‘The Celebrity Traitors’ Scores Record-Breaking Season 2 Premiere With Nearly 9 Million Viewers

The second season of the U.K.’s “Celebrity Traitors” is off to a record-breaking start.

More than 8.8 million viewers watched Thursday night’s premiere of the BBC‘s devious reality show, according to overnight numbers, with viewership peaking at 9 million. In addition, over 50% of people watching TV were tuning into “The Celebrity Traitors,” making it the top program of the evening.

This marks a new premiere record for “The Traitors” series in the U.K., drawing in around 3 million more viewers than past launches for both the inaugural season of its celebrity version last year and the most recent civilian season. The number will only get bigger as those who missed the first episode catch up in the coming days.

And what a premiere it was. This season of “The Celebrity Traitors” stars an impressive list of names joining host Claudia Winkleman, including Richard E. Grant, Bella Ramsey, Myha’la, Maya Jama, James Acaster, Jerry Hall, James Blunt, Michael Sheen and more. Grant has already proven himself to be a standout with his sheer enthusiasm for the game, immediately causing chaos in the castle. The show is set to air on BBC One and iPlayer every Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. BST for the next month, with its second episode coming out tonight.

Season 5 of the U.K.’s civilian “Traitors” is set to premiere early next year. The franchise has also become hugely successful in the U.S., with Alan Cumming hosting a celebrity version on Peacock, as well as a civilian spinoff called “New Blood” which launched in September.