Romesh Ranganathan and Sebastian “Bash” Croft are the winners of The Celebrity Traitors Season 2. The comedian and the Heartstopper actor were crowned champions during the nail-biting finale on Friday, October 30, 2026, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer. The pair, who played the entire game as Faithfuls, outlasted a season full of deception to share a prize pot of £83,000 for their chosen charities. The victory marks the second time a team of Faithfuls has won the celebrity version of the show, following Alan Carr’s triumph as a Traitor in the first season.
Spoiler warning: This article contains major spoilers for The Celebrity Traitors Season 2 finale.
How the Finale Unfolded at the Firepit
The 80-minute finale saw the remaining celebrities face a series of brutal twists, beginning with a shock murder before the final roundtable even began. The two remaining Traitors, Maya Jama and King Kenny, met in the turret one last time and chose to murder Michael Sheen. The decision stunned the remaining contestants when host Claudia Winkleman revealed the news at breakfast. Sheen, a Faithful, reacted to his exit with disappointment. “I am incredibly disappointed,” he said. “Gutted that I got so close to the end. It’s been absolutely unforgettable.”
What followed was a chaotic sequence of banishments that turned the game on its head. Leigh-Anne Pinnock became the first player to be banished during the endgame, a move that was later revealed to be a strategic choice by Romesh to improve his own chances. The tension reached its peak when the remaining contestants, Kenny, James Blunt, Romesh, and Bash, had to decide whether to end the game or continue banishing. A tied vote between Kenny and Blunt forced a deadlock. Bash, who had been observing Kenny closely, convinced Romesh to vote for the YouTuber. “When we went to four and Kenny voted to end the game, I just knew he was a Traitor,” Bash later explained. The pair voted to banish Kenny, exposing him as the final Traitor.
Kenny did not take the betrayal lightly. “Absolutely devastated. I was so close. I smelled the victory,” he said after his banishment. His fellow Traitor, Maya Jama, had been banished earlier in the episode after Kenny turned against her at the roundtable. After her exit, Maya simply said, “Thank you, alright, love you all, good luck, you’re going to need it.”
With Kenny gone, the game appeared to be over. Romesh, Bash, and James Blunt were the final three, all Faithfuls. Romesh and Bash chose to end the game, but Blunt was not convinced and chose to banish again. The decision backfired spectacularly. Romesh and Bash, now certain of each other’s loyalty, voted to banish Blunt, leaving just the two of them standing as the winners. “I’ve loved trying to work it out, I’ve loved getting it wrong so often, I’ve loved the tiny moments when I’ve got it right,” Blunt reflected on his exit. “I’ve loved the game.”
Winners React: “This Might Actually Be the Best Day of My Life”
The moment of victory was an emotional one for both players. Bash, 24, broke down in tears. “This might actually be the best day of my life,” he said through his emotions. Romesh, 48, shared a more personal message. “I just really hope my mum’s proud,” he said. “And also my youngest son Charlie, who wanted me to come on the show – dad won. Please show me some respect.”
Speaking on the spin-off show The Celebrity Traitors: Uncloaked, Romesh admitted his win came with mixed feelings. “It’s happiness tinged with a little bit of embarrassment,” he said. “I feel that I’ve won the game, despite I would say my key development area in this game being identifying Traitors correctly. I think that’s probably the thing that I was the worst at.” He also joked about his new “nemesis” in James Blunt, who he had suspected for much of the game. “James Blunt, at some point in the future, will kill me,” he laughed. “The better news is he’s been military trained!”
Bash, meanwhile, revealed that his winning strategy was not something he had planned from the start. “I think until about an hour and a half before I was so split between whether I was going to go with James until the end or with Romesh and Kenny,” he explained. “I wrote a list of everything that I thought James, Romesh, and Kenny had done that was Faithful… My list for Romesh was really long. My list for James was even longer, and my list for Kenny was almost non-existent.” The Game of Thrones actor also confessed that Blunt’s decision to banish again in the endgame had completely shocked him.
The Charity Winnings: £83,000 Split Between Two Causes
The £83,000 prize fund will be split evenly, with each winner receiving £41,500 for a charity of their choice. Bash chose Choose Love, an organisation that supports refugees and displaced people. His connection to the charity is deeply personal. “I used to volunteer with them when I was 15 and 16 when they were first starting out. I’m now an ambassador for them,” he explained. “I had a really difficult time growing up being queer at school… hearing stories of people who are in countries where you literally are killed because of your sexuality is something that really moved me.”
Romesh selected the Refugee Council. “Helping displaced people who need help, and it’s a cause that is very close to my heart,” he said of his choice.
A Season of Unforgettable Twists and Record-Breaking Ratings
The second season of The Celebrity Traitors was defined by its unpredictable moments and a cast of 21 famous faces. The season will be remembered for two contestants who made the unorthodox decision to reveal their Traitor status. Richard E. Grant was so excited about being tapped as a Traitor that he blurted out his secret status in only the second episode. Later, comedian James Acaster, who had been a reluctant Traitor, unexpectedly gave himself up during a tense roundtable in the penultimate episode. His admission left him so distressed that filming was paused for welfare checks.
The show continued to be a massive ratings success for the BBC. More than 15 million viewers tuned in at its peak, with the finale becoming the most-watched TV audience of the year. The semi-final drew its biggest live audience to date, with 10.7 million viewers and a 62% share of the night’s viewership. The launch episode was described by the BBC as the biggest launch episode of any series across the entire market, scripted or unscripted, since at least 2022.
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Social media was flooded with reactions from viewers as the finale aired. Many celebrated the Faithfuls’ victory. “Although I am usually Team Traitor, I am SO GLAD Bash and Romesh won! Well well well deserved!” one fan wrote on X. Another posted, “OMG THE FAITHFULS HAVE WON I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING”. Others felt sympathy for James Blunt’s late-game error. “James Blunt was robbed he should have been there to the very end,” one viewer noted.
The complete second season of The Celebrity Traitors is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. For more updates on your favourite reality shows and entertainment news, keep reading VvipTimes, where every story is fact-checked and delivered with clarity.
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