It feels like Celebrity Traitors has just wrapped, but we’re already looking at the new cast of BBC’s The Traitors season 4, launching today.
The Traitors is the gift that keeps on giving, with each season outdoing the last in terms of viewing figures.
Of course, this success is partly down to Claudia Winkleman’s impeccable hosting skills (and wardrobe), but the show would be nothing without the wonderful array of cast members that enter the castle year on year.
The line-up has now been announced, so we can start to get to know the 22 individuals who will be killing and banishing for the chance to win up to £120,000.
Tonight there’ll be treachery, turrets and hopefully a few tantrums – let’s meet the people heading inside the Scottish castle.
Who is in the cast of The Traitors season 4?
Amanda
Amanda, 57, is a retired police detective from Brighton.
Join Metro's The Traitors community on WhatsApp
Want to get all the latest news and predictions for the best and most dramatic show this new year? Join our The Traitors WhatsApp channel for live episode coverage, behind-the-scenes gossip and a place to recover from all the cliffhangers.
Simply click on this link, select ‘Join Chat’ and you’re in! Don't forget to turn on notifications!
Having interviewed lots of criminals and victims, Amanda says she has had to ‘put the pieces together to find the truth and see through the lies’ – a skill that could come in very handy up in Scotland.
Since retiring from the day job, she’s become a volunteer looking after vulnerable people and taking them out when they might not be able to manage by themselves.
Amanda admits there’s two sides to her… She’s learnt a lot about being cunning, but says she’s a good person. Which side will shine through on The Traitors?
Reece
Reece, 27, is a sweet shop assistant from Sheffield.
This naturally competitive Yorkshire man says his boss recently told him he had tunnel vision as he’ll always find a way to reach the end goal.
He’s ‘not shy at being cutthroat’ and admits he’s a ‘sucker for finding little ways on how I can cheat at the game.’
Maybe not as sweet as he looks…
Stephen
Stephen, 32, is a cyber security consultant from London.
Having watched every franchise of The Traitors, he’s become a bit of an armchair expert. And recently, he’s been putting his forensic skills to good use to examine how past players have fared in the game.
Watch out though: ‘I do have a good poker face, I think,’ Stephen said.
‘My lip doesn’t quiver; I don’t give much away.’
Roxy
Roxy, 32, is a recruiter from Amsterdam.
A self-professed empath, Roxy hopes to bring some unity to the group.
She says she had a rocky start to life and had to adapt to different situations and people, while figuring out who to trust. She hopes the skills she developed will help her on the show.
Sam
Sam, 34, is an account manager from North Yorkshire.
He admits he applied ‘on a whim, and then suddenly we’re here’.
Sam studied languages at university and loves meeting people from different backgrounds, but he’s ready to question what they’re saying: ‘Even their backstory could be a lie, so I’m constantly aware.’
Hugo
Hugo, 51, is a barrister from London, born in Cardiff.
He admits part of the reason he loves the game is that in his day job he never gets to see the juries he talks to go off and make their decision, whereas he can see it all unfold around the round table.
‘You just think, how could you be so wrong? I can’t take my eyes off it, I love it.’
Hugo is another competitive character; whether he’s a team player is up for debate: ‘I don’t mind being on a team if I am the captain of the team.’
Ben
Ben, 66, is a retiree from Hampshire.
This grandad takes no prisoners when he’s playing with his grandchildren: ‘I’m the only person allowed to win’, he said.
He might be in his mid-sixties, but he says he’ll be playing like a 22-year-old mentally, but maybe not physically.
‘That [the physical missions] will be challenging.’
Adam
Adam, 34, is a builder from Essex.
He describes himself as an ‘outspoken, dramatic sort of person’ who speaks his mind ‘like there’s no filter there.’
Adam says he’s studied body language, down to how people’s ears move! He thinks you won’t be able to tell if he’s lying, and hopes to be a Traitor.
Ross
Ross, 37, is a sales exec and personal trainer from London.
He says he’s ‘won at most things’ having played basketball to a high level as a kid, before ranking fifth as a muscle model in Europe. But he says some of it is down to luck.
Ross’ tactics? To ‘hide in plain sight’. He wants to assess things first and then use his self-described ‘good character and charisma’ to help him play the game.
Rachel
Rachel, 42, is a head of communications from County Down.
Her friends and family compare her to Monica from Friends, and she will do anything to win’.
We might know her as a communications expert, but her fellow teammates will know her as someone in marketing. She doesn’t want people to know that ‘speaking to people and getting my point across is very easy for me’.
Rachel claims her own husband doesn’t even know when she’s lying (she says she doesn’t do it ‘all that often’), so will the contestants be able to sniff out any funny business?
Netty
Netty, 42, is a nursery school teacher from Glasgow.
It looks like we might have a Kate Garraway on our hands… Netty says she’s ‘probably too enthusiastic at some points’, but hopes she’ll bring some humour and silliness to the game. Here’s hoping for more flabbergasted reactions.
Netty hopes she’ll be good at the missions because she likes to do physical things and sees herself as. aproblem solver: ‘I’ve got a limb difference, and some things are more challenging for me than others, but I like to think that I can work my way around it.’
Maz
Maz, 59, is a civil servant from Preston.
