A massive hit! Celebrity Traitors enjoys 'largest ever launch' in record ratings

The Celebrity Traitors has returned with a bang, with last night's premiere episode breaking an all-time record for the franchise. The season two opener provided plenty of TV gold moments, not least thanks to Richard E Grant and Ross Kemp.

And it seems plenty of viewers tuned in, with the episode attracting 8.9 million viewers, peaking at 9 million, according to Deadline.

This makes it the biggest opener for a Traitors series, both celebrity and civilian, and 3 million more than tuned in to the opener of last year's debut Celebrity Traitors.

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As mentioned, one of the most-talked-about moments among the new celebrity contestants was Grant, who said he was a Traitor in front of the others. While most of the others reckoned he was joking (he wasn't), Grant confessed to camera that it "may be the biggest mistake I've ever made in my life".

Opening up about the shock moment, executive producer Sarah Fay told Digital Spy and other media: "It was a mixture of a little bit of sick coming up in my mouth, and a [air] punch at the same time, it was – we’ve never had anything like that happen before.

"Within five minutes of being out of the Round Table, he’d already mucked up! How iconic."

She continued: "And as producers, you always want to make sure the series is fresh, and new, and we’ve been very lucky so far… Every single series, the cast brings something different.

"But never in our wildest dreams did we think that we’d have a Traitor admit they were a Traitor five minutes after the Round Table!"

In Digital Spy's review of the new season, we said: "From the premiere episode alone, we'd say that the BBC has cracked it with the second season of Celebrity Traitors. Dare we say it? Maybe they've even done one better."

The Celebrity Traitors airs on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International.  Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' as a sub-editor.