Considering the Traitors is a game of murderous treachery played out in a castle, the Shakespearian actors in the cast of the new celebrity spin-off series should be well set.

Oscar-winner Richard E Grant, acclaimed actor Michael Sheen and The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey are among the thespians vying for victory this year, all of who have the Bard on their CV.

They are joined by Industry star Myha’la, comedian Miranda Hart and Love Island host Maya Jama.

Actress, model and ex-wife of Rupert Murdoch, Jerry Hall, former Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock and singer-songwriter James Blunt will also be competing.

The hit BBC reality game show, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, will see 21 stars head to the Scottish castle in the Highlands for the chance to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.

The game follows the celebrity contestants as they try to seek out the murderous traitors among them, who kill off players in the middle of the night.

The first series of The Celebrity Traitors had the nation on the edge of its seat. The comedian Alan Carr, an unlikely pick for the high-stakes role as traitor, managed to outwit Stephen Fry, Celia Imrie and Nick Mohammed to win the game.

The series saw massive viewership, with the finale hitting a peak of 15.4 million viewers, according to the broadcaster. The series brought in an average audience of 14.9 million people during its run – the biggest TV audience of 2025.

The show was also a hit among young viewers, who broadcasters have bemoaned for shunning traditional TV. The overnight ratings for first series of The Celebrity Traitors – which measured the number of people watching live or later that evening on iPlayer revealed that more than half of the people aged between 16 and 24 that viewed the show within that time slot watched every episode of The Celebrity Traitors as it was broadcast.

A number of comedians will also join the second series of the spin-off show including James Acaster, Joe Lycett and Romesh Ranganathan – as well as Rob Beckett and Joanne McNally.

Others joining the line-up include Coronation street star Julie Hesmondhalgh, broadcaster Amol Rajan, and Scottish actress Sharon Rooney.

Broadcaster and mathematician Prof Hannah Fry completes the line-up alongside content creator King Kenny and actor Sebastian Croft.

After the success of The Traitors, Winkleman fronted her own Friday night chatshow, The Claudia Winkleman Show, which was a reasonable, if slightly tepid, effort. Her debut on 13 March drew in 1.5m viewers, slightly more than the last show of the 33rd series of The Graham Norton Show. Catch-up viewing added another 700,000.

The show has dominated UK screens since debuting in 2022. There is a two-hour immersive experience, a board game, a card game and the opportunity to buy branded full-length hooded cloaks.

The treacherous game is also set to be adapted for the stage in what producers said would be a “bold and surprising” theatrical experience to open in London in 2027.

The stage production will involve Studio Lambert, the production company behind the TV series, and Neal Street Productions, a company co-founded by Sam Mendes.