Celeb Contestants From 'The Traitors' Explain How the Game Works: "Trust No One" (EXCLUSIVE)

You might have thought you've seen it all when it comes to reality TV, but Peacock's The Traitors is here to challenge that. The show features celebrity contestants, some well-kept secrets, and a few twists to keep the game interesting. But how does The Traitors work and how is it different from The Mole?

Distractify spoke exclusively with some of the cast from The Traitors, as well as its trusty host, Alan Cumming, in 2023 ahead of the series premiere. They explained how the game works and what exactly is on the line here. We chatted again with the new cast in 2024. And just in case you're worried about how real The Traitors is or how fabricated some of the drama may be, this definitely isn't the second coming of The Surreal Life.

There are two types of players in The Traitors: the faithful, who are here to play the game on the straight and narrow, and then, of course, the traitors. The latter keep their identities a secret from the other players as they try to steal the prize from under them. The faithful work together to try and weed out the traitors from the pack and vote them out during roundtable sessions.

But there's always the chance they could vote out a fellow faithful, thereby falling into the well-laid traps set by traitors to make one of them the last player standing with a potential $250,000 prize.

They also have to get through outrageous challenges in order to increase the prize fund. So in that regard, the celebrity contestants have to work together. But only one of them can win in the end.

The cast is made up of reality TV powerhouses that viewers likely know simply by their faces. The players for Season 2 include Big Brother's Dan Gheesling, The Challenge powerhouses Chris "C.T." Tamburello and Johnny "Bananas" Devenanzio, and a couple of Real Housewives for good measure.

When we spoke to Season 1 contestant Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick back in January 2023, she noted that players should "trust no one."

More recently, in January 2024, Season 2 player Peter Weber from The Bachelor shared, "In The Traitors, it's purely about trying to detach emotionally, so at least for me, that was my strategy. Just focused on, do I trust this person? How can I try to manipulate them?"

Alan Comming shared more insight into the roundtable part of the game, which is crucial for the players to figure out who they want to banish each night.

"There's a lot of backstabbing, there's a lot of sort of backstabbing through utter insecurity and fear," he told us. "I mean, every night [the players] have to turn on each other because there's a banishment every night at the roundtable."

While the game as a whole is plenty intense for the players on The Traitors, even if some of them are well-versed in reality competitions, it's the nightly roundtable that is the real stressor. it provides an opportunity for accusations and, more importantly, nightly voting among the players to take out who they collectively believe is a traitor.

Regardless of where these contestants have played before on reality TV or outside of television altogether, The Traitors is clearly a whole different ball game for many of them.

Watch new episodes of The Traitors on Fridays on Peacock.