The Celebrity Traitors is back with a new cast of stars vying to be the winner (or winners) of the TV mega-hit. Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the show will see a group of famous 'faithfuls' attempt to work out which among them are the 'traitors' secretly "murdering" contestants each night. This year's line-up features award-winning actor and campaigner Michael Sheen, comedian Miranda Hart, EastEnders hardman Ross Kemp and Love Island presenter Maya Jama.
But one of the biggest stars of The Traitors franchise is the venue - Ardross Castle. The Celebrity Traitors is filmed in Ardross Castle, a 19th Century pile about 30 miles north of Inverness. It is set in about 100 acres of gardens and parkland near the Easter Ross town of Alness.
The property was built more than 170 years ago in a Scottish baronial style, a type of elaborate architecture featuring complex rooflines with turrets and fortress-like battlements. More than 200 years ago - long before the castle was built - the land at Ardross was owned by George Granville Leveson-Gower, the 1st Duke of Sutherland. He had a hunting lodge on the site where the castle stands today.
The duke was a controversial figure in the Highland Clearances. In large parts of Sutherland, he had people cleared off land where they had lived for generations to make way for sheep farming and agricultural "improvements". Some families were moved to coastal villages, while others became emigrants and made difficult journeys to Canada to start new lives there.
There is a statue of the duke on a hilltop north of Ardross. Known locally as The Mannie, and overlooking Golspie, it has been the target of vandalism and even attempts to topple it. Years later the estate at Ardross was bought by Sir Alexander Matheson.
Matheson made his fortune trading in China. He was an MP and an instrumental figure in the building of railways in the Highlands. He had the castle built and, according to Ross and Cromarty Heritage Society, about 400 workers were involved in the construction from 1847.
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