Given your prior reality TV experience, what made you decide to sign up for The Traitors?Cirie Fields: New adventure, new show. New opportunity, something fresh. That was it for me!Rachel Reilly: For me, it was definitely the opportunity to go to Scotland, to live in a castle. I’ve never lived in a castle, obviously. And the murder mystery aspect of it. I knew it was going to be epic. When they described it to me as a murder mystery and as a competition show in a castle, I just couldn’t even put my mind around it. And I knew I had to be there. It’s such a Rachel Reilly type of show.Cody Calafiore: For me, it was the concept of the show. Being on the first season of something that we hadn’t seen before. We have seen Big Brother, Survivor, The Amazing Race, and different shows like that. And just having this new show that’s going to hit the U.S. for the first time, I was sold. Then I saw the concept of the show, which was really fascinating.Stephenie LaGross Kendrick: I’m always up for a challenge. But this is something totally different. And it had been a while since I’ve been out there, and I’m up for an adventure. And who doesn’t want to do the first season of a brand-new show? That’s a cool concept. Plus a castle in Scotland!Kyle Cooke: When you hear it, you can’t say no. I mean, you don’t get anywhere in life saying, “No.” I think for me, it was an interesting opportunity to get out of the typecast of “party boy.” That idea of, “Oh, Kyle. He just works hard and plays hard and runs around with a mullet.” Granted, now I do have a real mullet. (Laughs.) So I probably screwed myself there. But I think it was just kind of an opportunity to branch out of that Bravo universe and do something completely new.Was there any specific preparation that you did before coming onto The Traitors?Stephenie: Actually, the night before I left. My husband, my three kids, and I sat on the rug. And the three-year-old at the time, we let her be the host. And we all closed our eyes, and she walked around to tap us on the shoulder. Then we opened our eyes and realized she tapped us all on the shoulders. (Laughs.) That was my preparation. I left the next morning. Because I’m so not a good liar. But we tried to practice.Cirie: I think there’s no preparation. You can’t prepare because you don’t know if you’re a Traitor or Faithful. So how can you prepare?Cody: It’s tough because there’s obviously not a lot for us to watch. There had been the Dutch season, and I know it’s in Australia. But we don’t really have great access to that. So, as Cirie said, it doesn’t necessarily help because you don’t know what your role will be. You don’t know how you’re going to handle that.Stephenie: The castle’s freezing cold. And the roundtable room is this weird, scary chapel-looking thing. And you walk in, and this creepy song is playing. You feel like you’re shaking. And between that and my nerves, I just couldn’t even contain myself. And I’m trying to act cool because I’m like, “Don’t look guilty. They’re going to think you’re a Traitor. You’re trying to stay composed. You don’t want to look at somebody. Don’t smile. Don’t look like you’re going to cry. You’re also playing alongside contestants that not only you know, but know of you. How easy or difficult was it to judge your fellow reality stars with that knowledge? Kyle: First of all, there are 20 contestants. That’s a big cast. I mean, most Bravo shows, it’s half that. So, there are a lot of people to get to know, and you obviously want to try to make the rounds to understand who’s who. So I would say it both helped and hurt. I knew there was an informal alliance [with other Bravolebs]. We’d be like, “Hey, we’re from Bravo. I know you; you know me. Let’s go spend time talking with other people.” But where it could hurt you is if you neglect those relationships as the show goes on.Cody: It’s really tough to balance. You know these people because you’ve seen them before, so you see their game. But then they also know you. But could that blind you to the game where maybe they’re a Traitor, but you trust them because you’ve seen them in the past? I’ve drank with Rachel. We’ve been out together; we filmed Fear Factor together. But am I being blinded by that relationship and not seeing the game? And could that stab me in the back? So it’s really difficult. It was a wild dynamic.Stephenie: I mean, Cirie and I spent a lot of time together after Heroes vs. Villains in Fiji. We really got to know each other, which is what killed me on Snake in the Grass, because she knows me so well she knew I was lying. (Laughs.) So now I trust her so much. And she could be a Traitor, or I could be a Traitor! It is a disadvantage. Rachel: When I went in, obviously, I knew Cody. I knew Cirie and Stephenie. We had just been in the jungle together on Snake in the Grass. When I saw them, I had no idea they would be there. And when I saw them, I was out of my mind so excited. Because that is an automatic alliance. But then I’m a huge fan