The Traitors India has arrived on BBC iPlayer, introducing British viewers to a louder and more celebrity-focussed version of the reality format that remains one of the broadcaster’s biggest hits.
Hosted by Indian filmmaker Karan Johar, the Hindi-language adaptation has already divided audiences online, with some viewers praising its dramatic gameplay and others criticising it as an overly chaotic and at-times seemingly “scripted” show compared with the UK version.
The Traitors India originally aired in June 2025 and follows the format familiar to fans of The Traitors: contestants are split into “traitors” and “faithfuls” and the two groups aim to either evade detection or identify the hidden saboteurs.
But while the core mechanics remain unchanged, the casting and tone mark a significant departure from the British version hosted by Claudia Winkleman.
The UK series initially built its reputation around civilian contestants and slow-burning psychological tension, before later expanding into its celebrity edition.
The Traitors India more closely resembles The Traitors US in its approach, relying from the outset on influencers, reality personalities, and celebrity contestants rather than ordinary members of the public. Its cast includes figures largely drawn from social media and reality TV ecosystems rather than movie stars or mainstream public figures.
Among them is Apoorva Makhija, known online as “The Rebel Kid”, who became widely known beyond India’s influencer scene following the controversy surrounding the YouTube comedy show India’s Got Latent.
The line-up also features Uorfi Javed, a social media personality and former Bigg Boss – India’s take on Big Brother – contestant, who became famous for her viral fashion videos and unconventional outfits, regularly generating headlines and online debates in India. Maheep Kapoor is best known to streaming audiences as one of the stars of Netflix’s Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, the reality series centred on the personal lives of Bollywood spouses and socialites.
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The UK celebrity edition, by contrast, drew contestants from across British entertainment, sports, broadcasting, and public life. The cast included actor and broadcaster Stephen Fry, Olympic diver Tom Daley, presenter Clare Balding, historian David Olusoga, and comedian Alan Carr, creating a mix of personalities whose diverse professional backgrounds often shaped how they approached the show.
Like the Indian adaptation, the US version relied heavily on celebrity and reality-TV contestants, but many of its biggest personalities came directly from long-running strategy-based competition shows. Contestants including Boston Rob Mariano and Parvati Shallow from Survivor and Dan Gheesling from Big Brother entered the game with years of experience building alliances, manipulating votes, and navigating deception-based formats.
Likewise, the US series balanced the strategy-heavy contestants with more openly dramatic personalities from franchises such as The Real Housewives, helping create a version of the show that mixed gameplay with drama.
That distinction has become part of the online debate surrounding The Traitors India. One Reddit user wrote that the Indian version featured “more drama” during banishment discussions than the UK and US editions, adding: “You would see people reacting very emotionally to the accusations, a lot of yelling and a lot of 1vs1 arguments. Overall good TV.”
“The right amount of drama and game play. Some nice strategy and an ‘okay’ mix of characters,” wrote another.
However, those who didn’t like it described the series as “ridiculously scripted”, with one calling it “dull as hell” compared with the UK version.
Another viewer found several elements to be problematic, writing on Reddit: “More drama than strategy and most of the voting was done in factions and emotions rather than by logic. Was a bit concerning that the women kept calling themselves stupid and there was some pretty horrific bullying of a few people.”
In its review of the show, The Hollywood Reporter India wrote that the episodes often became overwhelmed by “repetitive dull debriefing, irritating intermingling, and bland bickering”, adding the extended discussions risked drowning out the “winning moments of personality clashes”. Moneycontrol praised Karan Johar’s hosting and the show’s production values, but argued that the “lacklustre cast” prevented the emotional stakes from fully landing.
Filmfare described the series as “unapologetically over-the-top”. Rediff, on the other hand, called it “gritty, glamorous, and full of plot twists”.
The Traitors India is available to stream on BBC iPlayer, with new episodes dropping every Thursday.
