The famous faces selected to try and deceive their fellow contestants on The Celebrity Traitors have been chosen.

Hosted by Claudia Winkleman, the game will follow the 21 celebrity contestants as they try to seek out the traitors among them who kill off players in the middle of the night.

On the premiere episode actor Richard E Grant, 69, and Love Island host Maya Jama, 32, were the first two chosen for the task.

Speaking to host Claudia Winkleman before being chosen as a traitor, Jama said: “As a host I have a welcoming energy and hopefully people will trust me.”

However, Jama added she would “hopefully be an unassuming warm and misleading traitor”.

Meanwhile Grant said he was “utterly ruthless” and would feel “no guilt as it’s a game”.

“If I was lucky enough to be a traitor, it would be a dream come true. In this game the only power you have is being a traitor,” he said.

“If you’re playing the game, you’re playing the game. Friendships mean diddly squat.”

After being selected Jama said: “I am so excited. I wanted to bring a different side of me out and here she is – villain era.”

Grant added he “can’t wait to start murdering”.

However soon after being selected to deceive his fellow contestants, the actor admitted he was a traitor to several other people.

“What’s the point in being in the game if you’re not one,” he said.

Comedian Joe Lycett was stunned by his confession and said: “I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.”

He then encouraged Grant to back down from his comment and reassure everyone he was in fact a faithful and making a joke.

“I think you’ve done something that’s never been done in the game. It’s a bold strategy,” he said.

Realising his blunder, Grant said to the camera: “That may have been the biggest mistake I’ve made in my life. I was so thrilled to be chosen that in my excitement I said I was a traitor. I need to defuse all of the heat coming in my direction.”

However, model and actress Jerry Hall said she did not believe he was in fact a traitor.

“I’ve known him for over 30 years and he says and does eccentric things. I think he is acting out because he hasn’t been chosen,” she said.

The other celebrities competing this season are broadcaster Amol Rajan, actor Bella Ramsey, singer James Blunt, actor Julie Hesmondhalgh, content creator King Kenny and Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock.

Six comedians are also taking part – James Acaster, Joanne McNally, Lycett, Miranda Hart, Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan.

The rest rounding out the cast are actor Michael Sheen, actor Myha’la, broadcaster and mathematician professor Hannah Fry, actor and presenter Ross Kemp, musician and actor Sebastian Croft and actor Sharon Rooney.

Minutes after meeting, the celebrities were tasked with choosing who among them was considered the most trustworthy – quickly settling on Hesmondhalgh.

She was then handed two shields – allowing two people to be saved from the first murder.

Choosing to keep one for herself, she then awarded the other to Lycett.

The celebrities are playing the game in Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands, with a cash prize of up to £100,000 for a charity of their choice also up for grabs.

The contestants will try to weed out the murderous traitors among them in the eagerly anticipated second series of the BBC juggernaut, which launched last year and quickly became a major ratings success for the broadcaster.

The first series of The Celebrity Traitors aired last autumn, with its nail-biting finale hitting a peak of 15.4 million viewers, according to the BBC.

It featured a star-studded cast including actors Celia Imrie and Nick Mohammed, author and actor Sir Stephen Fry, broadcaster Jonathan Ross and comedian Alan Carr, who went on to win as a traitor.

The Celebrity Traitors continues Friday at 8pm on BBC One.