The Traitors Season 1 is the first season of The Traitors (US). The main series is comprised of 10 episodes, all uploaded onto NBCUniversal's streaming service Peacock on January 12, 2023. The series became an instant hit, receiving critical acclaim and becoming Peacock's top-performing original reality series.
Due to the positive fan response, a second season was confirmed on 2 February 2023, and a special reunion episode aired on February 28, 2023.[1]
Background[]
The fictional groundskeeper character 'Fergus' in The Traitors (US), played by Scottish actor John Ritchie.
It was first announced on October 5, 2021 that NBCUniversal had acquired the rights to produce The Traitors as an original series for their streaming service Peacock.[2] Casting was then opened for members of the public to apply until March 11, 2022.[3] Alan Cumming was subsequently announced as the US version's host on April 29, 2022,[4] with production taking place from April to May 2022 in Ardross Castle in Scotland, and the first UK series filming at the same location immediately afterwards.[5]
Cumming's costumes, many of which came from his own wardrobe, emphasised the over-the-top nature of the character he put on as the show's host. The show's production design, with its emphasis on bright furniture colours, also deliberately evoked popular murder mystery movies such as Clue and Knives Out.[6] Although the show is shot as if the contestants actually slept in the castle, Cumming revealed that the contestants actually stayed at an airport hotel in Inverness about 40 minutes away from the castle.[7] The show also featured a fictional groundskeeper character who never speaks named Fergus, played by Scottish actor John Ritchie.[8] Production was temporarily paused after contestant Amanda Clark contracted COVID-19,[9] and the other contestants were quarantined in their lodgings while being constantly tested.
The casting of Survivor alumnae Cirie Fields and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick was first leaked on May 23, 2022, with the entire cast of reality TV alumni subsequently revealed as well.[10] Peacock officially announced the complete cast and premiere date for the series on December 7, 2022,[11] with a trailer release on January 4, 2023.[12]
Andy Cohen hosting the reunion episode.
Upon release, the show was widely praised for its gripping drama and inventive murder mystery format, as well as its wild twists and treacherous gameplay. The series was later made available in the UK on BBC iPlayer, One and Three from January 13, 2023 onwards,[13] as well as in Australia on 10 play from March 17, 2023.[14] A series renewal was officially announced February 2, 2023, alongside a bonus reunion episode hosted by long-time Bravo personality Andy Cohen filmed on February 17, 2023,[15] and released on February 28, 2023. Brandi Glanville was not present for the reunion, allegedly due to controversy surrounding her exit on The Real Housewives Ultimate Girl Trip, while Reza Farahan did not appear as his father had just passed away.[16] Glanville later hosted an unofficial reunion with Farahan on her podcast Brandi Glanville Unfiltered.[17]
Episode Titles[]
Unlike most international editions of the show, the US edition gives each episode non-generic titles.
| Episode | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Game Is Afoot |
| 2 | Buried Alive |
| 3 | Murder They Wrote |
| 4 | Life or Death Situation |
| 5 | Getting Away With Murder |
| 6 | Suspicion and Sabotage |
| 7 | The Mask Is Slipping |
| 8 | Cabins in the Woods |
| 9 | Trust No One |
| 10 | The Grand Finale |
| 11 | The Traitors Reunion |
Unique Characteristics & Twists[]
- Celebrities vs. Civilians: Unlike other international versions of the show featuring either all-celebrity or all-civilian casts, this season adopted a cast of ten reality TV veterans competing against ten newcomers to reality TV.
Contestants[]
The cast of ten reality TV celebrities included contestants from competitive programmes such as Survivor and Big Brother, as well as themed reality shows such as Below Deck and Shahs of Sunset. Competing along them were ten regular Americans, most of whom were fans of reality TV.
Note: There is no cast photo that includes the civilian contestants. This image is an officially-released still from the show.
