As series 4 of The Traitors reaches its tight end, speculation is rife over who will take part in the second season of the celebrity edition.
Last year, Claudia Winkleman’s twisted game of lies and deception aired its first showbiz version, featuring some major names.
Clare Balding, Tom Daley, Kate Garraway, Paloma Faith, and Sir Stephen Fry were among the Faithful players hoping to win a share of the prize pot for their chosen charity.
However, the Traitors certainly didn’t make it easy, with Jonathan Ross, Cat Burns, and Alan Carr donning the iconic green cloaks and murdering their fellow stars in the dead of night, one by one.
In the end, the winning moment made for truly historic television, with Chatty Man’s Alan fooling his competitors right to the end, as the unlikely (often chaotic) Traitor stole the win and bagged a mega £87,500 sum.
So, as we turn our attention to series 2, which has already been green-lit after series 1’s storming success, who do you want to see in the castle?
The rumoured lineup is already looking promising, with one This Morning star said to be in ‘advanced talks’ to sign on the dotted line…
Alison Hammond
Beloved broadcaster Alison Hammond is reportedly on the BBC’s ‘hit list’.
In fact, they’re hoping she could take the baton from Alan and continue providing us with iconic moments, which certainly isn’t impossible given Alison’s already colourful history with memes and viral videos.
A source added to The Sun that Alison herself is ‘keen’ to get involved.
‘The Beeb think she could be comedy gold, just like Alan Carr. Alison is naturally very funny, and they think she could end up being hugely successful,’ they said.
However, understandably, celebs are lining up in droves to play the game, with the insider teasing that ‘the pot of talent wanting to take part is overflowing’, meaning execs ‘have a lot to weigh up’ if they want to make the best telly.
‘The first series of The Celebrity Traitors was dynamite, so the second series needs to have the same weight.
‘Contracts won’t be signed until closer to the start of production, but the BBC are already keen to get Alison on board.’
Danny Dyer
Also throwing his hat in the ring is EastEnders star Danny Dyer – we can totally see him ripping into people at the roundtable and taking no prisoners.
It’s believed the BBC eyed up Danny for series 1, only for him to snub them.
But after watching chat show Traitor Jonathan in action in the Scottish Highlands, he’s admittedly had a change of heart.
Speaking on his Live And Let Dyers podcast with daughter Dani Dyer, he declared: ‘I’m into it.’
‘They did sniff round me about it,’ Danny revealed. ‘It was a no from me because, for one, I hadn’t seen it, but now I’m into it.
‘If you’re going to do it, if you’re famous, it needs to be an indulgence project — you have to love the game.
‘It’s quite a simple game. I thought it was too complicated, but it’s actually just about people manipulating each other and a lot of lying.’
The soap actor said he was ‘enjoying’ the first celebrity series, predicting that it’s actually harder to be a Faithful as players risk ‘overacting’ and it ‘backfiring’.
Does that mean he would make a good Traitor? Something tells us Danny would have no qualms about taking on that role.
Ruth Jones
While we’d give anything for Nessa herself to play The Traitors, we’ll accept that having actress Ruth Jones is the next best thing.
The Gavin and Stacey favourite has reportedly already been approached by bosses, who are eager to make the series 2 cast as ‘impressive’ as it can be.
‘Ruth would be an incredible addition to the cast if she can fit it into her schedule,’ added the insider.
However, the Welsh star is said to have one condition before she agrees to anything.
‘Ruth would only consider taking part on the proviso she would be a Faithful.’
The Bafta winner has got plenty to keep her busy in the meantime, though, as it was recently revealed that she and Smithy actor James Corden have signed a big-money deal with AppleTV.
So, if she can find time to squeeze some cloak-and-dagger activity into her packed itinerary in the next year or so, we’d be majorly thankful.
Daisy May Cooper
If anyone is guaranteed to bring the laughs, it would be Daisy May Cooper.
It’s said that the This Country actress was due to take part in series 1; however, after the birth of her son, Benji, she dropped out to avoid being away from home.
Could it be second time lucky for casting execs?
‘Daisy is telly gold. She’s hilarious and would be perfect,’ teased a source.
‘Show bosses are pulling out all the stops to make this happen.’
Tom Hiddleston
How these things tend to work is that show bosses will communicate with a celebrity’s team and basically entice them with various promises and fees, right?
Well, that hasn’t been the case with The Celebrity Traitors, as the A-listers themselves are begging to take part.
Enter Tom Hiddleston, who even sent a come-and-get-me plea to the BBC as he declared himself a ‘massive, massive fan’ of both The Traitors and Strictly Come Dancing.
Following his revelation on the campaign trail for the new series of The Night Manager, the rumour mill began twirling.
Saying he would ‘absolutely’ love to take part, insiders reckon a Celeb Traitors stint – which films for one month – is more likely than four months of Strictly training.
‘What an absolute gift to his BBC bosses to hear their leading man is up for both,’ they said.
The Traitors airs on BBC and BBC iPlayer.
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