Viewers are tuning into Celebrity Traitors series 2 for the backstabbing, but the show’s LGBTQ+ cast is proving just as compelling. With Bella Ramsey, Myha’la, Joe Lycett and Sebastian Croft among its players, the BBC One hit offers a bright spot for queer representation at a tense moment in UK culture.

Essential Takeaways

  • A notably queer cast: The line-up includes openly LGBTQ+ performers and high-profile allies.
  • Sebastian Croft is thriving: The Heartstopper and Game of Thrones actor has become a talking point on the show.
  • Representation matters: The series arrives after several queer UK programmes faced cancellation or uncertainty.
  • The wider backdrop is uneasy: Debate over trans access to single-sex spaces has intensified across Britain.
  • Expect drama beyond the missions: This cast brings plenty of history, humour and sharp social awareness to the castle.

The cast is doing more than plotting in secret

Celebrity Traitors series 2 already has the ingredients of addictive television: suspicious glances, whispered conversations and the pleasingly bleak atmosphere of a grand house where nobody trusts anybody. Then there’s the cast, which gives the BBC One reality hit an unusually strong queer pulse.

Bella Ramsey, who is non-binary, appears alongside bisexual actor Myha’la, bisexual comedian Joe Lycett and openly gay actor Sebastian Croft. Add outspoken allies and performers with a long record of engaging with LGBTQ+ stories, and the result feels less like a token subplot and more like a genuinely varied room. According to The PinkNews, the line-up was built around a particularly broad mix of recognisable British and international talent. ([3])

That matters because representation lands differently when it’s part of the main event. These contestants aren’t appearing to deliver a lesson or carry a storyline about identity. They’re there to lie, laugh, panic and possibly send one another home. Frankly, queer people deserve to be suspicious in a castle too.

Sebastian Croft brings personal history to the castle

Croft has attracted attention not only for his play in the game but also for discussing a past relationship with Joe Locke and the painful experience of being outed while still at school. Those details give his time on the programme an added emotional layer, even as the format keeps pushing contestants towards strategic betrayal.

The actor has also described the broader reach of the show, with older viewers recognising and praising his work. That kind of visibility can be surprisingly powerful. A performer who may be familiar to younger audiences through Heartstopper is suddenly being discussed in sitting rooms by people who might not otherwise have sought out his work.

It’s a reminder that mainstream entertainment often changes minds in small, unflashy ways. A viewer may tune in for the murders, stay for the tactics and leave knowing a little more about the actors at the table.

Why this feels significant after a difficult year

The cast’s visibility arrives at a time when queer British television has felt less secure. Recent cancellations involving shows such as I Kissed a Boy, I Kissed a Girl and RuPaul’s Drag Race UK have fuelled fears that LGBTQ+ programming is becoming easier to cut when broadcasters are under pressure.

That makes Celebrity Traitors an interesting contradiction. It isn’t a queer dating show, and it doesn’t present itself as LGBTQ+ television, yet it places several queer performers at the centre of one of the UK’s biggest entertainment formats. For audiences who’ve watched explicitly queer series disappear, that kind of ordinary prominence can feel reassuring.

The wider political climate is considerably less comforting. The Guardian reported on UK guidance affecting trans people’s access to single-sex facilities, while BBC coverage has tracked the continuing legal and political arguments around gender recognition and public space. ([4], [5]) A glamorous reality show can’t solve those problems, but it can show how visible queer lives remain despite them.

Allies, actors and comedians sharpen the mix

The show’s queer energy doesn’t come only from its openly LGBTQ+ contestants. James Acaster has repeatedly criticised comedians who build material around attacks on trans and non-binary people, while Julie Hesmondhalgh is widely known for playing Hayley Cropper, one of British television’s most significant transgender characters.

Meanwhile, actors such as Richard E. Grant and Michael Sheen bring their own histories of playing gay characters to a cast already packed with theatrical personalities. That doesn’t make every participant queer, of course, but it does create a social mix that feels richer than the standard celebrity reality formula.

And then there’s Alan Cumming, whose role as host adds another layer of camp, wit and knowing theatricality. The show’s atmosphere may be gothic, but the ensemble has enough queer cultural knowledge to turn every raised eyebrow into a potential meme.

Representation is welcome, but it isn’t a substitute for rights

There’s a temptation to treat a popular programme with a queer-heavy cast as proof that everything is moving in the right direction. It isn’t. Visibility on television can coexist with policies and public debates that make daily life more difficult for vulnerable people, as reporting on proposed restrictions around single-sex spaces has shown. ([6], [7])

Still, representation has value, especially when it’s relaxed and unexceptional. Croft doesn’t need to explain his identity before attempting a murder in the game, and Ramsey doesn’t need to become a spokesperson simply by being present. They’re allowed to be funny, strategic, irritating and brilliant.

That may sound modest, but culture often shifts through repetition. Viewers see queer people taking up space, making mistakes and winning popularity, and the image becomes familiar. It’s not enough on its own, but it’s certainly better than disappearing from the screen.

Celebrity Traitors can’t repair Britain’s political record, but it can make the castle feel like a place where queer talent is impossible to ignore.

Source Reference Map

Story idea inspired by: [1]

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