A reality TV and gameshow sensation, The Traitors, available to stream on Peacock, found itself in the limelight this January and February. All the Love Island Season Six fans jumped at the chance to see more of their favorite heartthrob, Rob Rausch, who was among the cast of this newest season of The Traitors.
The season begins with five housewives from The Real Housewives of various locations, five “gamers” (the winners of Big Brother and Survivor), two Love Islanders, two Olympic Gold medalists, two comedians, a Bachelor, an actor, a musician, the Top Chef host, Dancing with the Stars’s Marc Ballas, and Jason and Travis Kelce’s mom Donna. These contestants worked together to complete missions to add money to their prize pot while also discovering the Traitors amongst the Faithful. If you don’t know how the show works, if the Faithfuls successfully uncover the identities of all the Traitors by the end of the season, they will win the money, but if just one Traitor remains, the Traitor will win.
The host, Alan Cumming, starts the first evening by assigning one player as the “Secret Traitor” whose identity remains unknown to the other players and the viewers at home. This added intrigue makes the audience feel a part of the game, and I, personally, found myself upset that I could no longer participate in the guessing game when their identity was revealed.
WARNING – Do not read any further if you have any interest in bingeing The Traitors!
After all the players went to bed, Alan called on a select trio to be his “Traitors,” keeping their identities confidential from the rest of the players, now known as the “Faithfuls,” but letting the audience into the secret. Alan picked Rob Raush (Love Island), Lise Rinna (The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills), and Candice Dillard Bassett (The Real Housewives of Potomac) to lie and deceive their way to gold. Throughout all meals and the missions held each day, the Traitors must convince all the Faithfuls that they themselves are also faithful to avoid banishment at the Roundtables. But, at night, the Traitors are allowed one person of their choosing to kill off, meaning the victim will not return to the game the next morning.
To start, Rob, Lisa, and Candice decide to work together, but as the game goes on and Lisa and Candice face suspicion from the Faithfuls, Rob realizes his chances of winning are higher without them. He allows the Faithfuls to banish both of his teammates, earning trust from all the Faithfuls along the way. Not a hard feat for him, as most of the players fall at his feet, specifically his fellow Love Islander, Maura Higgins.
Because he is the only Traitor left at day 7, Alan allows Rob to choose a Faithful to enlist as a Traitor. Rob chooses Eric Nam, a musician, who has remained loyal to Rob thus far in the game. As the number of players dwindled down, Rob experiences little to no heat from the Faithfuls, and if he does, Maura is quick to defend him.
On the final night, only Rob, Maura, Eric, and Olympian Tara Lipinski are left. Rob and Eric can smell their victory. Tara, having just lost her biggest ally and fellow Olympian, Johnny Weir, attempts to get Maura on her side, but fails as Maura, Rob, and Eric banish Tara at the final roundtable. Now, at this point in the show, I am cheering on Rob and Eric; they are in the final stretch, so all they need to do is agree to end the game, and the money will be theirs. But Maura is suspicious of Eric, and Rob knows this. Maura decides to continue the game with another banishment, and Rob does the same, singling out Eric. Together, Maura and Rob, banish a very betrayed Eric. Now, I am no longer cheering on Rob. He brought in Eric to be his fellow Traitor and then just betrays him when they are so close. I understand it is just a game….but who does that?
So, Rob and Maura win…or do they? Maura, so happy to have won with her best friend in the game, turns to Rob looking for confirmation. But her face falls in a now viral moment as she realizes she had it all wrong. Rob finally admits that he is a Traitor and has always been a Traitor. Some might even call it the biggest betrayal in reality TV history. Rob goes on to claim his $220,800 prize.
While I was mad at Rob for banishing Eric, as the show ended, Rob said to the audience, “Would you give $100,000 to someone you just met three weeks ago?” in respect to Eric. That question really made me stop and think…because, if given the chance, would you?