The Traitors US Season 3: Expected release date of "bloodbath", location and cast - including a British royal

Alan Cumming is back to present season three of The Traitors US. | Contributed

Season two of The Traitors was another massive hit for the BBC back in January - with millions of viewers enjoying watching 22 strangers be locked in a spooky castle, split into Traitors and Faithfuls, then encouraged to lie their way to a £120,000 top prize.

Fans now face a long wait for season three to arrive in late 2024/early 2025, with filming taking place this summer.

There was a brief end to the drought recently when the BBC belatedly dropped season two of The Traitors US - the American version of the programme hosted by Scotland’s Alan Cumming - earlier this year. Season three was quickly commissioned and has now been filmed.

Cumming won an Emmy this week for his hosting of the show and revealed some insights into the next series - but we’ll get to that.

Like season two, they are filling the castle with celebrities, although only a couple are likely to be familiar to Brits as most are famous for reality television programmes not broadcast here.

Here's what you need to know - including that cast.

Who will be appearing in season three of The Traitors US?

Here are the 21 celebrities who hae been confirmed to take part in season three:

• Rob Mariano (Survivor)
• Dorinda Medley (The Real Housewives of New York City)
• Chrishell Stause (Selling Sunset)
• Britney Haynes (Big Brother)
• Danielle Reyes (Big Brother)
• Bob the Drag Queen (RuPaul’s Drag Race)
• Wells Adams (The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise)
• Chanel Ayan (The Real Housewives of Dubai)
• Gabby Windey (The Bachelorette)
• Dylan Efron (Down to Earth with Zac Efron - and Zac Efron’s brother)
• Tony Vlachos (Survivor)
• Jeremy Collins (Survivor)
• Dolores Catania (The Real Housewives of New Jersey)
• Robyn Dixon (The Real Housewives of Potomac)
• Bob Harper (The Biggest Loser)
• Ciara Miller (Summer House)
• Lord Ivar Mountbatten (British royal)
• Carolyn Wiger (Survivor)
• Sam Asghari (model and actor - and former husband of Britney Spears)
• Tom Sandoval (Vanderpump Rules)
• Nikki Garcia (former professional wrestler)

What are the rules?

The contestants live together in a castle and work together to take on tasks to add cash to the prize pot – up to $250,000.

The complicated bit is that three of the contestants are secret Traitors, who are trying to elimiate the remaining ‘Faithful’ players to bag the money for themselves.

Each night The Traitors meet in secret to pick one of The Faithful to ‘murder’, with that contestant leaving the game immediately. The following day all the players meet around a round table to banish somebody they think is one of The Traitors – who then reveals which side they actually belong to.

At the end of the game, if only The Faithful remain they will share the money in the prize money. If one of The Traitors remains, that person will claim all the cash.

Where is The Traitors US filmed?

The Traitors US is filmed in the same castle that hosted the UK version – at Ardross Castle, situated in the Highland region of Scotland near the River Alness. Ardross Castle was originally a hunting lodge for the 1st Duke of Sutherland in the late 1700s.

In the 1880s, the lodge was redesigned as a castle in the period’s baronial style. Nowadays, it is used as a wedding and conference venue.

Who is hosting?

Scottish actor Alan Cumming is once again taking on the role played by Claudia Winkleman in the UK version of The Traitors.

Cumming first found fame in the role of the MC in the stage musical Cabaret, first in London’s West End and then in Broadway. Since then he has starred in a slew of successful television programmes and feature films, including The High Life, The Good Wife, Goldeneye, Spy Kids and X-Men 2.

He also continues to appear on stage, most recently appearing in one-man show 'Alan Cumming is not Acting His Age', which toured Scotland last year.

What has Alan Cumming said about Season 3 of The Traitors US?

Speaking to American actress Laverne Cox at the Emmys, Cumming spoke about season 3 of The Traitors US, explaining "It's brutal. Big time brutal - and what I love about this is that some of the people, like the biggest set of stars in it, go out really quickly. And what happens on this, I can't really say, of course, but it's a bloodbath, and then it gets really lovely."

When will I be able to watch The Traitors Season 3?

Don’t get too excited. It has now been confirmed that Season 3 will start on the American television channel Peacock on January 9. Then there’s the question of when people in Britain will be able to catch up. The BBC hold the rights to broadcast it here and this year waited until June to release it (around half way between series of the British original), so it could well not arrive on the BBC iPlayer until June 2025.