Richard Osman has apparently let slip that The Celebrity Traitors will return to the BBC this month.
Speaking on-stage during a live episode of The Rest Is Entertainment podcast in London, Osman told the audience that The Celebrity Traitors will premiere on September 23.
Osman and co-host Marina Hyde were interviewing special guest Joe Marler, the former England rugby player who has become a fixture on UK television since appearing in Season 1 of The Celebrity Traitors.
Per a Press Association report, Marler was asked what advice he would give contestants when he speculated on Season 2’s premiere date: “What is it, September 23, the next series?”
Osman chimed in: “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.”
A BBC insider joked that they did not realize Marler was “moonlighting in the BBC One scheduling team,” but declined to confirm that September 23 was the premiere date.
During the conversation at London’s Southbank Centre on Saturday, Osman said he had heard from Season 2 celebrities that it “was quite intense” to film.
Deadline has also heard chatter about Season 2, with one well-placed source describing it as a “nightmare” that was tricky for producers Studio Lambert.
Marler shed a little more light. He told Osman and Hyde: “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 [the producers] went: ‘Guys, we’re trying to play a game.’
He continued: “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.’”
Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival last month, BBC content chief Kate Phillips revealed that there will be tears and surprises in the new season, hosted by Claudia Winkleman.
The show will feature an eye-catching cast including The Last of Us star Bella Ramsey, Good Omens actor Michael Sheen, and Oscar-nominated Richard E. Grant. Others include Industry star Myha’la, Barbie actress Sharon Rooney, Love Island host Maya Jama, Broadchurch’s Julie Hesmondhalgh, and Jerry Hall, the model and actress who was married to Mick Jagger.
Season 1 of The Celebrity Traitors was the most-watched show on British TV last year. It debuted on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in October 2025 and was seen by an average audience of 14.9M, with a peak of 15.4M for the finale. Comedian Alan Carr emerged victorious in a game that featured Stephen Fry and Celia Imrie.
The Celebrity Traitors is produced by Studio Lambert Scotland for BBC One and iPlayer and has been commissioned by Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment Commissioning for the BBC.
The executive producers for All3Media-backed Studio Lambert are Mike Cotton, Sarah Fay, Lewis Thurlow and Katy Fox, with production executives, Lynette Woods-Reynolds, Gemma Scholes and Faye Donaldson. The commissioning editors for the BBC are Neil McCallum and Michael Jochnowitz.
The Traitors (Dutch title: De Verraders) was created and developed by IDTV in cooperation with RTL Creative Unit. All3Media International is global partner for The Traitors and handles format and tape sales worldwide.
