Who owns the castle in The Traitors?

The Traitors USA, a popular psychological reality show, returned to screens on January 12, 2024. Much like the UK version, the American version takes reality stars to Scotland, where they compete in a series of challenges to uncover each other's true identities as they are either "Faithful" or "Traitors."

As part of the Peacock show, the 21 celebrities must discover who the Traitors are before they are all murdered. They can do so by banishing the Traitors. If a Traitor survives at the show's end, they take home the prize. If they don't, the prize gets distributed between the remaining Faithfuls.

---

The Traitors' Ardross Castle's ownership explored

The Ardross Castle was purchased by the 1st Duke of Sutherland in the late 1700s, as per House Beautiful. It was then sold to Sir Alexander Matheson by the 2nd Duke in 1845 for £90,000.

Sir Kenneth Matheson sold the estate to C.W. Dyson Perrins in 1898 following his father's death. The businessman was later broken up and sold in 1937. Mr & Mrs. Austin Mardon purchased Ardoss Castle in 1983 and then sold it to the current owners, the McTargget family, in 1937.

While The Traitors cast may not be able to stay at Ardross Castle, according to the castle's website, the estate can be rented for weddings. The website states it can accommodate up to 41 guests for two nights. Guests must bring their caterers, bar, cooking facilities, flatware, tableware, and glassware.

---

The cast doesn't stay at the castle while filming

Ahead of The Traitors US season 1, which aired in January 2023, host Alan Cumming spoke to The Daily Beast about hosting the mafia-style reality show. During the conversation, he revealed that the contestants don't stay in the castle. The host himself also didn't get to stay there.

"None of us stayed in the castle. None of us. They all stayed in the airport hotel in the Inverness airport."

The Traitors host humorously called the situation "glamorous." Alan Cumming noted that they came to Scotland and stayed at the Inverness airport hotel. While the contestants stayed in the Courtyard by Marriott hotel, Alan remained in a "little house." He further noted that he did have a room in the castle where he would get ready for filming.

"It had a huge bed in it. So I did actually sleep quite often, but not overnight."

---

A brief recap of The Traitors season 2

The show dropped the first three episodes on January 12, 2024, when the cast arrived at the Ardross castle. During the segment, three Traitors were revealed. While Alan Cumming picked Dan Gheesling and Phaedra Parks, the two chose Parvati Shallow from Survivor to join their cause.

In the first three episodes, two murders occur, and two cast members are banished. Johnny Bananas was the first to die, followed by Marcus Jordan. Those who were banished were Peppermint and Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu was murdered in episode 4 by Parvati Shallow. In the same episode, Lars Pippen was banished. However, they were not the only ones to leave the show as boxing champion Deontay Wilder exited the show in the same segment.

---

The Traitors season 2 drops new episodes weekly every Thursday on Peacock.