Contestant Information[]
| Name | Location | Occupation/ Notable For |
Faction | Result | Exit Episode | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cirie Fields |
Jersey City, New Jersey | Survivor | Traitor | Winner | Episode 10 | 1st |
 Andie Thurmond |
Reno, Nevada | Music services director | Faithful | Finalist | Episode 10 | 2nd |
 Quentin Jiles |
Houston, Texas | Political analyst | Faithful | Finalist | Episode 10 | 2nd |
 Arie Luyendyk Jr. |
Scottsdale, Arizona | The Bachelorette | Traitor (from Episode 8) Faithful (Episodes 1-7) |
Quit | Episode 10 | 4th |
 Kate Chastain |
Fort Lauderdale, Florida | Below Deck | Faithful | Banished | Episode 10 | 5th |
 Christian de la Torre |
Los Angeles, California | Veteran | Traitor | Banished | Episode 10 | 6th |
 Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick |
Dunedin, Florida | Survivor | Faithful | Murdered | Episode 9 | 7th |
 Rachel Reilly |
Birmingham, Alabama | Big Brother | Faithful | Banished | Episode 8 | 8th |
 Shelbe Rodriguez |
Beaumont, Texas | Public affairs manager | Faithful | Banished | Episode 7 | 9th |
 Anjelica Conti |
Staten Island, New York | Hair stylist | Faithful | Murdered | Episode 7 | 10th |
 Cody Calafiore |
New York, New York | Big Brother | Traitor | Banished | Episode 7 | 11th |
 Amanda Clark |
Carlisle, Pennsylvania | Emergency Room nurse | Faithful | Quit | Episode 5 | 12th |
 Kyle Cooke |
New York, New York | Summer House | Faithful | Banished | Episode 5 | 13th |
 Ryan Lochte |
Gainesville, Florida | Dancing with the Stars | Faithful | Murdered | Episode 5 | 14th |
 Michael Davidson |
Oneida, Kentucky | DMV office manager | Faithful | Banished | Episode 4 | 15th |
 Azra Valani |
Los Angeles, California | Yoga instructor | Faithful | Murdered | Episode 4 | 16th |
 Brandi Glanville |
Beverly Hills, California | The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills | Faithful | Banished | Episode 3 | 17th |
 Bam Nieves |
Rye, New York | Tech sales executive | Faithful | Murdered | Episode 3 | 18th |
 Geraldine Moreno |
North Hollywood, California | Actor | Faithful | Banished | Episode 2 | 19th |
 Reza Farahan |
Los Angeles, California | Shahs of Sunset | Faithful | Murdered | Episode 2 | 20th |
Season Summary[]
20 contestants - ten reality TV stars and ten regular civilians - arrived at Ardross Castle, where they were met by host Alan Cumming. After introducing themselves to each other, they were then whisked to the Round Table, where Alan designated three of the group as Traitors: goofy veteran turned van life influencer Christian, Survivor mastermind Cirie and two-time Big Brother player Cody. Their objective was to survive to the end of the game without being Banished by the Faithfuls, while possessing the power to pick the Faithfuls off by Murdering one nightly.
The Traitors first decided to Murder Reza, who possessed a loud personality, and send a message to the group that no individual was safe. Geraldine's nervousness during the selection of Traitors was brought up by many players as a sign of her potentially being a Traitor, although Michael's aggressive but successful campaigning to Banish her also raised suspicions - especially when she revealed herself to be a Faithful.
Bam was subsequently Murdered to confuse the Faithfuls and throw initial suspicions off Christian, who had been close to him. Brandi deduced that Cirie and Christian were likely Traitors, but lumped Michael in as a potential third. With her campaign against Christian going nowhere, she settled for targeting Michael, although her confrontational personality led others to think she was a Traitor instead, causing her subsequent Banishment. The Traitors then made use of Azra speaking up against Kyle at the Round Table to Murder her and cast suspicions on him. The group was later split between Banishing two contestants who spoke their mind freely, Kate and Michael; the latter's misjudgment of Geraldine proved too much to recover from.
