The Traitors Australia is returning for its third season in 2026, bringing a fresh host, a new spooky residence and a cast filled with some of your fave reality television personalities.
Former Big Brother Australia host (and living legend) Gretel Killeen has taken over hosting duties from actor Rodger Corser, overseeing the contestants as they lie, scheme and attempt to unmask the treacherous Traitors hiding among them.
Season three was filmed at Claremont Castle in Timaru, New Zealand, rather than the Robertson Hotel in the NSW Southern Highlands, which hosted the first two seasons.
The new season features 22 stars from 12 reality shows, including The Bachelor’s Keira Maguire and Alex Nation, Australian Survivor champion Shane Gould, Big Brother’s Tully Smyth, MasterChef Australia favourite Alvin Quah and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under diva Kween Kong.
The Traitors franchise has quickly become an international phenomenon — with breakout celebrity-packed seasons in the US and UK — but if you’re a newcomer to the show, you might be wondering: umm, what is this happening? Thankfully, we’ve got you covered.
How does The Traitors Australia work?
The Traitors Australia is a psychological strategy game divided between the majority of Faithfuls and a smaller group of secretly selected Traitors.
While the Faithful must work out who is lying to them, the Traitors try to remain undetected as one by one, they remove their opponents. Each night, the Traitors meet privately and choose one contestant to ‘murder’, immediately eliminating that person from the competition.
The remaining players discover who has been murdered when the contestant fails to appear at breakfast the following morning. Brutal, right?
Each day, everyone participates in missions that add money to the prize pool. Certain challenges may also offer players a Shield, protecting its holder from being murdered that night.
At the Round Table, the contestants discuss their suspicions before voting to banish one player they believe is a Traitor. The eliminated contestant then reveals whether they were a Faithful or a Traitor — and the unmasking brings big drama. Fun!
How do you win The Traitors Australia?
To win as a Faithful, contestants must survive until the end and successfully banish every remaining Traitor. Any Faithful players left after all the Traitors have been removed share the accumulated prize money.
However, if even one Traitor remains undetected at the end, the Traitor can claim the prize instead. This means contestants must decide whether to end the game or continue banishing players if they suspect an enemy is still among them. The Traitors must build trust, misdirect suspicion and sometimes sacrifice one of their own to avoid being exposed.
How are the Traitors chosen?
The host (aka Gretel) secretly selects the Traitors at the beginning of the game, usually after speaking with contestants about whether they would prefer to play as a Traitor or Faithful.
The chosen players are identified privately while the group sits together. Everyone else becomes a Faithful. The Traitors then meet in secret in episode one, where they learn one another’s identities and begin planning how to deceive the rest of the contestants.
How many Traitors are there?
The exact number of Traitors can vary between seasons and may not be revealed to the Faithful contestants.
The game generally begins with a small group of Traitors — typically three people but sometimes four — hidden among a much larger group of Faithfuls. More Traitors can also be recruited during the competition, particularly after one is banished. This uncertainty makes the game harder, as the Faithfuls cannot be certain when every Traitor has been eliminated.
Can the Traitors murder another Traitor?
No, the Traitors cannot normally select another Traitor as their nightly murder victim. Murders are used to eliminate Faithful contestants who pose a threat to their game.
However, Traitors can turn against one another at the Round Table and vote to banish a fellow Traitor. They may do this to protect their own identity, gain the Faithfuls’ trust or remove another Traitor they believe could expose them.
What happens if a Traitor reaches the final?
When the remaining contestants decide to end the game, if a Traitor is still standing, the Faithfuls lose and the Traitor can claim the prize pool. This is why the finalists must decide whether they genuinely believe every Traitor has been banished.
The Australian version has a history of chaotic finales. Season one Traitor, Alex Duggan, successfully deceived the final Faithful and collected the entire $250,000 prize.
However, nobody won the $208,000 accumulated during season two after the finalists all attempted to steal the money during the concluding Traitors’ Dilemma — the messiest of endings.
Can more than one person win The Traitors Australia?
Yes. Multiple Faithful contestants can win if they reach the end and successfully remove every Traitor, with the prize divided among them.
Multiple Traitors can reach the final, but in the Australian version, this meant that the remaining Traitors must choose whether to share or steal the money, meaning several players could split the prize — or everyone could leave with nothing if they all choose to steal.
What is the prize money?
The contestants are playing for a prize pool worth up to roughly $250,000 in silver bars. But the exact total depends on how much money the group earns during the missions.
The third season of Traitors Australia premieres on Network 10 and 10Play on August 4, 2026.
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