BY Eric Rezsnyak
This morning, Alan Cumming put on his best Cher Horowitz drag and revealed the names of the 21 celebrities (or celebrity-adjacent people) competing on Season 3 of Peacock’s U.S. installment of “Traitors.” In case you are unfamiliar with the fairly new reality-TV competition, it pits (mostly) reality-TV stars against one another as they attempt to play the most immersive game of Werewolf (or Mafia, or Murder) in the Scottish Highlands. It’s basically “Battle of the Network Stars” for the 21st Century, except with less Olympics and more gaslighting and accusations. It’s a lot of fun.
We here at the Pop Culture Debate have plenty of opinions! Including thoughts on the Season 3 cast. Check out Alan’s announcement video below, then scroll down for my thoughts.
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10. The Obligatory Brit
This season we get Lord Ivar Montbatten in the role of the random British notable — last season it was John Bercow, former Speaker of the House of Commons. Lord Ivar is King Charles’ second cousin, and he’s actually interesting for a few reasons. First, he’s a former board member for the company that owned Cambridge Analytica, which you may recall had a hand in the social-media propaganda machine that allegedly impacted both the Brexit vote in the U.K. and the disastrous American 2016 presidential election. So I hope someone grills him on that shit. Also: he is the first extended family member of a British monarch to come out as openly gay, as he married his husband in 2018.
9. Fun Celebrity Relations
Speaking of famous relations, we get two more in this cast (similar to Marcus Jordan last season). Dylan Efron is the brother of Zac Efron, and a producer on Zac’s travel show, “Down to Earth with Zac Efron.” Sam Ashgari is the ex-husband of Britney Spears, who split from the singer last year. I was convinced Sam would end up on “Dancing with the Stars,” and I assume those producers must be spitting bile that “Traitors” snapped him up first.
8. Many Happy Returns to Bob Harper
It has been a hot minute since we’ve seen Bob Harper, the once ubiquitous fitness professional who was a key figure on the long-running weight-loss competition, “The Biggest Loser,” even hosting the show’s final two seasons. Bob is an interesting casting for this. He seems like a sweetheart, but can be quite steely when it’s called for. It would be amazing to see him cast as a Traitor, wrestling with offing one of the cast every week. I also realized that nearly 25 percent of this cast is LGBTQ, including Bob. I assume this was deliberate after the appalling treatment of Peppermint last season.
7. Scandoval Continues
“Vanderpump Rules” fallen star Tom Sandoval continues to make the most of his 15 minutes of infamy with this show. Expect Tom to immediately be accused of being a Traitor, and for him to handle it spectacularly poorly. Do I want to see more of Tom Sandoval on my TV? Not really. Do I want to watch him ugly cry as he is accused of bad behavior by other people? Yes. Yes, I do.
6. Too Much “Big Brother”
Full disclosure: I do not care for “Big Brother.” At all. I’ve tried. I find it dull and very, very cheap. I also think it brings out the absolute worst qualities in people, and most of the “BB” alums that have popped up on reality-crossover shows have been insufferable, and had a net negative impact on the game. Example: Dan Gheesling on “Traitors” S2, who played so poorly that he tanked the games of more than one other player; Da’Vonne Rogers, who singlehandedly turned “The GOAT” — currently airing on Prime Video — from sugar to vinegar with her negativity and conniving. We have Britney Haynes and Danille Reyes on Season 3 of “Traitors.” I don’t know them. I don’t care to know them. Boo to “Big Brother.”
5. Mostly Good “Real Housewives” Castings…
Season 2 of “Traitors” was arguably overstuffed with “Housewives,” featuring at least four, and more if you count the “Shahs of Sunset” as part of that universe. We have four “Housewives” again this time, but I think they’re largely a better fit for this format. Erstwhile NYC ‘wife Dorinda Medley is good casting; she is a meme machine and, when she’s in the right mood, can be an absolute delight. But when Dorinda’s switch flips, it gets intense very quickly, and not always in a fun way. Dolores Catania from New Jersey is interesting. She’s fairly level-headed, although I can’t speak to her savviness. It’ll be interesting to see her operate without Teresa Giudice, who was widely rumored to be part of this cast (I wonder if she’s a late-season entry). The most interesting “Housewife” casting is Chanel Ayan from “Real Housewives of Dubai.” “Dubai” has only had one season — its second season is premiering soon, to almost zero hype — so Chanel is probably an unknown entity to most of these people. She is smart, suffers no fools, and is unbelievably stylish. If she can get a foothold I could see her thriving in this cast.