That night, the Traitors encountered their first schism as they disagreed on who to Murder. While Cody wanted to Murder Rachel, Cirie intervened and insisted the group go after Ryan instead, accusing Cody of having a pre-game alliance with him. Cody denied this charge and agreed to Murder Ryan, hoping to restore some trust with Cirie. He subsequently began to unravel and lied about Ryan to Kyle. When Kyle picked up on this and began investigating further, he found himself being targeted for being too aggressive instead, and was then Banished. Amanda was also forced to Quit subsequently, dealing another blow to the Faithfuls.
The Traitors, relishing in not being discovered by any of the Faithfuls yet, were surprised by Alan. He told them that they had to nominate three contestants to put On Trial, with one of them Murdered the following night. Kate, increasingly isolated and fed up with the group, began sabotaging Missions in a bid to further make herself a pariah and be Banished; however, the group had honed in on Cody's increasingly erratic behaviour, successfully Banishing him at the next Round Table with the help of Christian and Cirie's votes.
Even though Kate was the only contestant On Trial who did not visit the Armoury, the Traitors took a chance and successfully Murdered Anjelica. The next day, Shelbe's increasing homesickness and withdrawal from the group was wrongly taken as a sign of cracking under pressure from being a Traitor, and she was then Banished. The remaining Traitors were offered an opportunity to recruit a Faithful into their ranks. They chose Arie for his unsuspicious nature, and he accepted; no Murder took place that night. At this point, the group was irritated by Rachel and misinterpreted her passionate nature as a sign of being a Traitor, Banishing her despite her dramatic pleas and with Cirie forced to cut her ally to go with the group.
Stephenie grew suspicious of Christian and Cirie as potential Traitors, and voiced her concerns to others. To protect themselves, the Traitors decided to Murder her, though Christian's gleeful reaction to the decision disturbed Cirie. She and Arie were also alarmed by Christian's growing overconfidence, especially when he made up a story about a Recruitment attempt at the previous Breakfast which drew suspicion. Although Christian began planting seeds to undermine the others, they moved quickly with their allies to have Christian Banished at the penultimate Round Table. Arie and Cirie later agreed to win the game together as Traitors and split the prize fund between themselves, though Cirie subsequently undermined Arie's position at the final Round Table by working with Andie and Quentin - whom she was close with from the start - to Banish Kate, who served as a huge distraction to the Faithful up to this point.
At the Fire of Truth, Alan instructed the final four to choose whether to end the game - if they felt all the Traitors within the group had been Banished - or Banish someone again. Although the others voted to end the game, Cirie chose to go for another Banishment vote. Arie, sensing he would be Banished by the other three, elected to Quit the game while trying to subtly hint to Andie and Quentin that Cirie was a Traitor. This would be to no avail, as the trio then all voted to end the game. Cirie won the full prize pot of US$250,000 for being a lone Traitor who made it to the end - but not before revealing her role to Andie and Quentin, who were shell-shocked by the revelation.
Season History[]
| Episode | Traitors' Decision |
Mission | Prize Earned/ Available |
Prize Fund Total |
Armoury Visit[a 1] |
Prize(s) | Exit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |    Chosen |
Wicker Beasts: The contestants were split into two teams, and each team must set fire to a giant wicker beast within 30 minutes. Some of the team members would row out to the loch and retrieve a flame using torches, while others would search through and organise materials to build the fuse to ignite the beast. If one team succeeded, $20,000 would be added to the prize fund, while both teams succeeding added $30,000. | $30,000 out of $30,000 | $30,000 | N.A. |
No Vote | |
| 2 |  Murdered |
Buried Alive: Six volunteers were led to an undisclosed location and buried alive. The remaining contestants were split into three teams, tasked with finding two buried contestants each. The buried contestants could communicate with their teammates using a walkie talkie, and direct them to locations within the castle grounds using clues within their coffin. Each contestant rescued before the 40 minute time limit would add $5,000 to the prize fund. | $20,000 out of $30,000 | $50,000 | N.A. |
 Banished 11-8 | |
| 3 |  Murdered |
