Record Ratings for The Celebrity Traitors Season Two, but Many Viewers Say the Drama Has Fallen Short

The second season of The Celebrity Traitors has pulled in bigger audiences than any version of the show before it, yet a good share of viewers on social media have described it as dull. The series wraps up on Friday, and the gap between its ratings and its reception has become a talking point in its own right.

The BBC says the season's first episode was watched by 15.7 million viewers within seven days, while the second drew 15.2 million. That makes the premiere the most-watched program in the U.K. so far in 2026 and the biggest launch episode of any scripted or unscripted series in the market since 2022. Season two is now the most popular installment across all celebrity and civilian versions of the format. By comparison, the first season's finale averaged 11.1 million live viewers, the largest live audience for a single series in 2025.

The format is unchanged. Twenty-one famous faces return to Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, where three Traitors secretly work to deceive and murder the Faithful. Challenges build a prize pot for charity, and daily roundtables let the group banish anyone they suspect. The cast includes Bella Ramsey, Michael Sheen, Richard E. Grant and Myha'la, alongside comedians such as Joe Lycett, Romesh Ranganathan, Rob Beckett and James Acaster, with King Kenny, Maya Jama and Sebastian Croft aimed at younger viewers.

British TV critic and author Scott Bryan told The Hollywood Reporter that the show remains the best reality series on television but has not matched its first year. He pointed to the lack of a "Big Dog" character in the turret, a reference to a theory from first-season contestant Joe Marler that producers want a high-profile name among the Traitors. Grant appeared to be that choice, but he announced he was a Traitor in the second episode and was banished at the first roundtable, the only Traitor caught that early in the U.K. franchise's history.

That left Jama with a recruit who made clear from the start that being a Traitor made him anxious. Bryan said Jama, Acaster and Kenny are entertaining in their own ways, but their more relaxed personalities have not produced the drama and humor seen from Jonathan Ross and Alan Carr last year. Kenny joined only after the Faithful quickly voted out the second recruit, mathematician Hannah Fry.

Acaster has been the focus of much of the criticism. He has been unwilling to lie, has said he is "basically playing the game as a Faithful," and last week left Jama and Kenny struggling in a challenge that required the Traitors to sneak around blindfolded Faithful. He declined to take part, saying he was seated between Sheen and Croft, two of the more observant players.

Sam Ramsden, who runs the fan account The Traitors HQ with more than 120,000 followers, said the first series was "practically perfect television" and so hard to match. He argued that, with the exception of Kenny, the Traitors had recruited the wrong people, since reluctant villains make for weaker viewing.

The article also suggests early banishments can lull the Faithful into a false sense of security, leaving them hunting only for obvious evidence while the best Traitors stay under the radar. Last week, all three Traitors were chosen as most trustworthy in a scarecrow-themed challenge and won a dagger, which they gave to Kenny for a double vote. A fan theory holds that producers had planned a Power of the Pardon instead and swapped in the dagger, though that remains unconfirmed.

Some viewers have also found the roundtables less tense, noting that comedian Joanne McNally and Barbie star Sharon Rooney essentially told each other "I'm a Faithful, but you do you" at Friday's session. Season one contestant Nick Mohammed has assured audiences that two big final episodes remain. Ramsden offered a measured view: even Big Brother had stronger and weaker seasons, and perhaps The Celebrity Traitors is no different.