If you believe the experts the best way to win at The Traitors is to arrive packing nothing more flashy than a poker face.
Judging from the 2026 run of The Celebrity Traitors, however, this lot have packed multiple suitcases, suit carriers and possibly their own personal stylist in tow.
What began with Claudia Winkleman’s magnificent collection of capes, chunky knitwear and mad, distracting fringes has turned the whole show into something closer to a fully-fledged fashion event.
Four episodes in, and let us count the highlights.
Maya Jama kicking off proceedings in an enormous furry bolero. Richard E. Grant with his masterclasses in tweed and elaborate scarf arrangements. Joe Lycett rocking a lilac feathered shirt and polka-dot shorts.
Don’t believe the brands aren’t watching. The winner of January’s civilian version, Stephen Libby – he of the Oxford bags trousers, fitted jumpsuits and deep V-necks – has since landed a fashion ambassador role with M&S and a style column in The Guardian.
As Richard Osman and Marina Hyde pointed out this week on The Rest Is Entertainment, contestants can now have stylists if they want them. The clothes have become almost as much a part of the entertainment as the murders and banishments.
But nobody seems to be enjoying the opportunity quite as much as James Blunt.
The singer and former Army officer has approached his stay in the Scottish Highlands with the wardrobe of a man who wasn’t entirely sure what sort of holiday he’d booked, so covered all bases.
There have been brightly coloured suits, country tweeds, military fatigues and a tracksuit straight out of a Wes Anderson film.
Now his clothes have reportedly landed him in trouble with the BBC. According to The Sun, Blunt was asked to remove a social-media post promoting the £1,695 green tweed suit he wore on the programme. The problem wasn’t the outfit, but his use of BBC publicity imagery to promote the tailor who made it.
Which seems a shame, because if anyone deserves a prize for entering into the spirit of Celebrity Traitors, it’s Blunt. Here’s a guide to his key looks (so far).
The £1,695 green tweed suit
Blunt rocked up to Ardross Castle looking like he meant business. More precisely, he looked like a man who had come to discuss the future of the family estate.
The three-piece green herringbone suit was made by Barrington Ayre, a bespoke tailor in the Cotswolds (where else?) using William Bliss Cotswold Country Tweed. It’s some proper British tailoring, that, complete with waistcoat, high-waisted trousers and a concealed mobile-phone pocket in the jacket lining (!).
The tailor, Tom Wharton, has since gone on record saying Blunt’s background as an officer in the Life Guards influenced the military neatness of the cut. Wharton, who founded Barrington Ayre after finding Savile Row “too intimidating”, also revealed that his company made other clothes for the show – “but we are not allowed to talk about it yet!”
What else can he mean? Ross Kemp’s underpants?
The suit is currently available to order for £1,695, incidentally.
The ‘Top Gun’ flight suit
For the coffin-burial mission in episode two, Blunt appeared in a grey flight suit covered in patches, including a Union Jack on the sleeve and a name badge reading BLUNT. There are wings on the chest and enough insignia to suggest he might reasonably be expected to know his way around an aircraft.
That all sounds on-brand for Blunty, right? Well, not really. He served in the British Army, including with NATO forces in Kosovo. He has never been a fighter pilot.
File this one under cosplay-Top Gun/Action Man, or a wizard stag-do costume.
The ‘Royal Tenenbaums’ tracksuit
For the haunted-cabin mission, Blunt abandoned the military look for a tracksuit and matching sweatband. Think 1980s sports coach-slash-ageing tennis professional – or one of the rando characters that clutter up Wes Anderson films.
Viewers on Reddit compared the look to Alan Partridge’s celebrated sports-casual A Partridge In Paris wardrobe. It’s a fair comparison, although the You’re Beautiful tunesmith has about 800 per cent more self-awareness than Alan, who has none.
The lemon-yellow suit
If the tweed suit suggested a man who owns several acres of Gloucestershire, this outfit suggested he’d suddenly decided to sell them all off and move to Miami.
Blunt appeared at the round table in a lemon-yellow tailored jacket over a plain white T-shirt. No tie, no waistcoat, no concession to the castle’s usual palette of moss, mud and impending doom.
Over on The Rest Is Entertainment Richard Osman and Marina Hyde debated whether the precise colour was “lemon” or “buttercream”. Whatever you call it, it’s a fairly distracting choice for the high-stakes showdown moment of weeding out traitors.
The Missoni dressing gown
If you needed any more proof that Blunt is having the time of his life taking the mick, consider his nightwear.
Not some sensible navy towelling number, as befits a former Household Cavalry officer, but a spectacular explosion of multicoloured zigzags, apparently courtesy of Italian knitwear specialists Missoni. He looks like a Seventies rock star who’s just been interrupted doing something unforgivable on a very expensive spa weekend.
The birthday suit
In one of those glimpses of what the celebrities get up to in their rooms, Blunt appeared wearing nothing but a shower cap, while wielding a scrubbing brush and a thousand yard stare. A nod, perhaps, to Tom Daley and Freddie Fraser’s memorably buff shower scenes in previous series. Although Blunt’s version was played with a rather less straight face. Or, indeed, poker face.
