‘Wild and chaotic’ is how British viewers are describing the long-awaited season two premiere of The Traitors.

(Minor spoilers ahead.) 

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the BBC One series follows 22 strangers as they arrive at a castle in the Scottish Highlands to play “the ultimate game of detection, backstabbing and trust” in the hope of winning up to £120,000.

Amongst them are “Traitors”, a group of contestants selected by Winkleman whose job is to “murder” their remaining players – the “Faithfuls” – while remaining undetected to steal the final prize fund for themselves.

Season one was an unprecedented smash hit for the BBC, particularly amongst the LGBTQIA+ community as a result of the various queer contestants, dramatic gameplay and Winkelman’s camp-as-tits role as host.

The Traitors returned with its highly-anticipated second season on Wednesday 3 January; the premiere aired at 9pm, with the following two episodes streaming shortly after on BBC iPlayer.

In the first episode, Winkelman selected three Traitors: Ash Bibi, a 45-year-old events coordinator from London, Harry Clark, a 22-year-old army engineer from Slough, and Paul Gorton, a 36-year-old business manager from Manchester.

The host later revealed that the trio would reconvene later that evening to recruit another Faithful into their line-up.

After considering Andrew Jenkins, a 45-year-old insurance broker from Talbot Green, and Diane, a 63-year-old retired teacher from Lancashire, the Traitors unanimously agreed on Miles Asteri, a 36-year-old veterinary nurse from Worcestershire.

Episodes two and three continued to see the cast embark on challenges to add money to the prize fund, while two contestants were “murdered” by the Traitors and another was banished at the first, drama-filled Round Table.

Unsurprisingly, the return of the series elicited an enormous response on social media – especially Gay Twitter. Again, the diverse roster of contestants was applauded by viewers, in addition to the plethora of twists and turns and Winkleman’s performance.

For immediately “sussing out” the Traitors, Diane was singled out by countless viewers. Rylan Clark even tweeted, “Never been more afraid of being found out by her and I’m not even a traitor on the show.”

See the best reactions below.

https://twitter.com/drewbagss/status/1742834236468449782

The second season of The Traitors will run for 12 episodes.

Three episodes will air weekly on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Check out the full release schedule below.

Wednesday, January 3 (episode 1)

Thursday, January 4 (episode 2)

Friday, January 5 (episode 3)

Wednesday, January 10 (episode 4)

Thursday, January 11 (episode 5)

Friday, January 12 (episode 6)

Wednesday, January 17 (episode 7)

Thursday, January 18 (episode 8)

Friday, January 19 (episode 9)

Wednesday, January 24 (episode 10)

Thursday, January 25 (episode 11)

Friday, January 26 (episode 12)Wild and chaotic’ is how British viewers are describing the long-awaited season two premiere of The Traitors.