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Korean actor Cha Seung Won confirmed as host for show that has spawned over 35 adaptations
Shahana YasminWednesday 03 December 2025 10:12 GMTComments
CloseRelated: The Celebrity Traitors UK full trailer
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The march of The Traitors across global television doesn’t seem to be slowing, as South Korea became the latest country to commission its own version of the social-strategy reality show.
The Korean adaptation will be produced by Luyworks Media and Something Special, with actor Cha Seung Won confirmed as host, according to an announcement from All3Media International and Korean producers Luyworks Media and Something Special, reported Variety.
The Traitors originally began in the Netherlands in 2021 under the title De Verraders, and was based on the popular party game Mafia. Contestants are split into “traitors” and “faithfuls”, and the groups aim to either evade detection or identify the hidden saboteurs.
Veteran Dutch producer Marc Pos originally conceived the idea for what would eventually become The Traitors in 2014, coming up with the idea after Muiterij op de Batavia (Mutiny on the Batavia), according to Veronica Superguide. The book, a historical account of a brutal mutiny aboard a 17th-century Dutch East India Company ship, inspired De Muiters (The Mutineers) – similar to the concept of the present show structure, but taking place on a ship at sea.
However, the prohibitive cost proved to be a deterrent, and Pos’s idea was rejected over 30 times before it was finally commissioned and broadcast on RTL4.
The show proved to be a hit, with the first season reportedly drawing around 1.6 million viewers per episode, according to RTL. Two separate Belgian versions were commissioned almost back-to-back; the French-language Les Traîtres (2021) and the Flemish-language version, De Verraders (2022).
open image in galleryThe BBC’s edition, filmed at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands and hosted by Claudia Winkleman, premiered in December 2022 and instantly became a breakout success (Cody Burridge/BBC/Studio Lambert/PA Wire)From there, the show’s international spread accelerated quickly. As of 2025, the franchise has over 35 adaptations that have been greenlit, and broadcast or at least licensing deals in over 50 territories worldwide, according to All3Media International.
International editions of The Traitors now span continents, including but not limited to the UK, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Poland, Romania, and now South Korea.
The UK and US editions have, in particular, played a major role in turning the original format into a global television phenomenon. The BBC’s edition, filmed at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands and hosted by Claudia Winkleman, premiered in December 2022 and instantly became a breakout success.
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Its finale reached audiences of more than 5.4 million, and the series went on to win major awards including a BAFTA, a National Television Award, and a Royal Television Society prize .
After three civilian seasons, the BBC commissioned a celebrity edition, which debuted in October 2025 with a high-profile cast including Stephen Fry, Tom Daley, Paloma Faith, Charlotte Church, Alan Carr, Cat Burns, and Nick Mohammed.
The US iteration of the show, hosted by Alan Cumming and broadcast on Peacock-NBC, took a different approach from earlier versions, with a celebrity cast drawn from across American reality television. While the first season blended the celebrity cohort with civilian players, the second and third seasons did away with the latter entirely.
open image in galleryAlan Cumming and the cast of The Traitors US (YouTube - Peacock)Cast members included past participants from social strategy reality television like Parvati Shallow and Sandra Diaz-Twine from Survivor, Big Brother alumni Dan Gheesling and Rachel Reilly, as well as reality television stars from The Real Housewives franchise, like Brandi Glanville and Phaedra Parks.
Participants arrived with existing rivalries and alliances from their previous shows, as well as public reputations and histories, all of which worked in favour of the show. The adaptation to date has won five Emmy awards, including outstanding reality competition programme and outstanding host for Cumming.
In India, the format arrived earlier this year in June and was hosted by Bollywood filmmaker and producer Karan Johar. The first season also followed the US format, featuring a celebrity-heavy cast that included television actor Jasmin Bhasin, social-media personality and reality-show regular Uorfi Javed, YouTube actor-comedian Purav Jha, and film actor Ashish Vidyarthi.
The series, which ran for 10 episodes on Amazon Prime Video, also went on to become a hit with the audience and was renewed almost immediately after its finale.
The South Korean edition of The Traitors is likely to be a success, as the country already has a long-established and globally influential variety-television ecosystem. Long-running hits such as Running Man, 2 Days & 1 Night, I Live Alone, and New Journey to the West have helped make actors, comedians, and K-pop idols regular fixtures in non-scripted TV.
In recent years, Korean formats have also begun travelling widely: Netflix’s competition series Physical: 100 is now being adapted in the US and Italy, with a pan-regional Physical: Asia edition already released.
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