The 9 rules The Traitors contestants have to follow revealed

Viewers at home may think contestants get to roam the castle, but production limits where they can actually go. The creators of the show rent out the castle each season, thus limiting the number of spaces contestants can explore.

During season two, producers added the “scullery,” which is like a kitchen, and the outdoor, stone-covered patio.

“We always felt that a kitchen is somewhere you go grab a cup of tea and it’s a real sort of gathering place,” producer Sam-Rees Jones said during a February 2024 panel. “And whilst we weren’t lacking that, it was just somewhere else that we knew we had that space.”

The limits to the castle extend to the bedrooms. While some of the most iconic scenes of The Traitors are of contestants getting ready for bed – remember Kate Chastain in the bathtub – they don’t actually sleep there.

In reality, the competitors sleep in a hotel 45 minutes from set. “They all stayed in the airport hotel in the Inverness airport,” Alan told The Daily Beast in January 2023. “How glamorous you come to Scotland, and you stay in the Inverness airport hotel. I stayed in a little house in Inverness.”

Although, Alan did reveal that he had a room in the castle to get ready in, where he even took a few naps.

After Alan names his Traitors, keeping their identity secret is the name of the game. Producer Mike Cotton told Variety in January 24: “It’s a massive military operation each night to get the Faithful to bed in individual rooms and get the Traitors back out to have their meeting.”

Former traitor, Kate Chastain of Below Deck, explained to Vanity Fair that production even employed security guards to make sure the Traitors remained unknown.

If the show were filmed in the early 2000s, I can assure you there would be no drink limit. Just take any early Real Housewives. But it’s 2026, and we know better now. Even though contestants on The Traitors are often seen with a glass, they can only have one drink per evening.

“You can only drink one drink a night anyway, it was quite restricted,” season two contestant Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu told Entertainment Weekly in January 2024.

After arriving in the Highlands, production takes basically everything from the contestants – phones, passports, etc. Season two contestant, Mercedes “MJ” Javid told the Just Sayin’ podcast: “When we got off the plane, I was like, ‘Oh you’re taking our phones, right now. You’re gonna take everything — they take your chargers, your watch, your passport, your wallet, your money.”

After they are done filming, cast members are not allowed to discuss the game with each other, even if they are dating a fellow contestant. During season two, Larsa Pippen was in a relationship with Marcus Jordan. The two were both faithfuls, but weren’t allowed to tell each other.

They communicated by sending messages to each other back at the hotel. Larsa told People at the time: “Marcus asked me for a nail file, and I put it in a paper bag — and they go through everything, you’re not supposed to send anything back and forth — but he wanted a nail file and I was like, I’m just going to send him a nail file.

She continued: “And then I was like, oh, there’s a banana. He said he wanted a banana. So I [write] ‘I love you’ on the banana and send it to him with the nail file.”

The Traitors is just about the Traitors. By signing their contract, contestants agree to not promote their personal brands. And that’s difficult for the cast, as many of them have businesses outside of reality television. Lisa Rinna has Rinna Beauty, Monét has a clothing brand, and more.

But, the lack of self-promotion was confirmed by season two contestant Shereé Whitfield who told People in February 2024: “They said I could not [wear SHE by Shereé.]”

The secrecy of The Traitors starts long before they get to the castle. Before contestants arrive in Scotland, they don’t know who else will be participating in the competition. This sets them up for a fun and surprising meeting outside the castle.

“You don’t want them to be able to research each other or talk to each other or form alliances before,” casting director Deena Katz told TIME. The exception to this rule was between Larsa and Marcus, since the two were a couple.

Casting directors and producers oversee personality tests to the potential candidates to make sure they will make good competitors. “We see attributes that might make someone a good liar or particularly deceptive,” Mike Cotton explained.