More than a quarter of a million people have reportedly applied to take part in the upcoming third series of The Traitors.
The duplicitous reality show is one of the biggest entertainment hits in recent years, with over eight million people tuning in for the second series on BBC One in January.
The third series is being filmed later this spring - but according to The Sun, producers have been inundated with would-be contestants.
A source told the newspaper: "The trouble is they now face a race against time because they have to pick out 22 people from over 300,000 before filming begins.
"And that has to start in the spring because during the summer months the hours of daylight in the far north of Scotland are far too long.
"Which is a big problem because, as anyone who's watched the show will know, a lot of it has to take place at night. So if they miss their window of opportunity to film, it causes problems.
"But they're still thrilled with how many people have applied and they're confident everything will be in place when the time comes.
"They also realise it's a nice problem to have. They knew that after the success of the first two series they would get a large number of people throwing their hats in the ring, but they didn't anticipate this."
The new series has been earmarked for an autumn transmission on BBC One, with a celebrity version expected to follow in early 2025.
Neil Wilkes
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