Final of BBC’s Celebrity Traitors secures overnight audience of 11.1 million

The final episode of The Celebrity Traitors was watched by an average of 11.1 million, with a peak of 12 million, the BBC said.

The programme, which was won by traitor Alan Carr on Thursday, secured the biggest overnight audience for the BBC since the final episode of Gavin And Stacey aired on Christmas Day last year and drew an average of 12.3 million.

The debut episode of the BBC One spin-off is now the biggest unscripted title on broadcaster VOD (video-on-demand) ever, according to the BBC.

Comedian Carr said it was “amazing” to be crowned the winner of Celebrity Traitors, joking that he had gained a “taste for killing”.

Carr, 49, burst into tears after he revealed to the remaining faithfuls – comedian Nick Mohammed and historian David Olusoga – that he was a traitor during Thursday night’s finale.

In a video posted on BBC iPlayer’s Instagram account, Carr said: “It feels absolutely amazing to be crowned the winner of Traitors. I mean, who even knew that this would happen?

“I mean, I have, I think, surprised the nation. And most importantly, I’ve surprised myself. I’m still in shock.”

Carr said his favourite moment was actress Celia’s Imrie’s fart, while his favourite “kill” was comedian Lucy Beaumont.

“And you know what? I got such a taste for killing,” he added. “It was nice to see their eyes as I murdered them. What have I become?

“This whole experience has been mind-blowing. It’s been wonderful. It has changed me, I think, as a person and I’ve absolutely loved it. But you know, all good things must come to an end.”

Carr was overcome with emotion on Thursday night’s programme as he declared: “I am and have always been a traitor.”

He added: “I’m so sorry, it’s been tearing me apart.”

The episode was reportedly accidentally leaked online ahead of being aired on the BBC, in a mistake by Canadian streaming site Crave.

It saw Carr reveal to the faithfuls the identity of the other traitors, singer Cat Burns and presenter Jonathan Ross, who was banished at a roundtable earlier on in the series, leaving Mohammed to cover his mouth in shock.

Appearing on BBC Breakfast on Friday, Burns said: “You have to just be yourself.

“Alan is just naturally really funny and he commands the room, and the best way to disarm someone is: make them laugh.

“Because that’s just him, he stayed himself throughout and so his behaviour didn’t seem suspicious to people.”

Carr had declared that his prize money, which amounted to £87,500, would go to a children’s cancer charity for neuroblastoma.

In a message posted on Neuroblastoma UK’s social media pages on Friday, the charity said: “Alan, what a moment. We can’t tell you how grateful we are.”

Olusoga told Sky News on Friday that appearing on the show gave him a welcome chance to escape the everyday.

“We rarely have a chance to step out of our normal lives. It’s very easy to get stuck in your own rut as an adult,” he said.

“To be plucked out of your world, to have your phone taken away from you, to be put in this entirely new environment – this amazing, surreal environment – with these amazing people – it was like the first day of university again, it was like starting a new school. It was wonderful.”

Host Claudia Winkleman posted a photo of herself and Carr on her own Instagram account on Friday morning and wrote: “Thank you so so much for watching. Every single one of the cast – utterly outstanding. And this one. We’ll see you soon xx.”

Elsewhere, murdered player Tom Daley tagged Carr in a video he posted of him knitting a Traitors-themed jumper.

The final episode saw the remaining players complete their last mission, where they had to board the Traitors Express steam train to crack a series of codes to find missing keys and win money for the prize pot before explosives were detonated.

Burns was then eliminated from the game following an alliance between former rugby player Joe Marler and Mohammed, who convinced Olusoga to also vote for the singer.

The remaining players were not told that they had successfully banished a traitor from the game and faced a second roundtable which saw Marler leave the game after a shock vote from Mohammed, who turned against him after becoming suspicious of the faithful.

The remaining three unanimously decided to end the game, sealing Carr’s fate as the series’ winner.

Throughout the series, Carr and Burns “murdered” a string of faithfuls, including Imrie, Beaumont and Daley, while faithfuls including actor Sir Stephen Fry, presenter Clare Balding and actor Mark Bonnar fell under suspicion and were banished by their fellow contestants.

Since the UK version began in 2022, millions of fans have watched The Traitors on the BBC and it has picked up a Bafta TV Award for best reality and constructed factual programme and best entertainment performance for Winkleman.

This was the first UK celebrity series of the popular reality show and has been a ratings hit for the BBC.