The Celebrity Traitors made its way to our screens after months of speculation and hype and, among the 6.5 million viewers to tune in this week, was Prince William

Guards had to stop The Celebrity Traitors stars sneaking between bedrooms at the hotel at which they stayed, it has emerged.

The security staff had to make sure there was no conferring when the TV cameras were switched off during the production of the series. Television’s most devious contest made its way to our screens this week after months of speculation and hype, and saw the likes of Sir Stephen Fry, Kate Garraway and Celia Imrie face devilish tasks.

But the personalities did not get the VIP treatment. During filming, the stars had to stay at a £80-per-night Courtyard by Marriott hotel near an airport, which remained open to the public. The celebrities, which also included Alan Carr and Clare Balding, were only allowed out at certain times for cigarette breaks and short walks, it has emerged.

The guards kept close eyes on the contestants at the hotel, the same one used in the non-celebrity version of the BBC programme, and they weren’t even allowed to go, alone, to visit other stars in their rooms.

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The titular “Traitors” must work together to eliminate the other contestants to win a grand prize, while the remaining contestants become “Faithful” and are tasked to discover and banish the “Traitors” by voting them out to win the prize. Knowledge gathered only be succeeding in tasks during the show will help the teams achieve these goals.

And the production team ensured they maintained the same tough rules for the household names as they had done for the non-famous counterparts in the original show, much to the “shock” of some stars.

“They must have had a shock, some of them would never have stayed anywhere that s*** before, it was hardly salubrious,” one source told the Daily Mail today, days after the first episode of the series aired.

The series was filmed over three weeks in May and, while tasks were often held in the famous castle, none of the contestants got to stay in the building – and had to make do with the hotel near Inverness Airport. Celebs were put on one floor and a lockdown-style curfew was imposed. Mobiles were confiscated and a “production phone” was issued for emergencies, it is reported today. The same source continued: “There was to be no social media, just old-fashioned phone calls.”

It is thought the BBC ensured transmission of the programme was quick – less than five months after filming – to avoid any leaks. The VIPs have been paid the same flat rate for their time – unlike the civilian version, for which contestants get a small stipend to subsidise time away from work.

Some friendships have already become strained. It has now emerged Alan Carr, for instance, “murdered” his good friend Paloma Faith in episode two by rubbing poison lily on her face. Faith said: “If the shoe was on the other foot, I would not have touched Alan’s face.”

The next episode of The Celebrity Traitors is on Wednesday on BBC One at 9pm.