The second episode of Celebrity Traitors drew a peak audience of 8.6 million viewers.

Launching on Thursday, the second series of the BBC gameshow delivered the highest-rated debut episode in the UK history of the programme, registering an average of 8.9 million viewers.

In the second episode, journalist Amol Rajan was murdered by traitors Maya Jama and Richard E Grant, while comedian James Acaster was recruited to become the third traitor.

The episode ended on a dramatic cliffhanger after actor Richard E Grant faced intense scrutiny during the first roundtable, having previously made a slip-up and admitted he was a traitor, leaving viewers unaware of who had been banished from the castle.

The BBC has now confirmed that the season’s second installment reached a peak audience of 8.6m viewers, with an average of 8.5m and an audience share of 55.5 per cent.

Following claims by several contestants that Grant was the primary candidate for banishment, the actor mounted a defence during the roundtable.

He said: “Well, the game had actually started, I was so relieved that it started because I had been so blatant about saying I came into this thing and it’s called Traitors, because I wanted to be a traitor.

“So when I walked into the bar, somebody said, ‘so you’re a faithful or a traitor?’, and I said, ‘I’m a traitor’, of course.”

This current season of Celebrity Traitors features a star-studded cast including Grant, Love Island host Jama, actor Bella Ramsey, singer James Blunt, actor Julie Hesmondhalgh, content creator King Kenny and Little Mix star Leigh-Anne Pinnock.

A lineup of six comedians is also competing – Acaster, Joanne McNally, Joe Lycett, Miranda Hart, Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.

Completing the group are actors Michael Sheen and Myha’la, broadcaster and mathematician Professor Hannah Fry, actor and presenter Ross Kemp, musician and actor Sebastian Croft, and actor Sharon Rooney.

Speaking after finding out his fate on Friday’s episode, Rajan said: “It’s game over. It’s gutting to be the first out but James is a fantastic player and I guess people aren’t going to suspect him, and they might suspect me.”

Helmed by Claudia Winkleman, the hit show follows 21 celebrity contestants trying to seek out the traitors in their midst who secretively “kill off” fellow players in the middle of the night.

The celebrity spin-off’s inaugural series launched last autumn to an overnight viewing figure of 6.1 million, BBC data shows.

It proved a major success for the broadcaster, culminating in a dramatic finale that peaked at 15.4 million viewers – the largest television audience recorded in 2025.

The standard civilian version of The Traitors, which debuted in 2022, similarly performed strongly, attracting an overnight audience of 6.4 million for its latest series launch in January.

Its concluding episode registered the highest viewership in that edition’s history, hitting a peak audience of 9.6 million.

Celebrity Traitors continues on Thursday at 8pm on BBC One.