TV: Were you hooked on The Traitors? Celeb version to begin shortly

Were you hooked on The Traitors Ireland when it made its debut on RTÉ last month?

The good news is the UK are launching their own celebrity version of the hit reality show which pits faithfuls against traitors next week.

And The Celebrity Traitors, which starts on BBC1 on Wednesday at 9pm, boasts a jaw-dropping cast of stars.

The famous faces who will be moving into the castle are comedian Alan Carr, singer-songwriter Cat Burns, actress (and star of the recent Thursday Murder Club film) Celia Imrie, singer and activist Charlotte Church and broadcaster Clare Balding.

They’ll be joined at the round table by historian David Olusoga, former England rugby player Joe Marler, comedian Joe Wilkinson, and presenters Jonathan Ross and Kate Garraway.

Comedians Lucy Beaumont and Nick Mohammed, actors Mark Bonnar and Ruth Codd, content creator Niko Omilana and singer Paloma Faith are also taking up the challenge.

The line-up is rounded off by presenter and writer, Stephen Fry, EastEnder Tameka Empson and Olympian Tom Daley.

The series, presented by Claudia Winkleman, has been running with regular contestants for three series in the UK - with a fourth due to start in January

But will the contestants in the celebrity version be as devious when it’s all for charity and they know they could be stabbing a national treasure in the back?

We’re about to find out as Claudia welcomes them to the castle and secretly appoints the Traitors, who will be attempting to murder off the Faithful.

The spin-off Uncloaked is also back on BBC2 straight after as Ed Gamble gauges audience reactions and first impressions.

Winkleman says: “We’re incredibly lucky these brilliant people have said yes. I’d love to say we’ll take it easy on them and they’ll just wander round the castle and eat toast for a couple of weeks but that would be a lie.”

There’s intense speculation about how the celebs will perform, and whether the actors will have a natural advantage when it comes to playing innocent.

Fry may be known as one of Britain’s brainiest celebs, but will that make him a target rather than a contender?

Will the celebs naturally want to believe everything Balding says?

And could Wilkinson and Beaumont’s comedy personas work to their advantage as they lull their rivals into a false sense of security?

We should get our first hints on Wednesday, as Claudia welcomes them all to the Castle, and reveals (to the audience at least) the identity of the Traitors.)