The Traitors and The Traitors US spoilers follow.
Reality series The Traitors was the must-watch show of the end of 2022, with host Claudia Winkleman presiding over 22 contestants as they tried to work out who among them were the 'Traitors' and who were the 'Faithful' while competing to win a prize pot of £120,000.
Now there is The Traitors US, an American version presented by Scottish actor Alan Cumming, but while the setting is the same – the striking Ardross Castle in Alness, Scotland – the game feels very different: this time, it's mean.
There are a variety of minor changes that add up to give The Traitors US a more sniping tone than its British counterpart, and one key change to consider as well.
Firstly, the 20 contestants in the US version are nothing like the competitors in the British one. The British contestants were all everyday members of the public, and the majority were pretty likeable, too, from sweet property agent Aaron and doctor Amos to fan-favourite retiree Andrea (whose murder by the Traitors we haven't yet recovered from).
Watching the British series, you really got the feeling that some of these people would meet up again once the cameras finished filming, that genuine friendships had been made and that (most) of the contestants had signed up for the challenge of it all and for some fun, rather than to launch their TV careers.
The contestants in the US version are starkly different. A few of the competitors are 'regular' people – including veteran Christian, hair stylist Anjelica and DMV office manager Michael – but half of the players are reality TV stars, many of whom have already appeared in competitions where you have to outfox your opponents to stay in the show, such as Survivor and Big Brother.
To change the dynamic even further, some of these stars already know each other, having met at parties and events in the past. And some of them really, really don't like each other, right from day one, and their big personalities start to clash from the moment they enter the castle. (Choice moments from episode one: reality star Reza walking into the 19th-century baronial estate and pompously declaring to anyone passing that "these are not the original floors," and Rachel from Big Brother declaring to the camera that, "I'm kind of an icon.")
In an interview with Metro, The Traitors US host Alan Cumming even had a little dig himself at the reality-star contestants who turned up at Ardross Castle.
"The thing I would say, if we do a season two, I would like the photographs that I am given of the celebrities at the start of the show – to learn who is who and to practice knowing their names – I would like those photographs to be post their plastic surgery," he said. "Because that was not the case this time around. A couple of people, I was like, 'That’s not them!' Then I realised it was them, they just had some work done for the show."
(Not only that, but unlike the British version, the US contestants never seem to go to bed or turn up for breakfast without a full face of make-up on).
Of course, having a group of often vain and pampered reality stars dropped into a castle in the middle of the Scottish Highlands does provide for some very funny television, too.
None of them seem to have packed for the unpredictable Scottish weather – Traitors UK host Claudia Winkleman noted in an interview that during filming for her series, "the weather systems were bonkers. At one point I went on my weather app and it literally just said no idea mate, good luck, take a bikini and a cagoule."
So you have Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Brandi Glanville in a designer poncho and leggings, hilariously muttering "We don't run in Beverly Hills" during the fast-paced hide-and-seek challenge. Yes, that challenge where time is ticking because her team members are buried alive and waiting to be dug up (it's even funnier watching Below Deck's Kate Chastain trying not to get graveside mud on her leather jeans).
The age of the contestants is different, too. The youngest US competitors are 28-year-olds Christian and Anjelica, most of the group are in their thirties or early forties and the oldest are 48-year-old Reza (from TV's Shahs Of Sunset), 49-year-old Real Housewives star Brandi and 51-year-old Cirie, who is best known for competing on four seasons of Survivor.
The British version had much more of a mix of ages, from four contestants in their early twenties (Imran, Aisha, Alyssa and Matt) to more senior game players Amanda (54), Fay (59) and, of course, 72-year-old Andrea.
That mix made for a rather cuddly dynamic as some of the younger competitors made friends with older ones, and there were some lovely moments as fitter, younger contestants supported and cheered on those older and less able.
It's all backstabbing and betrayal in the US version (which, of course, makes for some great TV), and there is none of the camaraderie of the British Traitors to be seen.
Of course, that ruthless competitiveness could be because the prize pot is much bigger – $250,000 (approximately £206,000) compared to £120,000, and also because a couple of the more fun challenges (such as the sheep-herding) that got the teams to bond in the British version are nowhere to be seen in the US one.
But the biggest change to the feel of The Traitors is down to one key element – the presenter.
While Claudia Winkleman in the British version may have tried to remain cool, aloof and impartial – when the series launched, she said in an interview that she was "a bit crueller" than you'd expect – it was soon apparent that not only did Claudia love the show, she loved all the competitors, too, and by the finale she looked like she would explode if she didn't get a chance to hug the winners.
"I'm rooting for them [the Traitors] so much but at the same time, when the Faithful finally get a Traitor out, you can't believe it – I felt so much emotion," she said as the show launched. "I wanted to cry with joy at that roundtable. Somebody turns around, says, 'I am a Traitor' and the room just explodes. Can you tell I am dangerously into this show?"
She also admitted she was "obsessed" with The Traitors during filming, adding: "We all were – the camera department, sound, make-up and set design – we would just watch the contestants constantly, because they are filmed all the time. There are hidden cameras everywhere. That's all we did – we didn't discuss anything else!"
Part of the joy of the British version is how emotionally invested Claudia was, as she cheered them on, appeared at the traitors’ secret meetings (which Alan Cumming doesn’t do in the US version) and looked genuinely gutted when certain players were murdered or banished.
"I didn't want to be too cruel," she said, "because I'm on their side. But the problem is I'm on all their sides. I want the Traitors to win and I also want the Faithfuls to catch them. It's confusing, it's like having an affair or something."
Her approach – cool on the outside but with glimpses of the warmth she was desperately trying to suppress peaking through – made the British version more watchable and, yes, far nicer than its US equivalent.
Alan Cumming does a great job of being an impartial, and even slightly wicked (throwing the exiled players' paintings on the floor) host, and he admitted in an interview with Metro that he looked at the job as an acting role that distanced him from the contestants.
"The character I play – it's me hosting it, but there's obviously a character – and the character is very haughty," he said.
His put-on demeanour does entertain, especially in a castle filled with oversized egos, but it's just not the same as watching Claudia jump with joy as her players completed a nerve-wracking mission or won extra money for the prize pot.
All we can hope is that if and when a second series of the British The Traitors is made (there are rumours an announcement on that will be made soon, watch this space), it will remain as tense, dramatic and weirdly lovely as the first season (no reality stars, please), and once again feature Claudia Winkleman as The Traitors' perfect host.
The Traitors aired on BBC One and is available on BBC iPlayer. The Traitors US is currently airing on BBC One and BBC Three and is available on BBC iPlayer in the UK. It streams on Peacock in the US.
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