Everything you wanted to know about 'The Traitors' castle but were afraid to ask

The grandiose castle connected “The Traitors” is an apt mounting for the conniving crippled show, immersing players successful a historical determination successful the Scottish Highlands. Both the U.S. and U.K. versions of the bid usage Ardross Castle, a 19th period operation erstwhile owned by the grandson of the creator of Worcestershire sauce. It’s present owned by the McTaggart family, who graciously let “The Traitors” to instrumentality implicit aggregate rooms and the immense grounds during filming.

“There’s thing astir coming to a spot that’s truthful steeped successful past and playing a crippled there,” says enforcement shaper Rosie Franks. “The castle has contributed truthful overmuch to the individuality of the show. We’d conflict to marque the aforesaid amusement without it. It is simply a acquisition of a determination due to the fact that you don’t request immoderate TV trickery.”

“If it wasn’t for that environment, I don’t deliberation the players would get truthful invested,” adds enforcement shaper Mike Cotton. “That feeling of being determination peculiar successful the mediate of an isolated spot allows america to make this precise three-dimensional satellite they tin inhabit.”

Here, Cotton and Franks reply each of your burning questions astir “The Traitors” castle.

How was Ardross Castle selected?

The producers looked astatine much than 40 castles. Scotland was ever a draw, arsenic was thing with fantastical flourishes. “It’s similar a Disney castle that’s got Gothic and acheronian undertones to it,” Cotton says. “We wanted thing that had that feeling but besides had a large hallway wherever we could location the circular table. We needed a truly large country for that.”

One of the refurbished castle rooms wherever “Traitors” contestants roam freely.

(Euan Cherry / Peacock)

Do we spot each of the castle connected the show?

Not adjacent close. When “The Traitors” archetypal arrived, the squad discovered that areas of the gathering were desolate. “There’s immense parts of that castle that we don’t usage wrong our amusement due to the fact that they’re not renovated oregon haven’t been touched for a agelong time,” Franks says. “Plus, to rig an full 19th period castle with cameras would beryllium a large job.”

“What you spot onscreen is simply a bulk of the downstairs of the castle,” Cotton adds. “The formed tin roam escaped successful our space, but evidently we can’t person them roaming escaped implicit the full castle due to the fact that it would beryllium intolerable to screen it.”

The castle’s size has led to caller discoveries during the series’ run. “It wasn’t until Season 2 that we discovered it had this abstraction that felt similar a dungeon,” Cotton recalls. “When Phaedra asked Kate to go a traitor, she was successful this dungeon. It was a find we didn’t recognize was underground. We’d walked implicit it for a full year.”

How galore cameras are successful the house?

There are astir 50 cameras successful the castle, astir of which are hidden. In the large hall, the cameras are down wood paneling that was built wrong the country to situation the circular table. There are besides cameras successful the pillars passim the location successful summation to existent camera operators. “A batch of the pillars look similar they’ve been determination for 50 oregon 100 years, but they’ve really been built specifically for us,” Cotton says.

Not each of the cameras are signaling astatine once. “We’ve got a assemblage of screens wherever we tin spot each of them, and past we take a definite fig that we’re recording,” Franks says. “We’re located separately successful a accumulation colony successful the castle’s unchangeable block, and we’re precise hands disconnected with the game.”

Does the acceptable alteration from the U.K. to the U.S. editions?

The sets are mostly the same, but the creation does change. For the U.S. show, determination are pictures of Alan Cumming and Andy Cohen added to the walls. Occasionally, tiny trinkets volition beryllium swapped out.

A concealed room, hidden down a bookcase, was transformed into a vino cellar for Season 3.

(Euan Cherry / Peacock)

Does the acceptable germinate betwixt seasons?

Yes. The producers marque “small alterations,” Franks explains. “We similar to freshen up small bits each time,” she says. “We did make a small concealed room, which has been done antithetic iterations. Last season, it was a vino cellar you entree done the bookcase.”

“It feels similar it’s a existent place,” Cotton adds. “Yes, we capable it with immoderate somewhat eccentric decor astatine times, but we privation it to beryllium its ain thing. With each these large Scottish castles, they don’t redecorate each azygous year, truthful we don’t either.”

What was the inspiration for the circular table?

The circular array is 14 feet successful diameter to accommodate each the players. Season 1 accumulation decorator Mathieu Weekes looked astatine the array connected the archetypal Dutch show, “De Verraders,” which featured a compass, and added the phases of the moon. It houses a fewer cameras and is arsenic hefty arsenic it looks. “The apical is simply a truly big, coagulated portion of wood that’s got immoderate airy somewhat embedded successful it,” Cotton says.

Are determination Easter eggs successful the decor?

Of people determination are. The producers fell tongue-in-cheek details successful the rooms each season. For example, the publication that opened the vino cellar successful Season 3 was titled “The Seer,” a motion to the large finale twist. “The artwork sometimes alludes to the tones of the amusement oregon things that are going connected successful the castle oregon missions,” Franks says. “We similar to drip-feed viewers passim truthful that the full happening feels similar a joined-up experience.”

“The Traitors’” circular table.

(Euan Cherry / Peacock)

Do the players slumber successful the castle during filming?

The producers garbage to reply this definitively due to the fact that it could impact aboriginal games. “The occurrence of ‘The Traitors’ truly does trust connected america maintaining the integrity of the game, and that includes america keeping the details of what happens down the scenes a secret,” Franks says.

“Keeping the traitors’ identities concealed is the No. 1 happening for us,” Cotton adds. “For everyone to spell to their rooms and spell to bed, and past for america to get the traitors backmost retired is simply a subject operation. As soon arsenic we commencement to speech astir precisely wherever they slumber and however it works, we’re truly disquieted that mightiness unpick it all. The players are hopeless to find retired who the traitors are and they’ll spell to immoderate means imaginable to bash it.”

Does the amusement movie each of the outdoor challenges connected the existent castle grounds?

Cotton says astir 90% of them are filmed connected site. The different 10% are done astatine a adjacent loch. But 1 of the main attractions to Ardross was its 2,000 acres of land. “It’s got a stream that runs done it. It’s got its ain hills, it’s got fields, it’s got forest, it’s got marshland,” Cotton says. “And we usage each of that. Part of the entreaty was that it has a immense earthy playground astir it that we could usage for missions.” Are determination immoderate restrictions connected utilizing existent occurrence erstwhile filming?

None. “The Traitors” adjacent has its ain occurrence squad to airy the medieval-looking torches astir the castle. “We emotion fire,” Cotton says. “There’s thing similar erstwhile you spell successful determination and you tin odor a wood fire. We ever accidental that the crippled plays truly intelligence due to the fact that they’re immersed. So overmuch of that is down to the castle and the acceptable and the smells.”