Wait, Was 'The Traitors' Actually Filmed in Scotland? Season 1 Cast Talk Living in a Castle (EXCLUSIVE)
Updated Jan. 10 2024, 12:47 p.m. ET
Hosted by the iconic Alan Cumming, Peacock's The Traitors is a game of lies and deception.
The latest reality show follows more than a dozen famous contestants who come together at a mysterious Scottish castle to compete against each other for a huge cash prize. (No, it's not another new Knives Out mystery.)
In this mafia-style game, contestants are secretly dubbed "the traitors." Their goal? To steal the cash prize from the other contestants deemed, "the faithful."
Treachery aside (Hey, can you blame them? It's a cash prize of up to $250,000!) we wanted to know if The Traitors actually filmed at a real castle in Scotland.
Ahead of the first season in January 2023, Distractify spoke exclusively with a few of the celeb contestants, who dished on The Traitors — here's what they had to say about where the show was filmed. And, spoiler alert, it's the same location for Season 2 of The Traitors.
Where was Peacock's 'The Traitors' filmed?
The Traitors was actually filmed at a real-life Scottish castle on the property's grounds. Alan — who is the host of the Peacock series — revealed to us that filming in his home country was a big factor in why he chose the job.
"I love working in Scotland," he said. "And it was kind of glamorous, actually, because I had a room...I didn't actually stay in the castle. But I had a room when I got ready and my clothes and it was vast. And with a gigantic bed, which I laid in a lot at the time."
Alan was grateful to the production crew, explaining, "They just feed you and look after you and I actually really enjoyed it. And it was like being in a sort of what do you call it, an immersive piece of theater. I would walk out of my room and I'd be in on the set enough to sort of become the character."
For other contestants, competing on a show while living in a grandiose castle was certainly not a bad day job.
"Everything was so green and lush and gorgeous. And just being able to travel after COVID was so nice, to be in this gorgeous place. Living in a castle is not a horrible job," Brandi Glanville joked.
Arie Luyendyk Jr. echoed Brandi's love for Scotland, adding, "I've never been to Scotland before. It was really beautiful there. The castle is incredible. Staying there was really interesting. Being in a massive castle with all the other classmates ... so for me, the experience is really cool."
When was Season 2 of 'The Traitors' filmed?
Although the entire second season of The Traitors doesn't drop all at once on Peacock, the season was filmed quite some time before its January 2024 premiere. Much of the cast was spotted in the U.K. for filming in September 2023, which means, at the time of the Season 2 premiere, filming for the season was already over.
You can find new episodes of The Traitors on Fridays, only on Peacock.