The Traitors finale shake-up as bosses add special twist and celebrity guests

24 January 2024 , 07:23

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The Traitors finale shake-up as bosses add special twist and celebrity guests

BBC bosses have pulled out all the stops to ensure Friday's finale of The Traitors is a showstopper.

The conclusion of the second series of the murder mystery will see not only all 'murdered' and banished contestants invited back, but major stars like Sophie Ellis Bextor and Stacey Dooley will also be making an appearance.

The Traitors and its iconic host Claudia Winkleman return to our screens once again this evening, with the first of the final three episodes airing at 9pm before we find out if it's the Faithfuls or the Traitors that take home the huge cash prize at the end of this week.

And it's good news for fans of the nation's favourite reality TV show, with a whopping 110 minutes of The Traitors content planned to air across BBC One and BBC Two to mark the end of the series on Friday night.

It's almost time to bid farewell to Claudia Winkleman and her iconic fringe... (BBC/Studio Lambert/Mark Mainz)

The final episode of the series on BBC One will give the remaining Faithfuls and Traitors one last chance to figure each other out to win the prize pot. Following this, spin-off show Uncloaked on BBC Two will see host Ed Gamble bring together the 22 players for the first time since they were either killed off or banished from the game.

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Speaking to The Sun, a TV insider said: "So far, Uncloaked has featured celebrity guests like Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Stacey Dooley, but bosses know the cast themselves are the big draw so are amping it up as a huge reunion special for Friday night. It means fans can sit down to a whopping 110 minutes of Traitors action – 70 for the main show and 40 for the spin-off."

Uncloaked, the official Traitors visualised podcast hosted by Ed Gamble, has been a huge hit for the BBC over recent weeks - evening pulling in more viewers than Love Island: All Stars over on ITV2 last week! When both The Traitors and Love Island went head-to-head for the first time at 9pm on Wednesday, The Traitors was the clear winner, attracting millions more viewers than its dating show rival.

Over four million people tuned in to watch national treasure Diane's iconic funeral on The Traitors. In contrast, only 800,000 viewers caught up with the latest from the Love Island villa in South Africa on ITV2. To add insult to injury for Love Island bosses, The Traitors: Uncloaked achieved record ratings. Almost one million people watched it on BBC Two at 10pm, beating Love Island All Stars by nearly 200,000 viewers.

Fans of both shows have been sharing their thoughts on social media. One fan tweeted: "I love that a half an hour side show's visual podcast is beating Love Island." Another agreed, saying: "What a time to be alive! More watching podcast about this than Love Island."

Zoe Delaney