The Traitors Season 2: Karan Johar reveals release date, first two contestants

Filmmaker Karan Johar's reality series The Traitors is returning with Season 2, and the makers have already confirmed its release date and first two contestants. The announcement was made through a new promo shared by Karan Johar on Instagram.

In the video, he looked back at the betrayals from the first season, teased a bigger game ahead and revealed that 21 players will compete this time. He also described the line-up as "killer".

In the promo, Karan said, "Ek saal beet gaya, par kuch dhokhe abhi bhi utne hi taaze hain (A year has passed, yet some betrayals remain just as fresh)" and added that some betrayals were so iconic that they belonged in a museum of The Traitors. He also took a dig at Ashish Vidyarthi, who was often seen sleeping during Season 1.

The promo included clips of Uorfi Javed and Apoorva Mukhija, with Karan joking that "friendship was temporary, but kalesh (strife) was permanent". Purav Jha, Uorfi and Elnaaz Norouzi also appeared in the video, prompting him to quip, "They all have PTSD, Post Traitor Stress Disorder."

Confirmed contestants of Season 2

Karan then revealed that 21 contestants would take part in the new season. Introducing Mallika Sherawat, he said, "Murder karna toh inki fitrat mein hai. Yahan pe bhi yeh murder karengi ya...? (It's in her nature to commit crimes. Will she commit murder here too?") Introducing Munawar Faruqui, he called him, "Reality shows ka badshah (The king of reality shows)."

He added that while contestants would be playing the game, they would also be playing with emotions. "Some will kill, and some will get killed. But one thing is guaranteed — betrayal. The palace is craving for some new meat. Get ready for a bigger round of betrayal," he said.

What the show is about

The Traitors is the Indian adaptation of the Dutch format De Verraders. Hosted by filmmaker and producer Karan Johar, the series brings together celebrity contestants from entertainment and social media and centres on trust, strategy and deception.

In the game, a few contestants are secretly picked as "Traitors" while the others are "Innocents". Each night, the Traitors secretly eliminate one contestant. The Innocents then try to identify and vote out the Traitors during roundtable discussions.

Earlier, Prime Video had announced the show's return with a teaser featuring people in red robes and face masks carrying daggers through markets, metros, airports and streets in New Delhi and Mumbai. The text appearing on screen read, "The traitors are coming back", "Yahan trust is rare and dhokha is everywhere (Trust is rare here, and deception is everywhere)" and "The dhokha is back."

Season 1 recap

The first season featured contestants from films, television, sport and the digital space, including Uorfi Javed, Nikita Luther, Purav Jha, Karan Kundrra, Raj Kundra, Raftaar, Jasmin Bhasin, Anshula Kapoor, Ashish Vidyarthi, Apoorva Mukhija, Jannat Zubair, Elnaaz Norouzi, Harsh Gujral, Lakshmi Manchu, Maheep Kapoor, Mukesh Chhabra, Sahil Salathia, Janvi Gaur, Sudhanshu Pandey and Sufi Motiwala.

The final episode had seven finalists. The Innocents were Uorfi Javed, Nikita Luther, Jasmin Bhasin, Apoorva Mukhija and Sudhanshu Pandey, while the Traitors were Purav Jha and Harsh Gujral. Harsh was voted out before the end. Uorfi and Nikita maintained their Innocent status and won the title after the final round of votes. Uorfi also identified the last remaining Traitor, Purav Jha. The two shared prize money of Rs 70.5 lakh. Uorfi later gave her share to Nikita.