The Traitorsis a mystery murder game similar to Mafia. HostAlan Cummingpicks cast members to be “traitors” and the rest are “faithfuls.” The rest of the season shows the traitors secretly meeting and choosing someone to murder or eliminate from the game. The faithfuls then try to figure out who is a traitor, vote on their guess, and banish someone from the game. The host reveals after the vote if they’re correct or incorrect. The whole cast also does missions together to add to the prize pot onthePeacockshow. In the end, if any traitors are left, then they get the money. But if the faithfuls are the only ones left, then they get the money. Your chances of winning are higher as a traitor, but it comes with the harder task of lying.
‘The Traitors’ Began With ‘Survivor’ and ‘Big Brother’ Alums as Traitors
The first season started with 20 cast members. Half of them were civilians and the other half werereality TVstars.Cirie FieldsfromSurvivor,Cody CalafiorefromBig Brother, and van-liferChristian de la Torrewere selected as the traitors. This wasn’t surprising since Cirie is known as one of the best castaways to never win the game after playing four seasons. Cody won the second All-Stars season ofBig Brotherafter placing second the first time around. The traitors need to be good at manipulating and lying and these are skills needed in theCBSshows.
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It was only fair to have at least one civilian be a traitor, but Christian was considered a messy one. He was excited about murdering, which sometimes rubbed Cirie and Cody the wrong way. He then unnecessarily lied to throw off suspicion, but it had the opposite effect. For example, he told the cast he was invited to join the traitors but refused. This was after the traitors invitedArie Luyendyk Jr.fromThe Bachelorto join them and he accepted. Christian was eliminated for the small chance that he was invited to be a traitor…and accepted.
It seemed like an amateur move, but Cody also worsened his position by lying. He lied toKyle CookefromSummer HouseaboutRyan Lotche’ssuspicions before his murder. Kyle instantly recognized it as being a lie, which later led to Cody’s elimination. In the end, Cirie was the last traitor standing and won $250,000. So it’s actually a toss-up on how far the strategists go on the show, and so producers should keep their options open.
Bravo Stars Could Potentially Be Great Traitors
The season 2 cast ofThe Traitorshas been revealed and there are more Bravo stars.Larsa PippenfromThe Real Housewives of Miami(RHOM), Mercedes “MJ” JavidfromShahs of Sunset,Phaedra ParksandShereé WhitfieldfromThe Real Housewives of Atlanta (RHOA), andTamra JudgeofThe Real Housewives of Orange County (RHOC)will be competing. They’re all used to gossiping and trying to take down their fellow cast members, which could be great as a traitor.
Phaedra could come across as a trustworthy person to people unfamiliar with her. She’s a lawyer and a mother of two sons. However,RHOAfans know that Phaedra will go far, too far with her lies. She was fired as a housewife after a damaging rumor she made aboutKandi Buruss. She returned after a long hiatus forThe Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip.She could fly under the radar of the other players since her comeback is recent.
Tamra is the other Bravo star who would be an interesting traitor. The original cast member has a long history of arguing on our screens. So she would hold her own if the accusations start flying. But most of all, Tamra has party-girl energy. She could easily pass as a reality star who just wants to have a fun time meanwhile she murders her competitors at night. Of course, this season there are personalities known to use their lying and scheming skills on an island or in theBig Brotherhouse.
Dan GheeslingandJanelle PierzinafromBig Brotherare playing.SurvivorwinnersParvati ShallowandSandra Diaz-Twineare also in the mix. Lastly,The ChallengestarsJohnny “Bananas” DevenanzioandChris ‘C.T.’ Tamburelloare other obvious contenders as traitors. They would make good traitors, but they would also benefit from a housewife who could pull more attention away from them.The benefit of having so many competitors in the same season is that it minimizes the target on all of them. However, there will still be suspicions on all of them because their abilities are well-known. If a housewife takes one of their spots as a traitor, then she could easily make it far because no one would consider it a possibility.
Kate ChastainfromBelow Deckfell into this role last season even though she was a faithful. She was kept around simply because no one believed she was a traitor anymore, and she was practically begging to be murdered. It made for hilarious television with her purposely sabotaging missions. It could happen again with a housewife being a traitor. That would only make the stakes higher because the audience would know everyone is wrong, and she could take the money.
The other Bravo stars were actually the first to go last season for multiple reasons. So having one of them as a traitor could prevent the dynamic from repeating. We haven’t seen one of them have true power in the game, and it’s time that the acclaimed strategists have a new kind of rival. We also saw with Cody that even good players struggle when the pressure is on them.SurvivorandBig Brotherrely on having the numbers and having your fellow cast members like you. But Bravo stars don’t really care if others don’t like them, and are used to that kind of pressure. A traitor who doesn’t instantly crumble when they feel like they’re found out makes them more resilient in the game. And a resilient traitor is more likely to win and come out on top in tight spots.
