As far as celebrity reality shows go, the line-up for the first season of The Traitors’ star-studded counterpart is going to be a hard one to beat.

The cast of Celebrity Traitors’ inaugural outing featured a host of impressive names – including many who’d never done reality TV before – that encompassed award-winning broadcasters and actors, athletes at the top of their game, chart-topping musicians and all-round national treasures.

But as revered as many of the celebrities on the line-up were, other famous faces turned down the BBC’s offer to appear on the show outright for a variety of reasons.

With filming getting underway on season two in the not-too-distant future, here are 11 recognisable names who are reported to have said no to appearing on The Celebrity Traitors…

When The Celebrity Traitors was initially revealed to be in the works last year, Ricky Gervais was one of the first names reported to be on bosses’ wishlist.

However, he quickly made it clear that he had no intention of taking part because he’s “too busy” and, in his words, “there’s no way they could afford me”.

Jonathan Ross later claimed that Ricky phoned him about the offer, but the Office creator was unconvinced because he felt that “bigger names” would be easier targets – which the talk show host conceded after the series aired that he was completely “right” about.

Meanwhile, former Pointless presenter Richard Osman has openly said he turned down the show because there was no way for producers to guarantee his one criteria for taking part.

“I said I would only do it if I could be a Traitor,” he told Good Morning Britain in October.

He continued: “I couldn’t bear – if I [were] a Faithful – that thing where you go back to your room at night and you’re just lying there, [knowing there were] three people up in that tower, having a load of fun in cloaks and filming something.”

Apprentice staple Karren Brady made her feelings clear about Celebrity Traitors during an interview with Metro.

“I was asked and the answer was no,” she said. “One, I’ve never seen it. Two, I don’t have the time.”

She continued: “I have a full-time job and The Apprentice is filmed just in my sweet spot in the summer when the football season is over, so I can just about fit in. But that’s it.”

When the line-up for Celebrity Traitors season one was first reported in the press, money-saving expert Martin Lewis admitted he had major “FOMO” after having to reject an offer to participate.

“I was asked if I wanted to do it, but said no as I couldn’t commit the time,” he told his Instagram followers. “I hadn’t watched it then (but watched the last series after that and loved it) so now feel a little gutted – though I still don’t have the time. Sigh!”

Like Martin, Danny Dyer claimed during an episode of his podcast Live And Let Dyer that Traitors producers had been “sniffing round me” while putting together the cast of season one, but turned down them down as he’d not watched the original show at the time.

However, as the Traitors has been putting together its line-up for season two, it seems that Danny has had something of a change of heart.

“If they ask me I’ll do it, but no one’s asked me,” the Rivals actor claimed earlier this year. “I would fucking declare it. I’m not on it, you’ll see when it comes on.”

True to form, Miriam Margolyes had no issues revealing exactly why she had no intention of signing up for Celebrity Traitors.

“I was offered this job just recently – and I can’t think of anything I’d rather less do,” she insisted during a Q&A at the Cheltenham Festival. “I’m not into that. I’ve never watched it, I don’t intend to watch it.”

The Bafta winner added: “If they want to do it for money, well, that’s fair enough [but] you won’t get me on it.”

When the Celebrity Traitors line-up was first starting to take shape, comedian Daisy May Cooper was heavily rumoured to be competing alongside her brother (and This Country co-star) Charlie, with producers reported to be hoping to capitalise on the drama past seasons of the regular show where contestants have known one another outside the show.

The Sun later claimed that the duo had pulled out of the show just weeks before filming was set to begin, due to scheduling issues.

Like Danny, it seems that Daisy could potentially be putting in an appearance on season two, despite having swerved the show’s first outing.

Similarly, The Sun claimed in 2024 that tennis pro Andy Murray and his mum Judy had also been in consideration for the reality show.

However, they apparently turned it down, at which point the tabloid claimed bosses turned to Daisy May and Charlie as a duo with a family connection (in the end, none of the Celebrity Traitors wound up in the castle with people they were related to, although there were definitely connections outside the show that became part of the gameplay).

In February 2025, The Sun claimed that daytime legend Lorraine Kelly had been contacted by the BBC with an offer to appear on The Celebrity Traitors.

However, the tabloid said that while Lorraine was “flattered” to have been invited, she had to turn it down for scheduling reasons.

