Quiz: Are you a Traitor or a Faithful?

The Traitors has without a doubt become one of the most popular TV shows around, with fans of all ages. The first UK series launched on BBC in 2022 and has since spawned a celebrity version, which first aired in 2025.

Set in the Scottish Highlands, the multi-award-winning show always has viewers on the edge of their seats. But how would you get on in the Traitors' castle?

Check out our BBC Bitesize quiz to see if you'd fare better as a Traitor or a Faithful. Read on to learn a little more about why people lie and how you can spot it!

First airing in the UK in 2022, The Traitors is more than just your average reality television game show. Based on trust, strategy and social deception, the series is filled with murders in plain sight, burials and betrayals.

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, The Traitors sees contestants travel to the Scottish Highlands all as "Faithfuls," before a select few are secretly made "Traitors." Filmed at Andross Castle, it is the role of the Faithfuls to find the Traitors and banish them all before the game ends.

But the aim of the Traitors is to remain undetected, as well as "murder" Faithfuls - eliminating them throughout the game. Episodes consist of group tasks that offer a chance to add money to the final prize pot. Contestants never know how many Traitors there are - but some Faithfuls can be recruited along the way.

If a Traitor or Traitors avoid banishment and make it to the end of the game, they win the game and prize money. If there are only Faithfuls left standing, they will take home the title and all the money in the pot.

International versions of the hit reality show exist - with The Traitors US, The Traitors Australia and The Traitors NZ all being available on BBC iPlayer. In the UK, there is also a celebrity version of the show - Celebrity Traitors - as well as a dedicated podcast, The Traitors: Uncloaked.

There's quite a few theories bandied about on how you can spot if someone's lying - but how many of them are true?

Well, here at BBC Bitesize, we took a look at some research into the detection of lying to break down what's true, what's false, and how it can help you in day-to-day life.

Taking note of what someone is normally like is an important first step in deception detection.

There are lots of theories on how you can spot a lie, but it's important to consider those in the context of someone's normal behaviour.

For example, if someone is normally quite nervous or fidgety when speaking, then this behaviour wouldn't indicate that they're lying.

It's also important to consider their actions in a wider context. Something may seem like a tall-tale tell-tale, but could actually have a perfectly valid explanation. Someone could be having a bad day or just feel a little more restless than usual - so if you're trying to spot a liar, be sure to consider the context of the conversation.

Sometimes, our reaction to things can also be influenced by the people, places and things around us, even if the information is presented to us in the most neutral way possible. It may affect how we think of people when we're trying to decide if they are lying. This is called unconscious bias, and you can find out more about that here.

"The eyes never lie" is a fairly common received wisdom when it comes to deception detection, but is it actually true?

Well, to be blunt, no it isn't - at least not according to most research. A recent study from the University of Gothenburg examined research from 50 experts over a period of five years on whether it's possible to detect a liar.

During this study, they took a glance at the popular claim that liars will often avert their gaze when being questioned. The study showed that 82% of experts agreed that liars were no more likely to shift their gaze than a person telling the truth.

Similarly, many found that behaviours like fidgeting, nervousness and response time were not clear indicators that a person was lying either.

While the eyes might lie (and the hips are TBD), there are still some signs worth looking out for - or, more accurately, listening out for.

Around 72% of experts in the Gothenburg study agreed that liars tend to provide fewer details than truth tellers, and the verbal cues didn't end there.

Probably the easiest way to tell a fact from a fib is through 'statement-evidence' inconsistency. This is when the words a person says don't line up with the available evidence. For example, if you have a video of someone stealing some sweets, and they still claim not to have done it, this is a pretty obvious sign that they're lying.

Another possible verbal sign of lying is when a person's tale is full of 'complicators'. A 'complicator' is an unnecessary detail added to a story that makes it more confusing to follow.

So, all in all, lying is a pretty difficult thing to spot - most of the time, anyway. But perhaps more importantly, why would anyone lie in the first place…?

There are an awful lot of reasons someone might tell a lie, and while honesty is usually the best policy, it’s difficult to argue that all lies are created equal.

For example, telling a friend their new haircut looks great, even if you don't actually like it, is a more understandable reason to lie because you are trying to protect their feelings. This kind of lie is sometimes referred to as a 'white lie'.

On the flip side, someone lying about committing a crime to try and escape punishment would be a lot more serious. If you are a witness to a crime, and choose to lie in court while under oath (that's when you have made a formal, legally binding promise to tell the truth) then you have committed perjury, which is a serious offence that can result in a prison sentence.

The Traitors is a perfect example of when being dishonest is acceptable, as a game show a little lying is required to win, but because it's a fun, controlled environment and the lie is part of the game, it is unlikely to affect things in the real world.

Similar to a family game of Werewolf or Among Us, this is a situation in which lying is expected - it's part of the rules of the game and so doesn't carry the same weight as lying in your day-to-day life, where dishonesty could hurt or impact people or situations around you.

Series one of The Celebrity Traitors debuted on BBC One and iPlayer on October 2025 - and is back for its second instalment in 2026. Following the same format of The Traitors, celebrities take part instead of civilians and play to win the prize money for their chosen charity.

The Celebrity Traitors starts on Thursday 1 October 2026 at 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The series will air two nights a week on Thursday and Friday evenings at 8pm.

Filmed in May and June 2026, famous faces taking part in the 2026 series include:

• Amol Rajan
• Bella Ramsey
• James Acaster
• James Blunt
• Jerry Hall
• Joanne McNally
• Joe Lycett
• Julie Hesmondhalgh
• King Kenny
• Leigh-Anne Pinnock
• Maya Jama
• Michael Sheen
• Miranda Hart
• Myha’la
• Professor Hannah Fry
• Richard E. Grant
• Rob Beckett
• Romesh Ranganathan
• Ross Kemp
• Sebastian Croft
• Sharon Rooney

Hosted by Ed Gamble, the official video podcast - The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked - also returns to BBC One, BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds on Thursday 1 October at 9.15pm.

In March 2026, BBC confirmed it had secured the future of the hit show, confirming a new three‑year deal that will keep both The Traitors and The Celebrity Traitors on BBC One and BBC iPlayer until at least 2030.

A release date for series five of The Traitors, filmed in the summer of 2026, has yet to be confirmed. But it is expected to air in early 2027.

This article was written in October 2025 and updated in September 2026

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