Peacock Books a January Return to Scotland for 'The Traitors' Season 3

With Halloween in our collective rearview mirror, most have turned their eyes toward the holiday season and the impending delights of Thanksgiving and Christmas. (Heck, a disturbing number of stores had festive decor on display last week.) But for those of us who are television fans, we're looking toward something greater --- the return of Peacock's The Traitors. And it's so much closer than most of us had anticipated. 

The reality TV juggernaut, which features nearly two dozen reality stars descending upon a Scottish castle where Masterpiece Myster's Alan Cumming encourages them to lie, betray, and (metaphorically) murder one another for money, has been an incredible success for NBC, and one of Peacocks's few genuine breakout hits. Season 2 became the No. 1 unscripted series in the U.S. during the week of its release and maintained high viewership numbers throughout its run. Cumming himself just won an Emmy for his hosting duties, which largely consist of wearing a series of fabulous outfits and occasionally quoting Shakespeare as he bemusedly watches the cast compete in a variety of increasingly ridiculous challenges. 

During an appearance on The Today Show,  Cumming announced that the series would return for its third season in January. 

He was predictably evasive about what viewers can expect from the new season, however. 

“I’ll just say one word: brutal,” he told the Today hosts. "You know the round table thing? There's one...I thought I was going to have to break up a fight."

The Traitors' premise will be familiar to anyone who ever played Assassin (or Mafia or any one of a dozen other games) while away at college. Several members of the cast are assigned to play the roles of "Traitors," who must work together to eliminate the majority, known as the "Faithfuls" The Faithfuls know that Traitors are among them, but their identities are kept secret.

Viewers at home learn who has been selected to be a Traitor in each season's first episode, and the game alternates between phases as the Faithfuls try to identify the Traitors, the Traitors gleefully select a Faithful to "murder" each night, and both compete in a series of competitions to earn money for the prize fund awarded at the end of the game. 

If the Faithful can banish all the Traitors, the surviving contestants who make it to the end of the game can split the cash, but if one Traitor remains among them, that person takes it all. While this may sound very silly, in practice, it makes for wildly addictive television as massive lies are told, betrayals are plotted, and dramatic accusations are flung with abandon.

Season 3's cast includes stars from 14 different reality properties, including Survivor's infamous (Boston) Rob Mariano, Big Brother legend Danielle Reyes, Bob the Drag Queen from RuPaul's Drag Race, Chrishell Stause from Selling Sunset, and Tom Sandoval from Vanderpump Rules. There's also a British royal (Lord Ivar Mountbatten) and Zac Efron's younger brother Dylan (who at least did appear on the health-focused docuseries Down to Earth with Zac Efron). 

Seasons 1 and 2 of The Traitors are currently streaming on Peacock, alongside both seasons of the series' U.K. version. Season 3 will premiere on January 9, 2025.