The stakes have never been higher as The Traitors Australia launches its second season, taking viewers back inside the grand old hotel full of deception, suspicion, and betrayal.
Competing in challenges, the Faithfuls will try to unmask the Traitors, while the Traitors try and ‘kill off’ all the Faithfuls.
A group of paranoid people under one roof? Let the games begin – again.
Mediaweek caught up with Paramount Network EP Ciaran Flannery ahead of the season debut at 7.30pm, Sunday August 13, on Channel 10 and 10 Play.
Ciaran Flannery
With one season of The Traitors under their belt, the team have taken a number of lessons with them into the second season. In amongst smaller more practical lessons, Flannery says there was one major point that stood out.
“You always learn a lot from season one of any show. But the biggest, most positive thing that we learned was that there’s a really, really compelling and great show in this format. We were really, really happy with season one, it was a cracker.
“The audience from beginning to end actually grew over the whole season, which is one of those things that you look at and see the potential – when something grows, it means that the audience that found it in the beginning stayed and word of mouth spread.”
The second season also offers the team the chance to elevate what they’ve already built.
“The gameplay is magical in the series,” says Flannery. “There are some little bits and pieces we’ve made some adjustments to – we’ve changed how the missions in the show work, we brought more of a team element to them. Also, as well as playing for group money, they’re also competing for an opportunity to earn the shield of protection which saves them from murder – that has really created a lot more jeopardy.”
The original season of The Traitors didn’t just find success in Australia, with the local version recently becoming a major hit in the UK. With reviews calling it “wild, magical TV”, and overseas fans of the format calling it their “favourite so far”, Flannery says that it’s been a ride that came at the perfect time.
“It was the fastest growing new format in the world coming into 2023. We were the first English-speaking territory to go out with the show, and now it’s in a multitude of countries all over the world in all different languages. It’s an extremely popular format.
“The Australian version was picked up by the BBC recently, just a few weeks ago. The reception has been remarkable, the UK audience has loved our version – and a lot of the reviews have suggested, dare I say, that ours is the best version out there. The timing of that is wonderful, because it’s just before our season two goes out.”
Season two of The Traitors Australia has taken its casting inspiration from the US season, which mixed famous faces in with everyday people. Names like Hannah Ferrier (Below Deck Mediterranean, The Real Love Boat), Gyton Grantley (Underbelly, House Husbands), and Luke Toki (Australian Survivor) will be joining the Australian cast in 2023.
“We didn’t want this to be a celebrity show,” says Flannery. “It’s all about real people playing a game of deception – but we did think that there was something interesting about bringing in people who proved themselves as being wiley and potentially deceptive people. We decided that out of 20, we would bring in five people who had some profile.
“We were careful not to overplay our hand in terms of having well known people, and went with just a little sprinkling of well known people to spice up the mix a little bit.”
Guiding the whole show is host, Rodger Corser – a man that Flannery calls “an absolute revelation in this series.”
See Also: Do The Traitors have an advantage this season? Rodger Corser explains
Rodger Corser
“We’ve done something a bit different to some of the other territories, we’ve really built a character around Rodger. He’s playing a very accentuated version of himself! In this world, he’s this rich guy that has inherited this hotel, had has decided to use his money to play a deadly game. That character has only grown in season two. We get some really good laughs – he’s acquired a butler, and we have a bit of fun with that.
“Rodger has been absolutely brilliant. We weren’t to know at the beginning, but the casting of Rodger as the host of this show could not have been more perfect.”