestants fling increasingly wild theories at one another, and almost never being correct, with the exception of Maddy who was always somehow so wrong she was right. Queen.
Season two should lean even further into the roundtable drama. We want to see the reactions of each eliminated faithful when they find out who the traitors are – Maddy must have been fuming – as well as a full cast reunion at the end of the season.
Claudia Winkleman back
Alan Cumming took over as the host of The Traitors US – and while he was great, in case BBC bosses are getting any ideas, Claudia Winkleman has to remain as the host of the UK version.
One of the best parts of the first season was host Winkleman’s investment in the success of the cast and the presence of her legendary fringe.
During many of the challenges required to build up the prize fund, you genuinely felt as though Winkleman wanted the cast to do their absolute best, and that is something that would sell us on season two alone.
Aside from that, her outfits – that increasingly large knitwear – were often as hilarious as her one liners and raccoon-eye makeup.
A victory for the Traitors in season two
Controversial, this one, but we had a lovely time watching Aaron, Hannah and Meryl give Wilf the chop just moments away from him getting his grubby mitts on the entire cash prize.
The faithfuls followed Claudia into the sunset, flushed with their equally shared prize pot. In The Traitors season two? We want the Traitors to win. It’s not called The Faithfuls, is it?
Our allegiance switched from Traitors to Faithfuls as soon as Amanda left the show, and Wilf’s treachery did him no favours with the fan base. Up until that point, though, we would have been quite happy to have seen mama dragon, Amanda, snatch up the entire prize fund.
Think of the memes. Think of the scenes. Think of Claudia Winkleman’s fringe in shock if the Traitors actually win.
No filming or air date for season two of The Traitors has yet been announced.
