Claudia Winkleman is set to host a second series of The Traitors on BBC after the surprise success of the first edition of the show, according to sources.

Show bosses saw the first run of the show turn into a smash hit last year, which drew in 4.6 million viewers for its finale just before Christmas.

The series follows 22 players as they are split into loyal 'faithfuls' or dastardly 'traitors', as the players try and figure out who amongst them is betraying them.

The second series is due to start filming this summer and will once again be set at the 19th century Ardross Castle, 25 miles north of Inverness.

A show source said: “These days almost every new series is a reboot of something that's gone before.

They continued to The Mirror: "So it's really nice to try something fresh – and for it to do well. The Traitors got everyone talking, so bringing it back was a no-brainer. Claudia was perfect."

Described as the Highland Hunger Games, the gameshow sees contestants attempt to work out who among them is the traitor as they stay at a castle in rural Scotland.

Meanwhile, the chosen traitors are tasked with going undetected while choosing one of the other contestants to “murder” each night.

The first version of the series was won by Hannah Byczkowski, Aaron Evans and Meryl Williams, who split the £100,000 prize money between them unmasking the remaining two Traitors Kieran and Wilfred in a dramatic finale.

At the launch of the series, Claudia laughed: "I was in deep. I cry at the end. I haven't cried in, like, 20 series of Strictly – with this I was on the floor sobbing. Inconsolable.

"It's a game of smarts, not a game of luck.

"It's a game of wit. It's an awful lot of money. I was myself and at the end I'm sobbing on the floor. There are so many twists."

The UK version of The Traitors is based on a Dutch version called De Verraders, which is produced by Marc Pos.

Following the success of the show, the BBC also began airing the US version of the series, which is hosted by actor Alan Cumming and was even filmed in the same location as the UK one.

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