Nick Mohammed, who finished as runner-up on Celebrity Traitors, has been announced as the host of a new West End production titled The Traitors - Acts Of Betrayal. The comedian will step into Claudia Winkleman's hosting shoes for the stage show, which opens at The Gillian Lynne Theatre in London from May 11, 2027.
Mohammed competed as a Faithful on Celebrity Traitors and finished in second place alongside historian David Olusoga. In a promotional video marking the announcement, Winkleman made Mohammed swear the Traitors oath at Ardross Castle, mirroring the ritual used on the BBC show, before he takes on the stage role.
Mohammed said he could not be more delighted and privileged to take on the part.
Discussing the stage adaptation, Mohammed said he had initially doubted that a series of fictional plays based on The Traitors could contain as many twists as the real show or be as compelling. He said writer John Finnemore had crafted an absolute masterpiece, a cycle of five plays that were as funny as they were moving and, he added, deeply unpredictable.
He said that under the direction of Robert Hastie, he could not be more delighted to be joining such an original and ambitious show. Taking on Winkleman's role, he said, was not just a privilege but a real challenge as an actor, joking that he simply did not have enough hair. He promised to do his utmost not to disappoint, adding that this time round he would not let down the whole nation right at the very end.
How the stage show works
Each play in The Traitors - Acts of Betrayal tells the story of a complete, separate game, with Traitors chosen, round tables and murders taking their toll, and a winner crowned by the end of the night. What unfolds across a full television series happens in a single evening.
The production also answers a question television cannot: who would have won if different players had been chosen as Traitors. From Monday to Friday, the story begins identically each night but takes five different paths, with characters banished or murdered early in one version emerging victorious in another.
On Saturdays, the audience decides who will wear the cloak, and that choice determines which of the five plays unfolds that day. The producers describe it as a world of paranoia, betrayal and shifting alliances, billing it as a night out where nothing is certain and no one is safe.
Backing from the show's producers
Stephen Lambert, chief executive of Studio Lambert, the production company behind The Traitors, said the actor playing The Host in the plays had to hold a live audience through an entire game each evening, told five different ways. He said it required charm, mischief, acting talent and complete control of the stage, adding that Mohammed had all four qualities, with the bonus of having played the game himself and knowing its intricacies.
When tickets go on sale
The Traitors - Acts Of Betrayal begins previews from May 11, 2027 at The Gillian Lynne Theatre in London. Tickets are on sale now at thetraitorsonstage.com.
