On Thursday night, the singer-songwriter James Blunt, Love Island host Maya Jama and mathematician Hannah Fry were among the 21 Celebrity Traitors returning to UK screens for another round of deceit and detective work. Famously, contestants do not stay at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands during filming, and the venue is not a hotel, so fans cannot book their own overnight stays without hiring the entire Ross-shire estate. But that has not stopped people from trying to recreate their own versions.
The show’s surging popularity has been accompanied by a bonanza in Traitors-style events across the UK. From stag and hen dos to castle conspiracy weekends, event companies now host year-round imitations for fans looking to recreate the drama of the candle-lit roundtable. The show is also proving to be a boom for the owners of Britain’s crumbling castles – with wealthy fans even hiring them out for their own private events.
A 15-bedroom castle might sleep 30 or so. They’ll bring in couples and organise the faithfuls and traitors over the weekend. They build a story around it and play the game.
There are huge varieties with how it’s done.” Companies organising team bonding exercises are by far the most common customers. GOTO Events, which runs tailored Traitors-style experiences, offers packages from five people to 1,000, complete with their own version of the missions that contestants play to build up the prize pot and a Claudia Winkleman-style host. Danni Warren, GOTO’s head of marketing, said these had become the most popular experience they offer.
We keep thinking things will slow down and they haven’t,” she said. In one of my first events, the big boss was one of the betrayers and got called out in the first round. Everyone loves calling out their boss.” But a Traitors-style experience often does not come cheap.
Daylong events are a few hundred pounds, while those looking for the full castle experience pay much more. Rothes Glen castle in the Scottish Highlands is offering a three-night package from £4,388 a room for two guests for a castle conspiracy weekend in August next year. A private event will set you back even more: hiring a luxury castle for the weekend can set you back tens of thousands of pounds – and that’s before the cost of organising the game, says Masterson.
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