Claudia Winkleman asks for ‘moment of silence’ in Celebrity Traitors trailer

TV host Claudia Winkleman has asked for “a moment of silence” for the star-studded contestants appearing in the upcoming series of Celebrity Traitors in a newly released trailer.Read MoreThe beloved BBC reality spin-off will return to screens with a new batch of 21 celebrities who will face one another for the chance to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.Set in a Scottish castle in the Highlands, the game follows the celebrity contestants – the majority of whom are known as faithfuls – as they try to seek out the murderous traitors among them, who kill off players in the middle of the night.In a newly released 30 second trailer, Winkleman appears in a church standing in front of floral lettering which spells out “RIP VIP” (rest in peace, very important people).She tells the new line-up of contestants: “A moment of silence for the celebrities gathered today. Thoughts and prayers.”Among the “guests” sitting in the church is Welsh actor Michael Sheen who was seen sitting next to Love Island presenter Maja Jama.Actress Miranda Hart also appears in the church pew along with comedian Rob Beckett and The Last Of Us star Bella Ramsey, who appeared to be holding in a laugh.Winkleman later walked down the aisle and says to the camera: “Who doesn’t love a dramatic exit?”Other stars that appeared in the trailer include Richard E Grant, comedian Romesh Ranganathan, EastEnders’ Ross Kemp, Coronation Street star Julie Hesmondhalgh and Scottish actress Sharon Rooney.Claudia Winkleman at the launch of BBC’s Celebrity Traitors, at the Electric Cinema in London (Ian West/PA)PA ArchiveSinger-songwriter James Blunt also joins the new series along with former Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Industry actress Myha’la Herrold.They will face a number of comedians including James Acaster, Joe Lycett and Joanne McNally, along with American supermodel Jerry Hall and broadcaster and mathematician Professor Hannah Fry.The line-up is completed by broadcaster Amol Rajan, content creator King Kenny and actor Sebastian Croft.Sharing the trailer at the Edinburgh TV Festival on Thursday, the BBC’s director of entertainment Ed Havard teased: “This season things happen that you never thought could happen on The Traitors and that you’ve never seen before, either in the US version or the UK version, and it shows how many surprises this season will have.“So, we are very excited about it.”He added: “Some of them are already getting ahead of themselves and are already texting me asking when they can be part of the all-stars version – even though we’ve only done two seasons so far.”The BBC’s chief content officer Kate Phillips added: “We don’t pay (the celebrities) a lot of money – they do this because they want to play the game.”She also revealed this season would become emotional at times, adding: “There are tears in this season… they are fully invested.”Welsh actor Michael Sheen is among the contestants in the upcoming series of Celebrity Traitors (Ian West/PA)PA ArchiveThe first series of The Celebrity Traitors aired on the BBC last autumn, with its nail-biting finale hitting a peak of 15.4 million viewers, according to the broadcaster.It featured a star-studded cast including actors Celia Imrie and Nick Mohammed, singer Paloma Faith, author and actor Sir Stephen Fry, broadcaster Jonathan Ross and comedian Alan Carr, who went on to win as a Traitor.The spin-off series brought in an average audience of 14.9 million people during its run – the biggest TV audience of 2025.The Celebrity Traitors will air on the BBC and iPlayer this autumn.