Where is The Traitors filmed? An inside look at the lavish Scottish castle

Betrayal will soon be afoot as season 3 of Peacock's brutal reality competition series The Traitors is set to premiere in 2025.

Once again, host and producer Alan Cumming will bring together some of the biggest personalities in reality television — plus Zac Efron's brother — where they will clash for a grand prize of $250,000.

And what better place to hold an excellent Agatha Christie-style backstabbing fest between "Faithfuls" and "Traitors" than a 19th-century castle? As reality TV royalty gathers at the roundtable to squabble and point fingers at one another over who "murdered" whom, or ventures into the garden for challenges such as being buried alive at a gravesite, The Traitors castle feels a little like a themed resort straight out of a Renaissance fair.

Despite being a focal point of the show, the question remains: Where in the world is the Traitors' castle?

The Traitors is filmed in Ardross Castle, Scotland

The U.S. and U.K. versions of The Traitors both film at Ardross Castle, a remote court in the beautiful Scottish Highlands. The castle alone encompasses over 100 acres of parkland space, sitting on the banks of the nearby River Alness.

"I often think we can open our own Disney World," executive producer Mike Cotton told Variety in an interview. "Because if you get into the castle grounds, there's hundreds and hundreds of acres of land — it's got its own river, it's got its own hills, it's got its own church — that we take over and build all these various things." 

The rural Ardross area also features a primary school, distillery, and numerous luxurious gardens.

Over the years, the 60,000-acre Ardross Castle has been owned by several wealthy men, including Scottish Dukes, merchants, and businessmen. With each change of hands, an innovative area was added to the castle that contemporized it over time, making it the perfect place to watch messy guests do each other dirty for our amusement. 

Who originally owned the castle where The Traitors is filmed?

The U.K.-based Duke of Sutherland was Ardross' first owner, who built a hunting lodge on the estate during his tenure. He had complete ownership from the late 1700s through 1845, up until his successor, the second Duke of Sutherland, came to power and sold Ardross to Sir Alexander Matheson, a trader of goods and founder of Matheson & Co. Matheson commissioned architect Alexander Ross to remodel the castle to fit a Scottish Baronial style.

Who owns the castle today?

After numerous changes of hands post-Matheson (one of which included C. W. Dyson Perrins, the grandson of Worcestershire sauce co-creator William Henry Perrins), the castle wound up with the McTaggart family in the 1980s and has been with them ever since. Essentially, that means every time Alan Cumming says, "My castle," during an episode, is a lie — unless he's manifesting future ownership by speaking it to existence. Until then, Ardross Castle is McTaggart property. The family has extensively renovated the castle and restored numerous gardens.

Can you visit Ardross Castle?

The Ardross Castle is not available via Airbnb. Its official website emphasizes, "Ardross Castle is not a hotel so it is not possible to book to stay for a night."

However, if you have the funds fit for a Duke, it is available for weddings, and promises to "provide a glorious backdrop to your dream wedding day." You can also reserve the castle for a business conference or team-building meeting. Here's hoping you don't bump into any Traitors while on the premises.

What has been filmed at Ardross Castle?

Though it would be a great setting for a period piece, The Traitors (both the BBC and Peacock version) is the only entertainment project to be filmed at Ardross Castle thus far. To make it an immersive experience for the Traitors and Faithfuls, the cameras and equipment are concealed in various dark corridors and rooms during filming.

Considering no other TV series or movies have been shot here, perhaps that's why Cumming feels comfortable calling it "my castle"?

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