Netflix 'plans to steal BBC thunder with new celeb show to rival The Traitors'
Netflix is reportedly creating a new star studded game show to steal the thunder of the BBC with their celebrity spin-off of The Traitors.
The BBC show, hosted by 52-year-old Claudia Winkleman, has been a runaway success for the Beeb - with over six million viewers tuning in to watch episodes of the second season. The show already has an American version which is hosted by British actor Alan Cumming, 59, and stars celebrities - with the likes of Real Housewives star Brandi Glanville, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte and even former Speaker of the House John Bercrow taking part.
Earlier this week, it was announced that the BBC is planning a celebrity version of The Traitors to air in the UK - but now fresh reports are suggesting Netflix plan to broadcast a celeb show with a similar format first. It is reported that the streamer aims to throw together British and American reality stars to compete to win £1 million.
A source told The Sun: “Netflix are working with a British production company for their version of The Traitors for celebrities. They are casting British and American reality TV stars, with a £1million prize.
Alan Cumming hosts the US version of The Traitors - that has celebrity contestants (BBC/Studio Lambert & All3Media International)“They’ll go to a really exotic location overseas. Netflix always puts on big budget, slick shows and they think this could be a huge ratings winner. It’ll no doubt annoy the BBC, with their celeb version not yet off the ground.”
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The Traitors films in Arduous, a castle in the Scottish Highlands - and the American version of the show films there too. Earlier this week, one of the producers of the show hinted a celebrity version would be filmed for the BBC.
The producer told Global’s The News Agents podcasts he said: “I think it would be pretty entertaining. We talk to the BBC about the future of all our shows and that’s obviously a possibility.
“So, it was really a decision that we made with the BBC to make the first British version without celebrities. Certainly, in America, it’s such a crowded marketplace and we’re on a streaming platform called Peacock, which is owned by NBC.
“They believed that celebrities or people that had achieved fame as a result of being in big, unscripted reality shows in America would help with press, it would help draw attention and it would get an audience to come and it seems to be working. In Britain, the decision was, maybe we’ll think about celebrities at some stage."
Netflix already has a reality show that TV fans have compared to The Traitors. The Trust: A Game Of Greed sees 11 contestants given the chance to share $250,000 (£197,000) - or vote fellow contestants off in order to increase the cut of the jackpot each finalist will win at the end of the show. The entire first season is available via the streaming service now.
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