Winkleman

Viewers have been sharing their theories on social media after a teaser released on Christmas Day showed a figure wearing a red cloak, in a departure from the usual green worn by the traitors.

“All I will say is there’s something new, and what happens in this series is truly extraordinary with moments that made me gasp,” Winkleman said ahead of the series launch.

Details of the new twist will not be revealed until the show’s fourth regular series begins at 20:00 GMT on New Year’s Day.

“I can’t wait for people to see it,” Winkleman added. “The producers have the greatest minds on earth.”

The red cloak has not been seen in past series, and fans have speculated that a new role could be assigned to one of this year’s contestants.

Previous series of The Traitors have seen Winkleman choose three traitors from a group of more than 20 contestants, although more traitors can be recruited later depending on how the game plays out. The other players are known as the faithful.

Although the meaning of the red cloak and details of who might be wearing it are under wraps for now, Winkleman told journalists earlier this month that the next series “gets pretty twisty”.

“The people who create the show, they have to keep on changing it,” she explained, “and they tell me ideas, and I’m like, ‘Are you joking?’

“So, yeah, I love it.”

Winkleman also remarked that the confrontations between contestants are “hardcore” in this series. “We get some very juicy roundtables,” she said. “It gets very heated… it gets ugly.

“We’ve never seen it played like this brilliant cast play it. They play it in such an extraordinary way.

“You think, I’ve seen this, it’s going to go down this route – and all I can say is it absolutely doesn’t.”

The new series comes just two months after the conclusion of the show’s first celebrity spin-off, which was one of the biggest TV hits of 2025.

“We were blown away by how successful The Celebrity Traitors was,” said Mike Cotton, creative director of production company Studio Lambert.

“We had parents coming up to us and thanking us for reintroducing them to watching TV with their teenagers and children, because it came to be a huge family viewing event. Which you don’t expect for a show about murder, lies and betrayal.”

With catch-up viewing included, the first series of The Celebrity Traitors was watched by more than 15 million viewers.

But, Cotton added, the success of the all-star spin-off, which introduced many viewers to The Traitors brand for the first time, puts “lots of pressure” on the fourth civilian series.

“With celebrities, all the viewers know who those people were. So when you go back to the regular version, these are people you don’t really know, you’ve got to learn to love them,” he noted.

The celebrity series and the fourth civilian series were shot concurrently earlier this year. Winkleman said she noticed how differently the regular contestants behaved, after the celebrities had been so polite.

“In the celebrity one, they were adorable, but at the roundtable they were like, ‘No, no, after you’,” she recalled. “That’s not how this one goes.”

Despite its success, however, Cotton rejected the idea that the show might mix celebrities and civilians in the future, as has happened in some international versions.

“On the American version, series one did mix civilians with reality celebrities, and then from season two onwards we just had reality celebrities,” he said.

“But I think in this show, there’s already the traitors vs the faithful, so you don’t want to have a celebrity vs non-celebrity divide as well.”

Asked if more celebrities had volunteered to be on the next series after the success of the first, Winkleman joked: “They don’t come up to me personally because I don’t leave my bed. But yes, they’ve asked.”

Along with a new series of The Night Manager, The Traitors is at the centre of BBC One’s primetime schedule on New Year’s Day, and will continue with further episodes on Friday and Saturday.

Winkleman also joked about the headline-making outfits she often wears on the show, including the boots she uses to do the ominous walk at the roundtable as she’s selecting the traitors.

“The walk round the table is very tense,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many times I walk around it, but I really try and build the tension, which is hideously mean but also quite addictive.

“I try and wear clompy footwear to add to it. I get a bit flamenco. It needs to be incredibly loud. I’m thinking of going tap next time.”

Unlike previous series, which have seen a surprise twist or mission before the contestants even reach Ardross Castle near Inverness, Winkleman revealed that this year’s crop do all make it through the door.

As usual, the show’s opening episode sees the contestants get to know each other before taking part in their first mission, which is on a scale rarely seen on the show before.

Winkleman said the Scottish Highlands “might be the most beautiful place on the planet”. Perhaps her biggest pleasure, however, is filming the traditional opening sequence with the owl who acts as her assistant and delivers the invitations.

“I love that little owl. Isn’t he sweet?” she smiled. “He’s called Sage, although I renamed him Barry after my dad.

“And just recently he fathered a baby owl and they named him Onion,” she laughed. “So you will see Onion in future series, I hope.”

The Traitors airs on BBC One and iPlayer at 20:00 GMT on 1 January.