The Traitors Cracks The Formula For The Celebrity Competition Series

Once upon a time, a final rose or Andy Cohen-hosted reunion marked the end of a reality star’s gig. But today, polarizing personalities can continue their unscripted journeys on shows purpose-built for reality TV vets, ranging from the franchise-specific (Bachelor in Paradise, Ultimate Girls Trip, Perfect Match) to the come-one-come-all (think House of Villains or Special Forces).

But no series has nailed the reality roundup formula quite like The Traitors.

The U.S. competition show, adapted from a widely successful Dutch series, quickly became Peacock’s No. 1 reality title following its debut last year. Now, it’s back for a second season — which Bustle visited in Scotland this fall — and it’s more steeped in reality TV than ever. While the first iteration featured a mix of civilians and famous folks, the new cast is composed entirely of reality stars, athletes, and public figures (including a former U.K. parliament member).

Part of this shift was about establishing a “level playing field,” producers tell Bustle. But it has the added effect of communicating to players and viewers that The Traitors is swiftly becoming the post-reality move — and there’s room for all of your faves to come and play.

For most shows in this space, contestants come in with a history that shapes their on-screen arc. House of Villains introduces its cast with archival footage of their reality drama, for example, while the Special Forces military training course promises atonement for several of its stars’ public missteps. (As Tom Sandoval puts it on the Fox show, “I’m here to be punished,” referencing his affair with Vanderpump Rules co-star Raquel Leviss.)

That isn’t to say the Traitors folks have pristine, uncomplicated reality resumes. But there’s no flashy intro package, so the details of these histories come up casually, if at all. Instead, the focus is on a competition that’s compelling in its own right.

The premise is simple: Contestants gather in a secluded Scottish castle and are secretly labeled either a “Faithful” or a “Traitor.” Amid a series of physical and psychological tests, Faithfuls try to oust the Traitors to win a $250,000 prize pot. But if any Traitors evade suspicion, they’ll get the money instead.

It doesn’t matter too much where you’ve been — you’re here, now, to play pretend in a beautiful castle with cloaks and tartan and blindfolds. Cunning wins you points, not pot-stirring. “This show is really not catty like Housewives,” The Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Phaedra Parks tells Bustle. “So, I think it allows you the opportunity to show a different perspective — more strategic. The thinking side of us as people.”

“My theory about why it works is that we all lie all the time,” host Alan Cumming tells Bustle from the Traitors roundtable. “But we never get a chance to see people lying, knowing that they’re lying, and knowing that they have to lie. So it’s this fascinating thing of thinking, What would I do? We all are traitors in our lives, to a certain extent.”

Deception is part and parcel of just about every reality show in existence, but on The Traitors, it’s an imperative. This lends delicious dramatic irony to the entire show, where it’s not about whether or not someone lies — you have to forgive them for that — but how, exactly, they go about their falsehoods. (Season 1 spoilers ahead!)

For example, if you’re a Traitor like Season 1’s Cirie Fields, is it OK to forge genuine friendships with the Faithfuls you’re trying to fleece? (She’d argue yes.) Or if you’re bowing out of the game in the 11th hour like Arie Luyendyk Jr. did in Episode 10, do you owe it to your castmates to ’fess up about there being another Traitor in their midst? (He compromised by leaving them with “clues” that, unfortunately, weren’t deciphered in the heat of the moment.)

These decisions were difficult — but, crucially, not mean. Obviously, feelings will get hurt when $250,000 is on the line, and there are plenty of insults to be hurled. (As Phaedra tells Peter Weber in the Season 2 trailer: “This is not The Bachelor. And I don’t have to kiss your ass for a rose.”) But if the show asks a lot of its contestants by turning them into sneaky little liars, it strives to make it easy on them in other ways.

The Challenge alum Trishelle Cannatella recalls finding it “so kind” that the players were provided wetsuits for the season’s first mission — a pretty basic consideration, she acknowledges, but nonetheless unusual in her experience on reality TV. “We’re just not used to this type of care,” she says.

The show is also decidedly “hands-off” when it comes to shaping storylines, producers tell Bustle. That’s a novelty in the genre — one that allows for genuine displays of humanity. Players comfort each other after one of their own is “murdered” (i.e., eliminated by a Traitor), and in one devastating Episode 3 moment, a contestant cries when he realizes he’s rallied for the wrong person to go home.

In every episode, the most heartwarming moment comes when the surviving contestants enter the castle for breakfast: confirmation that they weren’t booted in the night. Without fail, their castmates cheer at the sight as if to say, You made it! We’re glad to see you. We all get another chance today. Why can’t everyone start their day like that?

For Bling Empire’s Kevin Kreider, the format is a welcome reprieve from shows like his that revolve around their casts’ personal conflicts. “When you deal with a reality show, especially when they’re friends, and they’re lying and betraying you, that hurts a lot,” he says. “I mean, that really affects my life. But here, we can live our lives without having those scars.”

That realization underscores what The Traitors is all about: giving unscripted celebrities a place to play (and make some money) out of their franchise bubbles. Less inhibited in this fantastical arena, they’re free to get creative — and the result isn’t just kinder but more fun reality TV.