What can The Celebrity Traitors teach us about bias?

WARNING: This article contains spoilers about The Celebrity Traitors

Anything can make you look guilty. Stumbling over your words. Being voted the most trustworthy. Or, of course, telling everyone you're a traitor…

Millions of us have been glued to The Celebrity Traitors since the series returned, and chat is raging across the country about which famous faces could be caught out for their double-crossing and who's getting banished without doing anything wrong.

Already this series, theories have been flying: from Julie Hesmondhalgh or Joe Lycett receiving shields making them traitors, to Leigh-Anne putting on make-up meaning she had an appointment in the turret. And let's not forget Bella Ramsey "murdering" Ross Kemp by giving him a hat.

No doubt, there will be more wild theories to come - but how big a part does bias play in the faithfuls' decision-making?

BBC Bitesize Other Side of the Story dug a little deeper into why so many faithfuls get branded traitors, and vice versa. And what can the class of 2026 learn from last series?

"You know about confirmation bias, right?" - Hannah Fry

It's a question Hannah asked Leigh-Anne Pinnock just hours before she was banished. "Once someone's made up their mind about something, every new piece of evidence, they use it to just confirm what they already think. It literally doesn't matter what you do. They're going to see it as suspicious."

Of course, this turned out to be a red herring, since Hannah was a traitor! But it is true that confirmation bias plays a role in how some faithfuls make up their minds.

When a belief about a subject has taken hold, any further evidence backing it up will be latched onto to try and give more substance to the theory. Evidence to the contrary might be rejected, or contorted to fit the pre-existing belief.

You can read more about confirmation bias here.

We all have ideas or thoughts about various people, places and things. When we encounter a story or piece of information, our reaction to it can be influenced by those thoughts and ideas - even if that info is presented in the most balanced or neutral way possible.

This is our unconscious bias, and it’s influenced by our experiences, where we grew up, and lots of other things. It affects all of us, no matter what our background is or our view of the world.

So, how does unconscious bias affect the players on The Celebrity Traitors? During series one we spoke to Dr Douglas Martin, a psychologist at the University of Aberdeen, who specialises in social bias and finds the show provides “endless examples” of it in action!

Some players in The Celebrity Traitors are better known to the public than others. Dr Martin explained that players already knowing each other, their different social circles, and the personalities some participants are famous for, would likely have influenced the earlier voting rounds in series one.

He said: “Players would be more likely to speak to, form informal alliances with, and trust other players they are already friendly or familiar with.”

He continued: “As a long-established broadcaster and chat show host, Jonathan Ross is likely to be the best-connected player in the game and therefore have the biggest early advantage. Less established celebrities might quickly find themselves outside the informal alliances, being viewed as an outsider, and distinctive from the celebrity herd; all these things make them more vulnerable to banishment.”

This is also where, Dr Martin explained, unconscious bias comes into play - especially if our brain does not have all the information it needs: “For example, while other celebrities might not know Tom Daley personally, they will know him as a gold medal-winning Olympian who is unusually driven, single-minded and competitive… These preconceptions are likely to bias the way they make inferences about Tom’s behaviour in The Traitors. The same would be true of Niko [Omilana], whose reputation as a prankster is likely to bias people’s inferences.”

Addressing the talk in series one, Dr Martin said: “The Big Dog theory is likely to be influenced by halo effects and authority bias, whereby the high status of Jonathan Ross and Stephen Fry from their everyday lives is carried over into The Traitors and influences their group assignments. Because the theory fits with people’s preconceptions and biases, is easy to explain and has a memorable name, it is more likely to be shared.”

Former England rugby player Joe Marler mentioned this theory in particular, and Dr Martin suggested that his background in team sport may have been an influence: “Joe’s life will have been dominated by a team mentality, with opposing teams being led by dominant authority figures, captains and coaches for example. It would be natural to apply the logic of this lifetime of experience to the novel circumstances of The Traitors.”

There are many different examples of bias and social behaviour in The Celebrity Traitors. Dr Martin gave us a guide to a few more of them.

• Fundamental attribution error: Where players view the behaviour of others as being down to their status as either a faithful or a traitor - and not just the task at hand. For example, a nervous player at the round table may be viewed as a traitor, even though it’s a nervous situation.

• Groupthink: Humans are social animals who are driven to cooperate with each other. This means that, often, we publicly agree, even if we privately disagree. The more people voice their agreement, the less likely people are to offer alternative opinions. This can lead to an entire group believing they all think the same thing.

• Verbal and non-verbal behaviour: How do people react when others are banished or do not appear for breakfast? How do people react when they get a shield? This is interesting in Celebrity Traitors, where there are accomplished actors like Celia Imrie and Mark Bonnar. In reality, people are poor at detecting when other people are lying and are more likely to be biased by behaviour like a failure to maintain eye contact - which isn’t a good indicator that someone is lying!

• Gender bias: This wasn't mentioned by Dr Martin but it is something that can be found in news articles and social posts. It's where a view of someone is based entirely on their gender instead of their personality or skills.

Dr Martin said the round table conversations can have a big influence, compared to those which take place earlier in the day.

He explained further: “While discussions centre around attempts to banish a traitor, the more pressing concern for all players concerned is avoiding being banished themselves. If conversations around the table seem to lead toward a certain individual, it is in the interests of all players - other than that person - to vote for them. Survival is the number one priority and that means ensuring someone else gets voted off!”

• Want to know more about unconscious bias? See how these well-known faces did when they were put to the test - can you do better?

• Take the Bitesize quiz: Are you a traitor or a faithful?

This article was updated in October 2026

Not sure if the news you’re seeing on social media is true or false? Can you always tell if the things you see online are real or fake?

Learn how to get the other side of the story with our quizzes, videos and explainers about media skills and viral trends including popular food myths.