All the theories about The Traitors’ new red cloak as Claudia Winkleman teases 'extraordinary' twist
We can't wait to find out what their role is!The Traitors series four is fast approaching, and a major new change to the game has been teased.
A mysterious red-cloaked Traitor will be involved in the 2026 series, but how? What role will they play in what will inevitably be yet another dramatic series? Here are some of the best theories…
The red-cloaked Traitor in The Traitors series four
New Year’s Day will see the fourth series of The Traitors air on BBC One.
However, a major twist has been teased in the trailers.
Trailers for the new series have given viewers a glimpse at a mysterious red-cloaked Traitor. The Traitors usually wear dark green hooded cloaks.
Claudia teased a game-changing new twist during a chat promoting the new series.
“All I will say is there’s something new, and what happens in this series is truly extraordinary, with moments that made me gasp. I can’t wait for people to see it. The producers have the greatest minds on earth,” she said.
Who is the red-cloaked Traitor? – A returning player?
One big theory about the identity of the red-cloaked Traitor is that it’s a returning player.
“Imagine if the Traitors are in trouble, they can call in a past Traitor (the Red Traitor) to give them advice/tips,” one fan tweeted.
“Banking on it being a returning player,” another said.
Which Traitor would return if this were the case? Series 2 winner Harry Clark? Paul? Series three’s Minah? Wilf from series 1? Or, could it even be Linda?!
Another new trailer for #TheTraitors showing the mysterious red traitor teases that “it’s a little bit different this year” 👀 pic.twitter.com/5MZG7WqT9N
— sᴜᴘᴇʀ ᴛᴠ (@superTV247) December 27, 2025
A Traitor to the Traitors
Another theory is that the red-cloaked Traitor is a seperate Traitor to the actual Traitors – meaning it’ll be someone for them to get paranoid about too!
“I think the red cloak will be a secret traitor role. They will be an unknown traitor who the other Traitors know nothing about. They will work against both the Traitors and the Faithful to get to the end. If they make it, they take everything and the Traitors get nothing,” one fan theorised.
“So this whole red Traitor thingy… could it be a hierarchy within the Traitors which would stir the pot like two red, two green traitors or it could be like a secret one amongst the Traitors??? Gosh, I just don’t know. So many theories. But I’m sat hahahaha,” another said.
“A player who is a Traitor, but is secretly working for the Faithful?” a third pondered.
“Oh, is it a Traitor Traitor, where they’re told ‘you will only win if you are the sole Traitor at the end’,” another wrote.
Who is the red-cloaked traitor on The Traitors series 4? – Secret Traitor
Another popular theory is that the red-cloaked Traitor will be a secret Traitor whose identity will be hidden from the viewers!
“Hear me out…. A red cloak… what if a Traitor is selected, unknown to the viewers, and in the turret, the red cloak player always wears the cloak and has their back to the viewer, is never on screen saying anything, and we all have to guess who it is???!!!” one fan tweeted.
“All money on it being a secret Traitor that isn’t revealed to the audience,” another said.
“There’s a rumour going around about the new series of The Traitors having a Red Traitor – a Traitor that is not revealed to the audience. I so hope this is true…what a brilliant idea. It will be a bit like the mole…love this idea. Such a good move after celeb one,” a third wrote.
Special powers?
Another theory is that the Red Traitor could have special powers.
“Prediction for the red cloak in The Traitors, this will be a ‘see-er’ or a ‘witch’,” one fan said. “The witch would be able to save or banish the person chosen at roundtable or the person selected by the traitors.”
Or, could the trailers and Claudia’s teasing be all a bit of misdirection, and the red traitor isn’t the “extraordinary twist” that has been teased already?
Or is the Red Traitor something production has cooked up that the players have no part in? Could the Red Traitor be a messenger? Or be the one who completes the act of murdering a Faithful – similar to the Banshee in the recent Celebrity Traitors?
Odds on identity of the red Traitor
In an exclusive chat with TVGuide and our sister site, Entertainment Daily, Poker Scout has revealed the odds of some of these possible theories.
The bookmaker currently has the Red Traitor at 2/1 to be a secret Traitor the audience doesn’t know the identity of, 11/4 to be a Traitor to the Traitors, and 4/1 to be a past player.
It also has the red cloaked player at 6/1 to be a Traitor recruited mid-game. They also have it at 7/1 to be simply misdirection, and 10/1 to be a non-player figure.
Spokesperson for Poker Scout, Jeffrey McMillan, said: “Ever since the red cloak was teased ahead of the new series, it’s become one of the biggest talking points among Traitors fans, with plenty of theories circulating about what it could actually represent. The odds reflect just how open the twist is, but the strongest favourite at 2/1 is that the red cloak belongs to a secret traitor the audience hasn’t been introduced to yet, which would add an entirely new layer of deception to the game.
Who is the red traitor?
“Close behind at 11/4 is the idea of a ‘Traitor of the Traitors’ – someone operating above or outside the existing group, potentially manipulating events without the others even realising. There’s also real interest at 4/1 in a past player returning, whether a former Traitor or Faithful, which would instantly unsettle the remaining contestants.
“Further down the market, we’ve got 6/1 on a mid-game recruited Traitor and 7/1 on the red cloak being pure misdirection designed to fuel paranoia, while the outsider at 10/1 is a non-player figure, such as a production-led twist rather than an active contestant.”
Whatever the red Traitor’s role is, we’re only a few days away from finding out!
Read more: Maura Higgins makes her glamorous debut in The Traitors US as brand new trailer is released
The Traitors series 4 debuts on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on New Year’s Day from 9pm.
