The Secret Traitor twist left cast 'livid' - and fans think they've already worked it out

When The Traitors returned for its fourth regular series on New Year’s Day, many were dubious if it could live up to the enormously popular first celebrity version, which aired a couple of months earlier.

Luckily, Claudia Winkleman was on hand to make sure the new series started off with a bang - revealing a brand new Secret Traitor twist.

This Secret Traitor - who dons a red cloak, instead of the usual green - knows who the three regular Traitors are and works alone, giving the three traitors a shortlist of people to murder. No one - except Claudia - knows who the Secret Traitor is, not even us viewers at home.

Revealing how the three traitors this year reacted to this twist, Claudia describes the trio - Stephen, Hugo and Rachel, as being "livid".

The show’s executive producer, per The Sun, added the reasoning behind the twist, sharing, "Lots of people are saying, how can the Faithful never know? So viewers have a chance to see what it’s like."

"The viewers are kind of Faithful here, too - the Secret Traitor is the only person that knows the other Traitors’ identities and who all the other Faithfuls are. The Secret Traitor holds all of the power."

Revealing how she chose the perfect Secret Traitor, Claudia shared, "So it was somebody who sits with me in front of the fire and goes, 'I absolutely need to be a Traitor'. There is somebody who is so convincing and just goes, 'It absolutely has to be me'.

"So the Secret Traitor is that person."

The only clue to their identity is they cannot put themselves on the murder list.

And while she refused to share any more than that, fans online think they’ve sussed the secret already.

To begin with, fans can rule out James, Netty and Maz, who were all placed on the Secret Traitor’s shortlist to be the first murder of the series. But, other than that, some online have picked out what they consider telling clues, with many looking at a contestant called Sam.

After expressing relief about not being up for murder and going under the radar, one fan posted to X, "Why would Sam be worried about a 'radar'?"

Another added, "Okay, my guess for the secret Traitor is Sam. He said in the car to kill someone random and those three are totally random."

Joining the growing suspicions, another wrote, "I am convinced Sam is the secret traitor, locking that in now".

The Traitors series 4 episodes and release schedule

There will be 12 episodes in total for the new series of The Traitors, with episodes airing live on BBC One and available for catch up on iPlayer after.

• Episode 1 - Thursday 1st January, 8pm
• Episode 2 - Friday 2nd January, 8pm
• Episode 3 - Saturday 3rd January, 7:45pm
• Episode 4 - Wednesday 7th January, 8pm
• Episode 5 - Thursday 8th January, 8pm
• Episode 6 - Friday 9th January, 8pm
• Episode 7 - Wednesday 14th January, TBC
• Episode 8 - Thursday 15th January, TBC
• Episode 9 - Friday 16th January, TBC
• Episode 10 - Wednesday 21st January, TBC
• Episode 11 - Thursday 22nd January, TBC
• Episode 12 - Friday 23rd January, TBC