Celebrity Traitors has managed to spark controversy after a bizarre rule has explained why there are no clocks in the castle.
The show’s finale episode, which saw Traitor Alan Carr bag the prize pot, was watched last week by a peak of 12 million live viewers, making it the most successful episode of UK TV since the Gavin and Stacey Christmas special last year.
Unsurprisingly, this has led to a season two renewal being announced today (November 10) for next year.
This means that in 2026, The Traitors fans will get a season two of the regular version in addition to another celebrity-filled instalment.
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Some fans, however, have been left shocked after Nick Mohammed revealed a specific detail of one of the conditions in which contestants live whilst filming is ongoing.
The comedian has opened up about his time in the castle in an interview with Stuart Goldsmith on The Comedian’s Comedian Podcast.
In this, Mohammed stated that phones are taken off contestants on the way in and that he was allowed one phone call with his children each night, leaving you ‘isolated from the outside world’.
This was not, however, what led to controversy online, but his claim of what production staff would do to keep the celebrities on edge.
He said: “We weren’t even allowed to know the time. So, when we were in the castle, you’d be like ‘What’s the time?’ And they’d be like ‘It’s Traitors time’.
“Every single member of production had to just answer with that until someone kicked off and they said: 'It’s a basic human right, you can just tell us the time, it doesn’t mean anything'.”
“They are so clever, but in the best possible way.”
Whilst important to note that this does not literally contravene anyone’s human rights, it still led to a stir on Reddit.
One fan posted his quotes to the r/TheTraitorsUK, saying: “Just read this from an interview with Nick M - it is kind of interesting!
“I would personally feel quite insane not being tethered in time. But I guess the game is supposed to f*ck with your head a bit! Interested to hear people's thoughts.”
Many fans pointed out that it is surprisingly common in many reality TV shows, with Ant and Dec known to cover up their watches on I’m A Celebrity so contestants don’t know what time it is. Love Island participants are also not given access to clocks during their time in the famous villa, with previous Islanders revealing they rely on producers and the sun rising and setting to guess the time.
One fan commented: “My guess is it aids in obscuring details regarding filming/production schedules?
“Depending on how they film stuff like confessionals, they can't risk people having solid evidence that the Traitors are gone for longer periods of time on average compared to other cast members, etc.”
Another commented: “They do the same on Love Island and I don’t get it. Let them know the time.
“Let them have books and games to pass the time. It simply isn’t that deep to be doing all that with the contestants.”
Others, however, saw the funny side of the reveal, with one fan commenting: “Im sorry but the crew contractually having to respond with ‘it’s traitors time’ is so funny to me.”
Topics: The Traitors, BBC, Entertainment, TV and Film, TV, Celebrity
Michael Slavin