The launch of this year's Celebrity Traitors has drawn the biggest television audience of 2026 so far, with more than 15 million people watching the first episode within seven days of transmission.
An average of 15.41 million UK viewers watched the opening episode in the week after it was broadcast, according to data published by the ratings organisation Barb.
The figure counts people who watched on computers, tablets and smartphones as well as on television sets.
It is the largest TV audience of 2026 to date based on what are known as consolidated ratings, which measure the number of UK viewers who watch a programme up to a week after it was first broadcast or released.
The total is also the highest seven-day audience ever recorded for an episode of The Traitors, in either its celebrity format or the version involving members of the public.
The previous record belonged to the final of the 2025 Celebrity Traitors series, which drew a seven-day audience of 14.94 million.
The current series began on the BBC on Thursday October 1, when host Claudia Winkleman selected two of the 21 celebrity contestants to play the role of traitor.
One of those chosen was actor Richard E Grant, who promptly announced himself as a traitor to the startled reaction of the other players.
Episode two, broadcast on October 2, performed almost as strongly, taking seven-day consolidated ratings of 14.95 million.
That put it just ahead of the 14.93 million average audience for the BBC's coverage of England's World Cup semi-final defeat by Argentina on July 15.
By contrast, the highest seven-day UK audience for this year's series of The Traitors, which features members of the public rather than celebrities, was 11.99 million, for the episode broadcast on January 9.
Barb also publishes figures covering audiences watching a programme up to 28 days after its broadcast or release.
The 28-day ratings for The Celebrity Traitors will not be available for several weeks, but they are likely to show the number of people who watched the launch went on climbing beyond the seven-day mark.
The first episode of this year's standard series of The Traitors added nearly one-and-a-half million more viewers between its seven-day consolidated audience of 11.85 million and its 28-day total of 13.29 million, Barb data shows.
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