Julie Hesmondhalgh

The line-up for Celebrity Traitors season two was revealed on Saturday, with Ross Kemp joining his new co-stars for filming in Scotland

Ross Kemp is ready to bring some East End magic to the Celebrity Traitors castle after he was spotted landing in Scotland ahead of filming.

It was previously confirmed that the EastEnders icon, 61, was among the star-studded line-up for season two of the hit BBC game show, alongside Richard E. Grant, Michael Sheen, Leigh-Anne Pinnock and Rob Beckett.

Hours after the castmates were revealed, they were seen making their way to the Scottish Highlands, with Jerry Hall, Bella Ramsey, Amol Rajan and Saltburn actor Richard photographed on their journey.

In new pictures, Ross appeared to be thrilled to join them, flashing a thumbs up at a camera before getting into a waiting car. Other snaps showed his fellow soap legend Julie Hesmondhalgh jetting to the area ahead of filming.

Teasing what led to the Grant Mitchell star deciding to take part, an insider told the Sun: “He loves Traitors and thinks it’s a programme on another level, which is why he really wanted to take part.

“Ross loved the mix of psychological intrigue paired with some of the very physical trials that the group have to complete – both suit him perfectly.”

He is also reportedly hoping to appeal to a younger generation of viewers, who could be less familiar with his career so far.

“Plus he knows The Celebrity Traitors won’t just be watched by people who are familiar with his work, but by younger viewers who may be less familiar with Ross, and this opens him up to a whole new audience. He’s also a very BBC name and this is another big BBC show,” they added.

Joanne McNally, James Acaster and Joe Lycett were also named in the line-up, alongside social media content creator King Kenny, Love Island presenter Maya Jama and Romesh Ranganathan.

Industry actress Myha’la and Professor Hannah Fry rounded out the cast with Sharon Rooney, James Blunt, Sebastian Croft and Sharon Rooney.

While the gang have been all smiles so far while heading to Scotland, things will get very tense once filming kicks off and suspicion over the game sets in. Shortly after filming, the 21 celebs will be sorted into “faithfuls” and “traitors” as they battle it out for the charity cash prize.

It will be up to those faithfuls to weed out the sneaky traitors, who have been tasked with secretly killing them off in nightly visits to the turret.

Following the huge success of the first season, where around 15million people tuned in to see Alan Carr win the competition as a Traitor, fans have been eagerly-awaiting news of a second series, and have already predicted Michael, Richard and Miranda could be this year’s “big dogs ”.

The air date has not yet been announced, but the hit show is expected to return to screens in autumn.

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