'I'm a TV superfan - these are the three most likely winners of Celebrity Traitors'

Claudia Winkleman has made the ultimate comeback for the UK's inaugural celebrity edition of The Traitors. The beloved BBC murder mystery returned with a bang on Wednesday night (October 8), and it certainly didn't disappoint as millions of viewers tuned in for the highly anticipated launch show. The cherished reality show debuted in 2022, where viewers watched the ultimate Traitor Wilfred Webster's downfall by three Faithfuls, Harry Clark's jaw-dropping double-cross, and Leanne Quigley and Jake Brown's emotional victory in the third series earlier this year.

Since its debut, the show of gameplay and trickery has stolen the hearts of the nation, scooping up countless awards at the BAFTAs for its memorable TV moments and suspense-filled challenges.Now the show is back with a glamorous twist as 19 celebrities swap their lavish lifestyles for one of murder and mischief in the heart of the Scottish Highlands.

In the ultimate game of trickery, backstabbing, and faith, host Claudia Winkleman will select three players to take on the role of the Traitor. They will collectively murder one of the remaining Faithfuls each night while attempting to remain under the radar.

The cast will also take part in a series of challenges, which will push them to their limits while keeping their true identities concealed. But will this year's Traitors be able to fool the rest of the cast, or will the team fall apart at the seams before it's even begun?

For the epic show, TV legends including Stephen Fry and Jonathan Ross, sportsmen Joe Marler and Tom Daly, and Alan Carr, and Clare Balding put on their best poker faces. Joining them in the infamous Ardross Castle are performers Mark Bonnar and Ruth Codd, YouTuber Niko Omilana and actor Celia Imrie, and vocalists Paloma Faith, Charlotte Church and Cat Burns.

Also donning their detective hats are Kate Garraway, David Olusoga, Tameka Empson, comedians Joe Wilkinson, Lucy Beaumont, and Nick Mohammed. Unlike the usual version, the celebrity line-up is playing to win to pocket a cash prize of £100,000 for a charity of their choice.

The award-winning psychological game will air two nights a week on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but for the opening episode, viewers were treated to a 70-minute special as this year's Traitors began plotting in the tower. Now that the series is well underway, let's break down the show's glamorous comeback.

As a loyal fan of the series, I believe this star-studded special has the potential to be the best series yet. The show wasted no time before establishing a few format changes, and it's fair to say the stars definitely got stuck in.

This year, Claudia ditched the traditional Harry Potter-esque train ride for a muddier affair. Instead, the celebs were hit with reality when they were driven to the graveyard and set an opening challenge to dig through the freshly settled soil on their graves in search of six available shields.

As much as I love the quaint journey in, it was great to see them throwing their glamorous facades to one side and scurrying around in the dirt, desperately searching for shields. The lucky recipients included Jonathan Ross, Kate Garraway, rugby player Joe Marler, comedian Joe Wilkinson, and singer Charlotte Church.

But comedian Nick Mohammed certainly raised a few eyebrows minutes into the show after he immediately dropped his spade and ran over to Celia's grave to help her dig. He declared: "My aim was to try and get Celia a shield because I love her," but many couldn't help but be suspicious of another motive behind his kind actions.

And he wasn't the only star who sent tongues wagging after Clare Balding suffered a fatal error during the first team task. The group was tasked with pushing an enormous Trojan Horse across the highlands and through four gates, each with a question at the entryway, in a bid to pocket £15,000.

The team would need to correctly answer a question to grant safe passage or forfeit one of the six shields. As they pondered over the impossible Shakespeare question, Clare took it upon herself to pop in a guess, completely unaware that they could only submit their first answer.

Their unusual actions made for quite the watercooler moment when the cast returned to the castle, as they attempted to suss out the newly appointed traitors after the nail-biting round table. Could they be easy targets for the Traitors to eliminate? Or will they become an easy scapegoat at the next round table discussion?

After appointing Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross, and Cat Burns as this year's Traitors, the trio made quite the unusual team, but I fear Alan's tell-tale sweating and uncontrollable motormouth could be their downfall. The bubbly comedian is bound to be similar to everyone's favourite Traitor, Linda Rands, who famously won over the hearts of the nation with her accidental slip-ups on the show.

Jonathan Ross is another big character to have on the team, but I think the talk show host will do a good job of hiding his motives and utilising his detective skills on The Masked Singer to steer the Faithfuls the other way. Alternatively, I think Cat Burns will fly under the radar and become quite the calculated wallflower, pulling more of the strings in the background.

For the final mission, the Traitors were tasked with committing their first murder in plain sight, marking their first victim with the pollen of a poisoned flower, with their eventual death set to occur 24 hours later. It was at this point that Alan's faults bubbled to the surface, loudly and openly discussing a plan of action with Cat at the bar.

During a brief meeting, the trio put their faith in his hands to commit the dirty deed, so only time will tell if he has the skill to pull off the murderous act. But despite becoming an instant favourite with the viewers at home, it's only a matter of time before the Traitors turn on the funnyman and remove him from the castle.

After watching the first gripping episode, my predictions for this year's series are that comedian Nick Mohammed and Celia Imrie will be among the first contestants to be murdered on the show due to their high intelligence and cunning detective skills. I think Cat Burns will be a dark horse in the series and could be the last Traitor standing in the final, battling it out to go unnoticed by Faithfuls Tom Daley and Paloma Faith.

But only time will tell which contestant will play the game perfectly, and I can't wait to watch every morsel unfold on screen. Celebrity Traitors airs on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9pm on BBC One or catch up on BBC iPlayer.