It’s only been back on our screens for a number of days, with a host of new Faithful and Traitors heading into the Castle – but the BBC‘s ultimate game of treachery already has an end date for this series.
The broadcaster has confirmed when the new series of The Traitors, which made its debut last week, will come to a close and crown a winner.
Luckily, viewer still have a couple more weeks of tuning in to do before the BBC One show waves goodbye again – with the final airing on January 23 at 8pm.
It will mark a special extended episode in the series, lasting a whopping 75 minutes, before the show’s spin-off Uncloaked follows with a 45 minute episode.
The BBC series, hosted by Claudia Winkleman, tasks a group of contestants with picking out the Traitors among them, as the Faithful players are murdered one by one by the double-crossing stars.
It all culminates in the final, where the remaining Faithful must pick out any Traitors left behind – or risk losing out on the entire prize pot they have accumulated.
The BBC has confirmed when the new series of The Traitors, which made its debut last week, will come to a close and crown a winner
Removing the Traitors for good by ending the final roundtable when they believe only the Faithful remain means they successfully take home the money.
During the Celebrity Traitors finale in November, Traitor Alan Carr shocked fans as he convinced his Faithful co-stars he was one of them, and won the prize money alone.
He managed to pull the wool over the eyes of Nick Mohammed and David Olusoga in the final, who instead voted out Faithful Joe Marler from the series.
The tense scenes drew in whopping 15.4 million viewers, with the show taking the top spot for the most-watched show of the year on the BBC.
It comes after current show star Ross has recalled the moment he old met friend Netty at the start of the BBC series and how he panicked as his girlfriend Ellie had no idea who she was.
Secret couple Ross and Ellie finally confirmed their relationship status after he was banished from the castle on Wednesday night.
And following the BBC show, he appeared on Traitors: Uncloaked, where he revealed he was sent into ‘fear’ after Netty recognised him and jumped into his arms, while his psychologist girlfriend Ellie was watching.
Spilling the beans on hiding his love for Ellie in his first interview, Ross explained: ‘At the time, I’d seen Netty, let’s just say 20 seconds before and I was like, “I have a secret ally”.
The Traitors is currently on air with its fourth series
‘It’s suppose to be 22 strangers but it’s, 20 plus Ross and Netty… and Ellie.
‘And Netty has gone, “Ross!” and I was like, “No, no” and I froze because I was like this is not good and she’s run and jumped into my arms.
‘And the problem with that is that like everyone was like, ‘Oh Ross, it looks really suspicious’ but I was like, ‘I don’t care about you lot right now. Someone who my partner has no idea who they are has just jumped into my arms”.
‘Like you guys have got the wrong priorities. And that’s what my initial fear was.’
He added: ‘It was genuinely innocent but it looked terrible’.
The PT added about the couple’s romance: ‘Hiding the relationship with Ellie was the easiest thing ever.
‘Any time we had an interaction, I was happy to see her because I was under pressure the whole time, so Ellie was my safe space in the game.
‘However, I thought she was a Traitor, because every time we had a moment together, she would not speak to me.
‘I’m very proud of her though and I’m glad she’s still in there holding it down for the household. I am Ellie’s biggest fan boy, so I hope she goes on to win.
‘I just also hope she does something to redeem me – I don’t want my death to be in vain.’
Suspicion about the two knowing each other began the moment they boarded the train in the Scottish Highlands in the first episode, which was screened last Wednesday.
The pair, both from London, were sitting opposite one another and were deemed by viewers as being too familiar for supposedly meeting for the first time.
And earlier this week a group photo – which includes Ellie and Ross – from a work trip in June 2024 also surfaced, confirming that they knew each other before the show.
They have also both posted holiday snaps from the same Tenerife location since filming ended last May.
After Ross was ousted at the round table, Ellie confessed in the diary room: ‘The Traitors have done their work, because they have framed Ross.
‘I’m really sad to see him go… especially because Ross is actually my boyfriend.’
Ross gained six votes at the Round Table after first raising suspicion when it was revealed he unexpectedly had an old friend in there – Netty.
On his axe, he added: ‘It’s bittersweet. I thought to myself, “would you rather stay in longer and be in the background, or would you rather burn bright and go out in a blaze of glory?” and I genuinely feel like I did.
‘I’m really happy with myself; I don’t think I could have done any better.’
When conducting background checks, BBC bosses found that Netty and Ross followed each other on social media, but the link was tenuous, and they didn’t want to not cast them because of it.
Mike Cotton, Creative Director at Studio Lambert, told the Daily Mail that neither player was warned ahead of the opening scene, as they wanted to watch their natural reaction on-screen for the first time and see how it played out in the game.