For the celebrities chosen as traitors in the BBC’s juggernaut reality show, the task is simple – kill off fellow contestants without getting caught. Yet with the new series of Celebrity Traitors once again attracting huge audiences, its UK producers are delighting in one of the show’s more wholesome qualities – its popularity is staving off the death of television’s ability to unite the nation. Despite its appeal, however, Lambert may still struggle to attract the man he revealed to be his dream contestant: Tom Cruise.
More than 10 million people have tuned in to watch some episodes, well in excess of half the viewers watching TV during the show’s time slot. It is also pulling younger viewers away from other devices and on to the sofa, with 1.6 million people aged between 16 and 34 tuning in for this series’ premiere. In doing so, it has bucked a long-running trend that has seen mass TV audiences become increasingly rare.
The arrival of streamers, digital platforms and smartphones have ensured such viewing figures have become the preserve of the Olympics, England World Cup matches and the odd breakthrough hit. The success of The Traitors has inevitably spawned similar formats based on deceit and questionable detective skills, as producers attempt to replicate its allure. Lambert said that whether it was the celebrity edition or the regular series of The Traitors, the secret to its success came down to two words: “Dramatic irony.” “It’s the engine of The Traitors,” he said.
And it’s fun to try and watch people work out who the liars are.” When it comes to the celebrity edition, he said viewers delighted in seeing famous faces uncomfortable as they “have so little control” over events. Lambert confirmed that casting for Celebrity Traitors was not difficult because its popularity meant that the names who agreed to go into the traitors’ castle were also fans. Producers have previously noted the show does not face the usual challenges of attracting names to formats that ask them to eat bugs or train for weeks on end.
Not only would Cruise be a tough man to pin down, Lambert also said securing sports stars continues to be a perennial problem for casting directors. Sports men and women not only have gruelling schedules, but their media activities are guarded closely by personal agents and their clubs. When asked about dream contestants, Lambert said: “Tom Cruise, maybe?
And we would like to have a big sports star. But if they are an active one, they have commitments.” Shows similar in style to The Traitors have been attempted, such as Channel 4’s The Inheritance or ITV’s The Neighbourhood, though both networks and production companies usually bridle at any suggestion that their latest reality format amounts to their new spin on The Traitors. Even the most experienced TV insiders freely admit that productions that were fun to make and have found audiences overseas come with no guarantee of success.
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