How Celebrity Traitors rule change could be helping them, as cast spotted wearing watches

People have noticed a major rule change in Celebrity Traitors 2026 as many of the celebs are wearing watches this year, which could actually be helping them with the game. 

The deception series returned last week with a huge cast of A-listers, and Ross Kemp, Richard E Grant, Amol Rajan, Sharon Rooney, Miranda Hart and Joe Lycett have all been seen wearing watches around the Scottish castle. They are always blurred out so we can’t see the time, obviously to avoid continuity errors when the clips are edited together, but the rule change has got everyone talking. 

Credit: BBC

Usually, the contestants aren’t allowed to know the time while they are in the castle, because it plays into the whole idea of deception and makes them feel disoriented and confused. There are no clocks around the castle either, and cast members aren’t allowed to know when lunch happens, when missions start, or how long they have been sitting having drinks.

According to past cast members, if they asked the producers for the time, they’d be met with the same snarky reply: “It’s Traitors O’Clock.” The producers also decide when the clock strikes midnight. And the rules were exactly the same for the first Celebrity series too. 

After the 2025 series, Nick Mohammed revealed they were strictly banned from knowing the time. Speaking on The Comedian’s Comedian Podcast, he said: “All your devices are taken from you. I was allowed one phone conversation a day with the kids. You are isolated from the outside world. 

Credit: BBC

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“We weren’t even allowed to know the time. When we were in the castle, you’d be like, ‘What’s the time?’ They were like, ‘It’s Traitors time’. That was their response. Every single member of production had to just answer with that until someone kicked off and said, ‘It’s a basic human right, just tell us the time’.”

But all that seems to have changed this year, because the celebrities are allowed watches, so they clearly do know the real time while they’re in the castle. Production hasn’t addressed the rule change, but people are convinced the rules have been relaxed for the celebrity version this year to encourage them to come on the show. 

The most important question isn’t why they’re now allowed to know the time, though. It’s how does this affect the game? If they know the time at all hours of the day, this whole notion of disorientation and confusion is basically non-existent. Not knowing the time is supposed to build paranoia, add psychological pressure and keep players hyper-focused on each other.

Not only does having watches stop this sense of disorientation, it also means the Faithfuls can track timings of certain things, like how long someone was missing. They could then use this information to work out who had opportunities or identify patterns, ultimately helping them to track down the Traitors. This has Hannah Fry written all over it. 

So, technically, the game is easier for them. Feels a bit unfair to me?

For all the latest news about The Celebrity Traitors, like The Holy Church of The Traitors on Facebook. Featured image credit: BBC