Michael Sheen’s long career playing villains could make him a natural choice to become a traitor in The Celebrity Traitors.
The Welsh actor, 57, is among 21 celebrities confirmed for the second series of the BBC reality show.
Contestants will gather at a castle in the Scottish Highlands, where they will compete for up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice.
Most players will be faithfuls, who must identify the traitors among them. The traitors secretly remove contestants from the game during the night, while the group also votes to banish people they suspect.
Sheen has played several characters known for manipulation, secrecy or violence. His roles include Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Emperor Nero, the evil vampire Aro in the Twilight films and serial killer Dr Martin Whitly.
Fans of the programme have pointed to that experience as a possible advantage if Sheen is selected as a traitor.
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The Blonde 1 on Reddit said: "He's played so many manipulative, complex characters that lying and scheming might come too naturally to him."
Sheen is also understood to be a major fan of the programme, giving him familiarity with its rules and tactics before entering the castle.
A newly released trailer shows him sitting in a church beside Love Island presenter Maja Jama. Miranda Hart, Rob Beckett and The Last Of Us actor Bella Ramsey also appear in the scene.
Claudia Winkleman, who returns to present the series, stands in front of floral lettering spelling “RIP VIP”. She tells the contestants: "A moment of silence for the celebrities gathered today. Thoughts and prayers."
Winkleman later says: "Who doesn’t love a dramatic exit?"
The cast also includes singer James Blunt, comedian James Acaster, broadcaster Amol Rajan, model Jerry Hall and actress Julie Hesmondhalgh.
They are joined by social media star King Kenny, singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock, comedians Romesh Ranganathan and Rob Beckett, presenter Maya Jama, actors Richard E Grant, Ross Kemp, Sebastian Croft and Sharon Rooney, and actress Myha’la.
Other contestants are comedians Joe Lycett and Joanne McNally, broadcaster and mathematician Professor Hannah Fry, and actor Miranda Hart.
The first series of The Celebrity Traitors was shown on the BBC last autumn. Its final episode reached a peak audience of 15.4 million viewers, according to the broadcaster.
The series attracted an average audience of 14.9 million and was reported by the BBC to have been the biggest television audience of 2025.
The previous cast included Celia Imrie, Nick Mohammed, Paloma Faith, Sir Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross and Alan Carr. Carr went on to win the series as a traitor.
The new series was previewed at the Edinburgh TV Festival. Ed Havard, the BBC’s director of entertainment, said: "This season things happen that you never thought could happen on The Traitors and that you’ve never seen before, either in the US version or the UK version, and it shows how many surprises this season will have."
Kate Phillips, the BBC’s chief content officer, said: "There are tears in this season… they are fully invested."
The Celebrity Traitors will air on BBC television and iPlayer this autumn.
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