Celebrity Traitors 2: ‘Toxically competitive’ Hannah Fry vows to use maths skills to win
Hannah Fry has said she will use her skills in mathematics to beat the competition in The Celebrity Traitors, as the countdown to the launch of the new season of the hit show continues.
The broadcaster and mathematician, who admitted she is “toxically competitive” is one of 21 stars taking part in the new series.
She said: “I’m here to fulfil the nerd quota for the year, and I’m taking my responsibility extremely seriously.
“Have I gone back through the data of all the previous games and tried to find statistically significant patterns? Yes. Are any of these going to help me? Honestly, who knows?”
Fry has noticed traitors often do a “burn vote” in the first few episodes as they are settling in to the game.
She explained: “By that I mean they just vote for somebody that nobody else has voted for.
“Cat (Burns) last year was a really good example of this, but across the board, the only problem with picking up on those signals is that the Faithfuls are such an absolute mess.
“They are so all over the place that it’s really hard to pick out what the signal is. That’s just one example of a little bit of maths that I’ve got in my back pocket.
“I am using the same bit of maths that Alan Turing used to crack the Enigma machine.
“Whether it’s going to work or not, honestly, your guess is as good as mine. I’ve got spreadsheets coming out of my eyeballs.
“I close my eyes and it’s like there are numbers tattooed on the inside of my eyelids at the moment for how much I’ve been looking at them.”
Asked what her strategy will be, Fry replied: “Careful, analytical, and well, the other thing that I really want to be is just a little bit mischievous. I really want to enjoy the ride and have fun being playful.”
The series, fronted by Claudia Winkleman, returns to BBC One and iPlayer on October 1 with an extra-long opening episode during which Winkleman chooses who will be a Traitor and who will be a Faithful.
Set in a HIghlands castle, the game follows the celebrity contestants – the majority of whom are known as Faithfuls – as they try to seek out the murderous traitors among them, who kill off players in the middle of the night.
Stars compete to win a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.
The full line-up of competing celebrities is: Maya Jama, Michael Sheen, Miranda Hart, James Blunt, Richard E Grant, Bella Ramsey, Amol Rajan, James Acaster, Jerry Hall, Joanne McNally, Joe Lycett, Julie Hesmondhalgh, King Kenny, Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Myha’la, Professor Hannah Fry, Rob Beckett, Romesh Ranganathan, Ross Kemp, Sebastian Croft and Sharon Rooney.
The first series of The Celebrity Traitors, which saw comedian Alan Carr win as a Traitor, aired on the BBC last autumn, and its nail-biting finale hit a peak of 15.4 million viewers, according to the broadcaster.
The spin-off series brought in an average audience of 14.9 million during its run – the biggest TV audience of 2025. The Celebrity Traitors returns to BBC One at 8pm on October 1 and will be followed by The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked.
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.