Traitors new series: Claudia Winkleman lifts lid on ‘hardcore’ and ‘brutal’ show starting New Year’s Day

Claudia Winkleman has teased the much anticipated show which starts on New Year’s Day.

The 53-year-old presenter has warned the upcoming episodes of the show - which returns to BBC One on New Year's Day (01.01.26) - is more "hardcore" than ever, with some "very juicy" confrontations at the round table.

She said ahead of the series launch: “It gets really, really brutal. The celebrity one, they were adorable, but they were at the round table like, ‘No, no, after you’. That’s not how this one goes. These players play it differently. It gets hardcore, it gets very heated.

“We get some very juicy round tables. Did they keep the bit in when I scream? I get ugly. At one point, all the hairs were standing on end because you think, ‘Yeah, I’ve seen this, it’s going to go down this route’. And all I can say is that it absolutely doesn’t.”

The recent first series of The Celebrity Traitors, which aired in the autumn, was a cultural touchstone and a ratings winner for the BBC, and saw Carr snatch victory from faithful historian David Olusoga and actor Nick Mohammed.

It made a TV star out of former rugby player Joe Marler, who became a fan favourite with his shrewd analysis of the game and his friendships with comedian Joe Wilkinson and Mohammed.

Asked if she ever revealed any spoilers to her family, Winkleman said: “Genuinely I’d lose my job. Plus, there’s no fun in knowing. When Alan won my husband and youngest son couldn’t stop screaming and crying and shouting, ‘but you knew’.”

Trailers for the new series have hinted at a new red-cloaked Traitor but Claudia refused to be drawn on what it could mean.

She said: “All I will say is there’s something new and what happens in this series is truly extraordinary, with moments that made me gasp.

“The people in charge always have excellent ways of changing the game. You think you know how to win. Turns out you don’t. The castle has many secrets.

“It gets twisty. I mean, the people who create the show, you have to keep on changing it. And they tell me ideas and I’m like, ‘You’re joking’.

“The brilliance is you can have your strategy worked out, but once you’re in the castle everything changes.”

Claudia finds it "nerve-wracking" selecting which of the contestants will be Traitors so she is grateful to get help from producers.

She said: “It’s nerve-wracking but I don’t choose them alone. I interview all the players and some are absolute desperate to be faithful.

“Anyone who convinces me otherwise is in contention.

“I then go into a small room with the bosses and an enormous tin of biscuits and we pick."

And she admitted she gets pleasure from ramping up the tension when she's tapping the chosen Traitors on the shoulder.

She said: “The walk round the table is very tense. 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. It gets a bit flamenco. Alan [Carr] recently said I walk round the table like a carthorse and he’s bang on.”