of Kyle, and I’m a fan of Brandi [Glanville] and Kate [Chastain] and Reza [Farahan]. And so I was like, “Oh my gosh, I want to work with them too. And maybe we could all be best friends.” But in one of these games, you can’t always be best friends. On the other side of the equation are the ten new players to reality TV. For you, was it an opportunity to try to scoop them up by using your prior reputation? Or did it make it harder since they were such unknown variables?Stephenie: It is a disadvantage. The other ten know us, and we don’t know anything about them. So they’re looking at us like, “Oh, he or she is a good gamer.” And for all you know, they could be the Traitors. So now you’re trusting one or two or three of these “civilians.” But you can’t fully trust them.Rachel: I mean, both. In my brain, I’m always thinking strategy, I’m always thinking endgame, and I’m laser focused. But I’m also thinking, “They could be lying to me. I don’t know anything about them.” It’s the enemy you know versus the enemy you don’t. I know these people. I know how they act on TV; I’ve interacted with them in real life. So I know I can kind of gauge that relationship. Whereas with people you don’t know, I want to scoop them up. I want to be best friends with them. I want to have a good strategy, but you just don’t know.Cirie: I think it comes down to your typical relationship building, even with the reality people. I knew Stephenie; I watched Cody and Rachel. But I didn’t know Brandi and the Bravo people. I didn’t know the ten civilians. So my job was to set out, get to know everybody, and build relationships. Because at the roundtable, you need to have people on your side, and people won’t be on your side if they don’t have a relationship with you.Kyle: They can come in and pretend to be someone they’re not. Like if Christian [De La Torre, a veteran and “van life influencer”] had told me from the get-go that he’s a veteran and was trained in combat, I would be like, “Alright, so you’ve gone through some type of experience that might give you an edge.” But he chose to leave that out.Cody: You have to treat it like you haven’t been on a show before. You have to go and build relationships like you would do your first time on Survivor or Big Brother. So that was wild. This is just a completely different experience. What was it like to have Alan Cumming as your host?Cirie: I was starstruck at first. I’ve watched Alan; I love Alan. It just seemed like he was the perfect fit. He was meant for this role, the way he carried himself, the way he spoke, the way he walked into the castle and owned it all. I don’t think they could have found anyone better for this. Stephenie: It’s another level of drama, and he’s hilarious.Cody: He’s just a showman. And it’s a new role for him, that he got to build this character and have these lines. It felt like we were watching him in a show or a movie every time he stepped in.What surprised you most about participating in The Traitors?Kyle: Honestly, it’s actually pretty easy for me to answer. Because it happened every day. So you start the day, you figure out who’s been murdered, we’re all on a mission, try to add money to the pot. And you think you have an idea of how the day is going to go. You think you have an idea of who’s kind of on the chopping block, who is at the most risk of being banished. And then, lo and behold, either at the table or an hour before, it takes a freaking 180-degree turn. And you’re like, “Oh, my God, I didn’t see this coming.” You can’t prepare. You’re living in the moment, and you’re reacting.Cirie: I think the stress level and the paranoia level, you didn’t anticipate that. I mean, there’s some degree of paranoia in Survivor. But the second that Alan told us he picked the Traitors, there was a level of paranoia that you could feel in the room. You’re looking at everybody, and they’re looking at you. You have no idea who he selected, and now you’re off to figure it out. Rachel: The thing that surprised me the most was that none of my competition shows prepared me for this. Nothing I’ve ever done would have prepared me for this show. Because in every episode, someone gets banished, and someone gets murdered. And then you go to these roundtables, and I’m telling you, Mike, you just get to eat your popcorn sitting at the table. Because in the competition shows and we usually do confessionals off-camera. So nobody knows what’s going on. But in these roundtables, you are airing everyone’s dirty laundry. You’re putting everything on the table in front of everyone.Cody: I would say the pace. Big Brother’s longer, stretched out over a longer period. One person goes home every seven days. Survivor’s every three. This had someone going every night. Stephenie: I explained to somebody that it’s like the anxiety of the Final Two on Day 1. Constantly on the defensive. You vote right to the person, so you’re constantly defending yourself.Next, read our interview with The Traitors host Alan Cumming.