Lorraine later told comedian Joe Wilkinson that had she known he’d be on the line-up, she’d have been more inclined to sign up.

During an interview on Jonathan Ross’ talk show in April 2026, Anna Maxwell Martin was asked directly if she’d ever been approached about taking part in Celebrity Traitors.

The Line Of Duty star then admitted she had been, but made a realisation about the show that put her off the idea.

“I can see from the civilian one how late it gets on that show,” she explained. “That’s a Scottish summer – and they’re not leaving that castle until it gets dark. That’s 11pm, 12am… if you’re a Traitor, it’s 1am, 2am. I want to be in bed by 8pm.”

While most of the stars on this list relate to Celebrity Traitors’ first run, Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi is one of the new prolific names to have turned down season two.

Peter admitted that because the show “propels” its contestants “into the public eye” and to a “level of fame” and “exposure” that he’s personally not comfortable with, he had to say no to the offer.

From Amanda’s kamikaze mission to Fiona’s explosive argument with Rachel – not to mention, of course, that action-packed finale – season four of The Traitors has consistently had us on the edge of our seats over the last four weeks.

Now that the castle gates are closed for another season, fans around the nation will no doubt already be getting withdrawal symptoms.

Fear not, though, because lots Traitors action is coming to our screens in the near future, with plenty of shocking banishings, dramatic missions and betrayals to look forward to.

So, when are we in for the next instalment of The Traitors…?

The BBC has already confirmed another series of The Traitors is in the pipeline, and they are looking for new and willing Traitors and Faithfuls to take part.

Applications opened for the series in November last year, so if you’ve spent the last four weeks telling anyone who’d listen that you’d do a better job than the Traitors and Faithfuls in the castle, now’s your chance to prove it.

Given the last few series’ start date, it’s fair to assume that season five will air on the BBC in early January 2027.

Before The Traitors returns next year, though, we have a second season of the celebrity version coming in the autumn.

Just days after Alan Carr took the title of Celebrity Traitors champion, the BBC confirmed a second season would be airing in 2026.

While there have been no official announcements about who will take part in the series, the list of famous faces is already growing longer, with Danny Dyer, Ruth Jones and Alison Hammond among the early names tipped to be entering the castle to play the ruthless game.

“Studio Lambert have done an outstanding job as The Celebrity Traitors has well and truly captivated the nation, becoming a bona fide highlight of the year bringing record numbers of people together to enjoy every twist and turn,” Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC said about the renewal.

If you need your Traitors fix before then, though, the very first two episodes of The Traitors Ireland land on BBC iPlayer just hours after the season four finale of the UK franchise. These two episodes will also air on BBC One at 12am on Saturday 24 January.

The Traitors Ireland is hosted by Derry Girls actor Siobhán McSweeney, and sees 24 players try to survive the castle without getting murdered or banished in the hopes of winning €50,000 (around £43,000).

Instead of Ardross Castle in Scotland, The Traitors Ireland is filmed at Slane Castle in County Meath, which is around an hour’s drive north of Dublin.

A fourth season of the Alan Cumming-hosted The Traitors US is expected to arrive on BBC iPlayer later this year, too. Previous seasons of The Traitors US have appeared on iPlayer weeks after their US broadcast finished, with the current series set to come to an end in America at the end of February.

If you can’t wait until then, all three previous series of the American version of the reality show are currently available on iPlayer.

Unlike the British version of The Traitors, the American franchise has included celebrities in every series, although a non-celebrity version has been commissioned for the first time and will film later this year.

The current American celebrity version is a who’s who of famous faces, including Love Island UK’s Maura Higgins, Real Housewives legend Lisa Rinna and Taylor Swift’s soon-to-be mother-in-law Donna Kelce.

And if you haven’t already binged them, there is already a whole host of Traitors content available to watch in the UK, with seasons from the aforementioned US, as well as New Zealand and Australia on BBC iPlayer.

Eagle-eyed Traitors fans are convinced that another big reveal is coming before the end of the current series of the BBC reality show.

After each episode, companion series The Traitors: Uncloaked shows the murdered and banished contestants opening up a scroll to finally reveal to them who the Traitors are.

However, keen viewers have noticed a second scroll is sitting beside all the eliminated contestants, which has consistently remained unopened in each episode.

Previous instalments have even lingered on this second piece of paper, hinting that it may have relevance later down the line, leading fans to speculate as to whether another later-season twist or reveal is coming…