Comedian Romesh Ranganathan and Heartstopper actor Sebastian Croft have won the second series of The Celebrity Traitors, splitting an £83,000 prize as the last two Faithfuls standing. The finale aired on BBC One on Friday, October 30, 2026, ending a run that drew some of the biggest live audiences in the show’s short history.
What We Know
The final began with seven players still in the castle: Faithfuls James Blunt, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Michael Sheen, Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian Croft, plus the two surviving Traitors, Maya Jama and King Kenny. The Traitors struck first, and Michael Sheen was murdered at the start of the episode.
The decisive blow against the Traitors came at the last roundtable, where Maya Jama was banished without revealing which side she was on. According to RTÉ and LADbible, her fellow Traitor King Kenny was among those who voted her out, a move that left him as the only Traitor in the game.
At the fire pit, the remaining players chose to keep banishing. Former Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock was the first to go. The next vote then produced a tie between King Kenny and James Blunt, which The Independent described as a first for the show. Host Claudia Winkleman asked Croft and Ranganathan to settle it, and the pair sent Kenny home, removing the last Traitor.
That should have been the end, with three Faithfuls left. Instead, Blunt opted to banish once more, and Croft and Ranganathan voted him out. The singer later admitted that Ranganathan had “left a question mark in my head,” RTÉ reported.
The £83,000 prize will be shared between the winners’ chosen charities. PinkNews reported that Ranganathan’s half goes to the Refugee Council, while Croft’s goes to Choose Love.
Background
The Celebrity Traitors is the star-studded spin-off of the BBC’s hit reality format, in which hidden Traitors try to “murder” and outlast a group of Faithfuls who must unmask them. The first celebrity series in 2025 was won by Traitor Alan Carr and went on to win a BAFTA TV Award.
This year’s line-up featured 21 famous faces, including Bella Ramsey, Jerry Hall, Richard E. Grant, Miranda Hart, Hannah Fry and James Acaster. Reports from The Independent and LADbible say Grant and Jama started the game as Traitors, with Acaster, King Kenny and Fry recruited along the way. Grant was the first Traitor banished after accidentally giving himself away, and Acaster confessed to being a Traitor at a roundtable before the final.
The series also proved a ratings hit. The Independent reported that the semi-final reached 10.7 million live viewers, the biggest live audience for the show to date.
For Maya Jama, best known as the host of Love Island, the finale was a near miss. You can read more about her career in our Maya Jama biography, and about another famous contestant in our Bella Ramsey biography.
Reactions
Both winners repeated the show’s traditional closing line. “I began this game as a Faithful, but I’m ending this game as a Faithful,” Croft said, according to RTÉ. Moments later he added: “That was just incredible, this might actually be the best day of my life.”
Ranganathan dedicated the moment to his family. “I just really hope my mum’s proud, and also my youngest son Charlie, who wanted me to come on the show,” he said.
LADbible noted that many viewers were caught off guard by a Faithful victory, with social media split between delight for the winners and sympathy for Jama.
What’s Next
The BBC followed the finale with an Uncloaked companion episode, and the full series remains available on BBC iPlayer. Fans will not have to wait long for more: the civilian version of The Traitors returns for its fifth series in January 2027, according to The Independent.
Sources
- RTÉ – The Celebrity Traitors winners are crowned
- Variety – The Celebrity Traitors finale recap
- The Independent (via Yahoo News) – Winners of 2026 Celebrity Traitors announced
- PinkNews – Celebrity Traitors winners crowned
- LADbible – The Celebrity Traitors 2026 winners crowned