Claudia Winkleman initially turned down hosting The Traitors to prioritise family

Claudia Winkleman has said she originally declined to present hit reality show The Traitors to prioritise her family life.

The Strictly Come Dancing star, 51, will return to hosting duties for the second series on BBC One from January 3, with 22 contestants battling it out at a Scottish castle in the psychological game show that gripped viewers last year.

Winkleman promised an “ultimate game of treachery for a life-changing cash prize” in the first trailer for season two.

She won the Bafta for best entertainment performance last year, while the show won best reality and constructed factual programme.

“I wasn’t keen on leaving home for three weeks, so initially I said, ‘I don’t think so, but thank you’,” Winkleman told the Radio Times.

“They then sent me the original Dutch version. I watched the first four episodes in one sitting, told the kids to make their own tea and then begged the BBC to let me be part of it.

“I’m used to being a cheerleader and a helper, so it felt very odd being so cold. By the end I couldn’t help but show how much I cared about them, but at the beginning, yes, it was deeply weird.

“The producers had to really persuade me to send two people home as soon as they arrived. I couldn’t really cope with it, but they said, ‘This sets the tone, don’t be wet’. So off they went.”

During the series, players were made secret traitors and were tasked with “murdering” faithful contestants, while the latter had to root out the traitors and “banish” them.

Five finalists were reduced to the last three, who split the £100,000 prize between them.