The Traitors is back on our screens – and viewers are loving the show’s atmospheric Gothic setting as much as its twists and turns.
The BBC’s hit reality show, where contestants must trick and deceive each other for the chance to win their share of up to £120,000, is set against the backdrop of the “Traitors castle”.
The day’s missions take place on site, while the discussions, action and banishments are filmed among the castle’s lavish interiors.
The Traitors is filmed at Ardross Castle, a 19th house and estate north of Inverness in the Scottish Highlands. The location is used in both the UK version of the show and the US adaptation hosted by Scottish actor Alan Cumming.
The estate was purchased by the 1st Duke of Sutherland in the late 1700s, where he built a hunting lodge.
The castle as we may begin to recognise it now began to take shape once the estate was sold to Sir Alexander Matheson, an MP and opium trader, in 1845 for £90,000.
Aiming to attract tenants to agricultural tenancies, he began developing the land and enlisted the architect Alexander Ross to design the castle building in the Gothic Scottish Baronial style.
Ross added around 30 rooms to the original mansion for £7,000, along with the lawns, pond and fountain.
‘The Traitors' is filmed at Ardross Castle— (BBC)
Ardross Castle passed between owners in the 19th and 20th centuries, and was broken up and sold in 1937. It was purchased by the current owners, the McTaggart family, in 1983, when they began renovating the property, and added new trees.
Today, the space is used as a wedding and conference venue for corporate and private events, and as a film and TV set.
The Times reports that prices to hire the castle for a wedding for up to 130 people over two nights begin at £45,000.
The setting of BBC game show ‘The Traitors’— (BBC)
However, while the action on The Traitors takes place overnight at the castle, the rooms of Ardross Castle are not available to let individually. During filming, the Traitors and Faithfuls actually stay at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel near to Inverness’s airport.
The Traitors airs Wednesday to Friday at 9pm on BBC One.