He says he’s done various things in his life, but his past occupation would say he ‘could be quite poker faced’ – intriguing.
If his five and counting grandchildren don’t keep him on his feet, then his hobbies will. Maz plays football twice a week and says he’s quite fit for his age.
He hopes he can bring ‘some humour, some chilled out moments, [and] some interesting thoughts’ to the game.
Harriet
Harriet, 52, is a crime writer and former barrister from London.
She thinks The Traitors is ‘one of the very few TV shows that she thinks she has a skill set that could be useful for’.
While she’s normally making up horrible ways for people to die in her books, she’s relishing the thought of getting to ‘actually plot to kill people’ in the game.
However, she’s thinking about penning a bit of a different narrative to her fellow contestants: ‘I think what I’m going to try and do is dial up the housewife, mother side of myself […] I’m not going to be dishonest. I’m just going to play it down.’
Fiona
Fiona, 62, is a local government officer from Swansea.
A self-professed chatty Cathy with a trustworthy streak, Fiona says she knows when to keep her cards close to her chest: ‘I hold a lot of information about a lot of people, including family and friends.’
She said: ‘I’m really good at spotting a liar, because it’s part of my job. You can look for the body language, but sometimes people are very good at hiding body language.’
Fiona is gunning to be a Traitor, but also admits she’s Faithful by nature.
Faraaz
Faraz, 22, is an internal auditor from Middlesbrough.
Having consulted his sister on a game plan, he said: ‘One thing is it’s important not to be too boisterous at the start, because you can’t win at the start. You can only lose.
‘I think just keep some opinions and some cards close to your chest at the beginning and then observe everyone else whilst spreading little nuggets here and there but not making yourself the centre of attention straight away.’ Clever.
Describing himself as a ‘fairly fit young lad’, Faraaz said his only weak spot is heights. As for the game, there’s fighting talk there too: ‘I’ll be throwing people under the bus if I need to!’
Ellie
Ellie, 33, is a psychologist from London.
Naturally, she described The Traitors as ‘psychologically interesting’. It’s that impulse that drove her to apply.
She’s hoping to bring that therapist know-how to the castle. ‘I’m going to be analysing what other contestants are doing and trying to think through what their motivations are for behaving in certain ways,’ she said.
Ellie is another one hoping to be a Traitor, but also to form bonds early on to dodge suspicion.
Matthew
Matthew, 35, is a creative director from Edinburgh.
Dubbing himself the first Northern Irishman on the show, Matthew hopes his accent will be of some help. ‘I grew up in the countryside on a farm in Northern Ireland, which immediately creates this warm, fuzzy feeling,’ he said.
He’s hoping to be a Traitor, but one who’s playing to win.
‘I’m a good person, and in normal life, if I saw someone in trouble on the street, I would be the first person that would step in to help them,’ he said.
‘However, this is a game and I’m very capable of compartmentalising, so if I must get rid of someone because that’s what the game’s saying, I won’t think twice about it, I’ll just do it.’
Judy
Judy, 60, is a child liaison officer from Doncaster.
She describes herself as ‘full of laughter’ and ‘always jolly’, but she’s going to make sure not to be too loud upfront.
‘I’m prepared to go all the way and if anyone gets in my way, they’re going down!’
With children, stepdaughters and a whopping 17 grandkids, the prize money plan would be to book a big villa holiday for the whole family.
Jessie
Jessie, 28, is a hairstylist from Hull.
She’s going into the castle hoping to inspire others with her zest for life.
‘I feel like people will underestimate me just because of how I am and how I look with my orange hair and because I have a stammer,’ she said. ‘People might think that I don’t have it in me to be brutal, but I do.’
Jessie always knows her next move and is used to telling little white lies while talking to her clients in the salon. ‘If I’m in a bad mood, I have to just put a bit of an act on, because it isn’t about me, it’s about them getting their hair done,’ she said.
James
James, 38, is a gardener from Weymouth.
With a background in music and poker, James said he’ll be capable at crowd-work as well as the game of lying.
‘I have ADHD, and it’s blindingly obvious I do. I will bring this sort of vibe where it looks like I’m a bouncy Duracell bunny,’ he said.
‘People think there’s a monkey bashing symbols in my head when they first meet me, but they underestimate at their peril, because there’s actually a huge hamster with a massive ear and an antenna up on its back at all times! I’m always analysing and processing.’
Jade
Jade, 25, is a PhD student from the West Midlands.
Jane’s plan is to downplay her academics by saying she’s a master’s student, rather than a PhD boffin, so as to fly under the radar. (That seems to be on a lot of game plans this season.)
She’s going in with a scepticism of everyone to try and suss out who speaks with whom on the inside in the hopes of sorting the Traitors from the Faithful.
Jack
Jack, 29, is a personal trainer from Essex.
He was rehearsing his tactics before he even knew for sure he was going into the castle.
Jack said: ‘I’ve deep dived into everything, because it fascinates me. There are so many common themes you see. Herd mentality, conformity, bias, all these things that pop up throughout the show, but you see it playing out in real time.’
Suspecting others will hold preconceived ideas about his native home of Essex, Jack plans to ham it up so he’s underestimated.
The Traitors begins on New Year’s Day at 8pm on BBC One and iPlayer.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
