Joe Lycett thought he wouldn’t get on with ‘certain people’ on Celebrity Traitors

The highly anticipated second season of Celebrity Traitors is just around the corner – and one contestant is already spilling the tea.

It’s the most coveted cast on reality TV, with famous faces from across the industry all clamouring to get a spot in the Highlands castle to play a daring game of backstabbing, betrayal and deceit – helmed by the inimitable Claudia Winkleman.

After Alan Carr swooped to a treacherous victory last year in one of the most epic finales ever, now it’s the new cohort’s turn to try and rise victorious, whether a Traitor or a Faithful.

The class of 2026, made up of 21 stars total, includes actors Bella Ramsey, Michael Sheen and Richard E. Grant, broadcasters Maya Jama and Amol Rajan, and comedians like Miranda Hart and the one and only Joe Lycett.

The 38-year-old is known for his sharp tongue, sarcastic humour and mischief-making. No doubt the TV star will be ready to cause some mischief and havoc during the new episodes – no matter which role he ends up playing.

Not least because it sounds like he went in sceptical of his fellow castmates.

Appearing on Hits Radio Breakfast Show, he said of his co-stars: ‘I got on with everyone, and I thought there were certain people I wouldn’t get on with when I saw the line-up.’

Although he kept exactly who he had raised an eyebrow at close to his chest, luckily, the situation turned out for the best once they arrived in Scotland.

‘You don’t know the line-up, but I think they published it two days before we went in, and I was like: “Oh God”. I talked about actors, and there were loads of them, but there wasn’t a single person in there that I didn’t get on with,’ he added.

Although the BBC valiantly attempted to keep the cast under wraps for as long as possible, it seems they were fighting a losing battle, as Joe joked.

First he managed to confirm his friend Joanne McNally was on board, and soon enough, the comedian grapevine had revealed who was in and who was out.

‘We weren’t meant to ask people if they were doing it – you sign the NDA and they say don’t tell anyone you’re doing it, but if you search the word “traitors” in my WhatsApp I told everyone! I was telling Uber drivers, I was telling everyone,’ he shared.

Despite Joe’s habit of telling everyone and their mother about his appearance in the show, for the most part celebrities have kept tight-lipped about what to expect.

In June, Richard was grilled about it on The One Show, and let more slip than he wished when asked if he had sought advice from his friend and former contestant, Celia Imrie.

‘I said: “Celia, what is the thing that you can’t be prepared for?” She said, “The cruelty of people who you instinctively want to trust”. 

‘Like in a room like this and suddenly every single person suspects you. I think that’s a very accurate thing to have said.’

Time will tell exactly what he means.