The Traitors host Claudia Winkleman teases new series 4 twist - "What happens in this series is truly extraordinary with moments that made me gasp"

The Traitors series four sees Claudia Winkleman host the ultimate reality game of trust and treachery with new twists and new players.

It's time to take to the edge of your seat once more as 22 people from across the UK descend on a Scottish castle to win up to £120k. Let the mind games begin.

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We caught up with Claudia to get her take on the new series, coming to iPlayer and BBC One from 1 January 2026...

Claudia Winkleman

We’re back in the castle for a brand-new series - can you give us a sneak peek of what’s in store?

I mean, I’d really love to but I’d get into enormous trouble. All I will say is there’s something new and what happens in this series is truly extraordinary with moments that made me gasp. I can’t wait for people to see it. The producers have the greatest minds on earth.

As the show is now in its fourth season, have the players’ strategies evolved?

They have and they haven’t. The absolute brilliance of the game is you can have your strategy worked out; you can decide how you’re going to play it but once you’re in the castle everything changes. The tension takes hold but also so do the friendships and everything goes up a few notches this time in how people play it. People think they know when someone is lying to them. This game has shown that isn’t always the case...

How do you keep the players on their toes throughout the game?

Well I just paint myself fluorescent orange but the people in charge always have excellent ways of changing the game. You think you know how to win. Turns out you don’t. The castle has many secrets, that’s all I can say. Massive apologies.

Have you ever looked at the missions and thought, I’d love to have a go?

Absolutely not. I have never actually moved fast and my favourite thing to do is lie down. However, I am absolutely on their side and really want them to do well. It’s like at my kids' sports days, but on steroids.

Do friends and family ever try to get spoilers out of you?

Never. Genuinely I’d lose my job. Plus, there’s no fun in knowing. When Alan won my husband and youngest son couldn’t stop screaming and crying and shouting, “but you knew”. They had a toastie and calmed down...

In The Traitors, players can hide their true identities or keep secret relationships. How does that twist affect the strategy and tension of the game?

It takes us as viewers on a real ride as we want to shout at the telly. I think it would be lovely to have someone you know in there with you. But as we know, it doesn’t always help. “But Ross Is” is tattooed on my forehead. It isn’t. But I like the idea of it.

The Scottish Highlands has become a huge part of the show - it must be a joy to film there?

The Scottish Highlands might be the most beautiful place on the planet. It’s a privilege to spend so much time surrounded by the jaw dropping landscape. I’ve never been anywhere like it. There’s something about the expanse of sky, the breathtaking lochs and the flora and fauna. I am officially in love with gorse. Not only that the people we meet in Inverness are the warmest and greatest and now we’ve been back a few times it’s lovely to see familiar faces.

What are your favourite moments from the series?

I have too many to mention but I’ll try and answer. I love watching them at breakfast. The second they walk in and react to each other over a plate of sliced cheese is fascinating to me. I love the bonding and the excitement of the missions but the round table is probably the bit I get most excited about. Watching how they play, it’s addictive.

Choosing the Traitors feels quite a responsibility, how do you go about it?

It’s nerve-racking but I don’t choose them alone. I interview all the players and some are absolute desperate to be faithful. Anyone who convinces me otherwise is in contention. I then go into a small room with the bosses and an enormous tin of biscuits and we pick.

And telling the players seems to get more and more dramatic...

The walk round the table is very tense. I can’t tell you how many times I walk around it but I really try and build the tension which is hideously mean but also quite addictive. I try and wear clompy footwear to add to it. It gets a bit flamenco. Alan recently said I walk round the table like a carthorse and he’s bang on.

And you really are the master at controlling your facial expressions – you never give anything away – how hard is that?

I think the orange fake tan helps. This might sound ridiculous but we all take the game seriously and if I mess it up with my face then it’s not fair on the players. My youngest child watched a bit of last series and said that I pulled my “you have to do your homework” face. That’s pretty much it.

The owl seems to be a great keeper of your secrets.. what can you tell us of the owl? Do they have a name? Are they a Traitor or a Faithful? Do they get along with the peacocks?

The owl is the constant and we love seeing him. His stage name is Sage and last year he and his girlfriend had a baby who has been named Onion. I know...

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