The Fortune Hotel’s Stephen Mangan has revealed the reason behind series two’s shock opening twist. 

Presenter Stephen, 57, is once again at the helm of the ITV show and there is a brand new cast of contestants vying for the £250,000 prize.

But within minutes of the new series getting underway, it was quickly clear things have changed.

Instead of last year’s 10 contestant pairs, 11 pairs were introduced to viewers. Stephen then warned the players not to get too comfy…

The contestants were left gobsmacked to discover that two of them wouldn’t even step foot inside The Fortune Hotel.

In an unexpected “curveball”, the unlucky pair were then given their marching orders back to the UK before even checking in. Harsh!

Here, we explain the twist that left The Fortune Hotel’s series 2 contestants thoroughly shaken, while Stephen explains the reason behind it.

The Fortune Hotel’s big twist

As The Fortune Hotel got underway on ITV1 on Wednesday night, eagle-eyed viewers may have noticed 11 pairs of contestants had got off the plane, rather than 10. The players – who included a mum and daughter team, two brothers and several pairs of best mates – were then given shock news by host Stephen.

As they stood on the airport tarmac, Stephen told them: “I expect you’re all wondering what is going on. Well, we’re here to play a game and it will result in one pair heading home with a life-changing amount of money.

“Your first challenge is to find a room key and make it to the hotel. But, there are 11 pairs here and there are only 10 rooms available at The Fortune Hotel.”

The contestants were told the first five pairs to arrive on the hotel’s private beach would be guaranteed a room. Out of the remaining six, one pair would be sent straight back home to the UK.

The game begins

The 11 pairs were first told to each pick a speedboat. They were then challenged with solving a crossword in a Fortune Hotel newspaper to give them their destination.

Gradually, they all began working out that the answer was ‘reception desk’. As each pair solved the clue, their captain whisked them to a floating reception desk close to the shoreline. There, they could choose from a selection of room keys attached to floating buoys. After grabbing a key, they had to jump out of their boats and wade to the beach to meet Stephen.

The first five pairs on the sand were not only told they had a room at The Fortune Hotel, which is in Grenada in the Caribbean, they were also allowed to choose a briefcase. One of the five briefcases contained the £250,000, the other four were empty.

Once the remaining six pairs had all arrived, they were told to choose from six other briefcases. Five of these were empty but one contained an Early Checkout Card.

The six pairs chose their briefcases in order of their arrival to the shore. But on the fourth go, best friends Briony and Chelsey picked the case containing the Early Checkout Card.

A tearful goodbye

Briony and Chelsey are best pals from Wigan. They also run a cleaning company together and have more than 200,000 followers on TikTok for their business. Getting the Early Checkout Card meant it was straight back to work for them.

Realising they were going home, the pair burst into tears. Briony admitted: “I am absolutely devastated.”

With the tears still flowing, Chelsey told the cameras: “We never in a million years thought we’d come on The Fortune Hotel and not get in The Fortune Hotel at all… just stand on the beach outside.

“We are very grateful for the chance to be here but are still devastated.”

Briony and Chelsey had to leave Grenada immediately and were whisked away in a speedboat.

Stephen Mangan reveals reason behind the twist

The format change to The Fortune Hotel certainly came as a shock to this year’s contestants. But it will have been a surprise for viewers of the ITV show, too.

Host Stephen Mangan has now revealed the reason behind the twist, which came less than 30 minutes into episode one of the second series. He says the “curveball” was brought in to immediately wipe out any game plans from sly contestants who will have studied last year’s series.

Stephen reveals: “A second series means that all the contestants have already seen the show. It was a brand new show for the first series, no one had seen it, no one knew what to expect.

“Now they’ve all come with a game plan so our job is to keep throwing them curveballs, so they can never relax and they never know what’s coming.”

What is The Fortune Hotel?

The Fortune Hotel launched on ITV in 2024. It was quickly dubbed as ‘The Traitors in paradise’, due to its likeness to the BBC show and its tropical location. The Fortune Hotel was such a big hit that it has now returned for a second series.

Each of the 10 pairs staying at the hotel will have a briefcase. One is stashed with £250,000 in cash and eight others are empty. One contains an Early Check Out Card.

The aim of the game is for the pair with the cash in their briefcase to keep hold of it. Or, at best, keep track of it until the end of the series and try and get it back. The other contestants all need to work out who has got the case of money and try to switch it with theirs.

Every night, the contestants will gather in Lady Luck Bar for The Night Cap and be given the choice to either swap their case with another pair’s or keep hold of it. The pair with the Early Check Out Card in their case need to palm it off on another pair, who will be on the first flight home when lumbered with it!

In a nutshell, you’ve got to be really good a deception, plotting and bluffing to win this game.

When is The Fortune Hotel on ITV again?

Episode 2 of The Fortune Hotel will air on ITV1 at 9pm on Thursday August 7. Series 2 will continue to air every Wednesday and Thursday throughout August at the same time. It can also be streamed, along with all of series 1, on ITVX.

This year, fans of the show can also tune in to Late Check Out. This is a brand new vodcast hosted by Ellie Taylor and each episode will drop straight after the show has aired. Apparently, it will be packed with “juicy gossip, dramatic debriefs, and exclusive interviews”. Goodie!

Late Check Out will be available on ITVX and Global Player.

Read more: Where is The Fortune Hotel and can you stay there? ITV show returns for series 2

The Fortune Hotel airs Wednesdays and Thursdays in August  on ITV1 and ITVX. Series 1 is currently available to watch on ITVX.