4. …And One Dud
Someone who will not thrive is Robyn Dixon, recently dropped from “Real Housewives of Potomac.” If you thought Sheree Whitfield was out of her element in Season 2 of “Traitors,” get ready for “the dizziest bitch sitting at this table” (per Karen Huger). Robyn was clueless as to her sometimes-husband routinely disrespecting their relationship on a televised reality show for YEARS. You think she’s going to be able to ferret out a Traitor? Or, god forbid, actually BE a Traitor? No ma’am.
3. Too Many “Survivor” Winners…
Last season we had Parvati Shallow and Sandra Diaz-Twine, both queens who did well in the game, despite Parvati getting absolutely screwed by one of her fellow Traitors. This season we have THREE former winners of “Survivor,” Rob Mariano, Tony Vlachos, and Jeremy Collins. That feels like too many, and I worry it’s going to skew the tone of this show, making it way more intense than it needs to be. I’m looking specifically at Rob when I say that. I can’t even count the number of reality shows Rob has competed on at this point, and he has one speed: relentless. Personally I don’t see that playing well in this format, with a cast of, mostly, non-competitors. But if he enshrines himself in power, it could quickly get exhausting as he calls the shots. That said, he’s also an OBVIOUS Traitor candidate, so he could just be playing defense. Tony is the ultimate wild card. He played “Survivor” three times, winning two, and going out second the other. Jeremy could do very well here. He’s an incredibly likable guy, and a smart and disciplined competitor. If he’s a Traitor he could be lethal.
2. …But An Awesome “Survivor” Runner-Up
Absolutely delighted to see Carolyn Wiger, who finished third in arguably the most competitive season of “Nu Survivor,” show up here. Carolyn is reality-TV gold. She’s totally unpredictable, which could be unsettling to some of the other players. But Carolyn is SMART. She knows exactly what she’s doing. It may look like chaos, but if you watched “Survivor,” you saw that she was fully in control of her game and got exactly where she wanted to go. Personally I am hoping she can make some good alliances early on, because once she hooks herself into people that believe in her, she flourishes.
1. Come Through, Bob the Drag Queen
Hands down the most exciting casting of the season, “Drag Race” Season 8 winner Bob the Drag Queen *could* be a huge threat in this game, if Bob can navigate the ugliness that befell Peppermint in “Traitors” Season 2. In that case, I truly in my heart believe transphobia and racism 100 percent came into play (*cough*Trishelle*cough*). Bob is whipsmart — I mean, his original drag name even WAS Kitten WithAWhip — talented and savvy as fuck. And if you watch “Pit Stop,” “Dungeons & Drag Queens” or “Sibling Rivalry,” you know that Bob can also gaslight and bullshit with the best of them. If I’m a producer on this show, I am 100 percent casting Bob as a Traitor, because he would be revel in it. He would smile and kiki with a Faithful alliance and then immediately slit their throats. That’s what I need on this show. The one thing working against Bob here: He just got off tour opening for Madonna, where he unquestionably banked a considerable amount of money (and cred). Will the other competitors want to let Bob get close to another six-figure cash payout?
Here is the full cast for “Traitors” Season 3, which will premiere later this year on Peacock:
- Rob Mariano — “Survivor”
- Dorinda Medley — “The Real Housewives of New York City”
- Chrishell Stause —“Selling Sunset”
- Britney Haynes —“Big Brother”
- Danielle Reyes —“Big Brother”
- Bob the Drag Queen —“RuPaul’s Drag Race”
- Wells Adams —“The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise”
- Chanel Ayan —“The Real Housewives of Dubai”
- Gabby Windey —“The Bachelorette”
- Dylan Efron —“Down to Earth with Zac Efron”
- Tony Vlachos—“Survivor”
- Jeremy Collins —“Survivor”
- Dolores Catania —“The Real Housewives of New Jersey”
- Robyn Dixon —“The Real Housewives of Potomac”
- Bob Harper —“The Biggest Loser”
- Ciara Miller —“Summer House”
- Lord Ivar Mountbatten — British royal
- Carolyn Wiger —“Survivor”
- Sam Asghari — Model and actor
- Tom Sandoval —“Vanderpump Rules”
- Nikki Garcia — Former professional Wrestler
What are your thoughts on the cast? Who do you want to see as a Traitor? Let loose in the comments!