Name That Tune: The contestants divided themselves into two groups, with one team in charge of ringing bells at the castle's chapel to play five famous tunes. The other team stayed in the castle and had to match music from the bells to one of many music boxes in the castle. Each box represented an item in the castle, and the castle team then had to find and bring back that item within the five minute time limit. Each successful round would add $5,000 to the fund. | $25,000 out of $25,000 | $75,000 | N.A. |
 Banished 8-6-3 | |
| 4 |  Murdered |
Carnival Wheel: For each round, five contestants were randomly selected and strapped to a revolving wheel, with the remaining contestants having to answer questions with the name of a contestant on a wheel. Each contestant on the wheel would also answer the question, and for each of their answer that matched the group's answer, $300 was added to the prize fund. The players on the wheel could also add a further $5,000 to the fund if everyone stayed on for the entire round. A total of two rounds were conducted. | $19,900 out of $22,000 | $94,900 | N.A. |
 Banished 11-4 | |
| 5 |  Murdered |
Church Match: The contestants were divided into two teams. Each round, one representative from each team would enter a confession booth, where Alan gave them a paragraph and line from a book their team had to find. The representative would then relay this information to their team, finding the line and receiving a clue to locate a specific clothing item only one member of a masked congregation possessed. Each team had one guess per round, and the first team to guess the correct item earned $5,000 for the prize fund. A total of four rounds were played. | $20,000 out of $20,000 | $115,000[P 1] | N.A. |
 Banished 9-4 | |
 Quit | |||||||
| 6-7 |    On Trial |
Barrel Roll: The contestants had 90 minutes to transport whisky barrels to an old distillery on the top of a nearby hill. Along the path were 15 barrels valued between $600 and $10,000 - the heavier the barrel, the harder it would be to transport. All barrels that made it across the finish line at the distillery before time was up would count towards the prize fund based on their valuation. There were also three special barrels en route to the distillery, representing Armoury Passes. The contestants had to ensure all three special barrels crossed the finish line, in order to give out three Armoury Passes that were then distributed within the group - allowing their holders to visit the Armoury for a chance at the Shield. | $16,800 out of $30,000 | $131,800 | Anjelica, Arie & Rachel |  Won Shield |
Banished 7-3-1 |
| 7 | Murdered |
Spot the Differences: The contestants divided themselves into three teams. Each team took turns to enter the billiards room, which was cluttered with an assortment of items. They were given a short amount of time to memorise the items in the room and their placement, before the lights were cut and the voices of eliminated contestants would play. A total of three items would be swapped, and a team would have one minute to identify these changes. If a team managed to identify one, two or three swapped items within the time limit, they would earn $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000 correspondingly. The team that identified the most items correctly (or within the fastest time, in the case of a tie) would also earn Armoury Passes. | $2,000 out of $30,000 | $133,800 | Arie, Christian & Quentin | Won Shield |
 Banished 7-1-1 |
| 8 | Accepted Recruitment |
Cabin in the Woods: The contestants were divided into two teams. Each team was locked in a cabin and given 30 minutes to escape from it. Within the cabin, they were divided into two sides, with one side counting rats of different colours to obtain a first lock combination, while bugs rained down on the other side. Once the other side unlocked themselves, they then had to stick their heads into boxes filled with assorted disgusting living creatures that contained numbers comprising the second lock combination, allowing their teammates to also escape. Each team that escaped within the time limit earned $17,500 for the prize fund, and the faster team also obtained Armoury Passes. | $35,000 out of $35,000 | $168,800 | Andie, Arie, Rachel & Stephenie | Won Shield |
Banished 6-2 |
| 9-10 |  Murdered |
Laser Dodge: The contestants took turns to make their way across a laser-filled room, full of artifacts each assigned a different value. They had 15 minutes to transport as many valuable artifacts as they could across the room; however, an extra laser was added after each attempt. Additionally, if someone set off a laser, they would be eliminated from the mission, and one minute taken off the clock. | $13,000 out of $25,000 | $182,000[P 2] | N.A. |
Banished 4-2 | |
| 10 | N.A. |
Treasure Hunt: The contestants were taken to Loch Glass, where they had one hour to locate three bags of money scattered across various locations. Two contestants would jump out of a helicopter and swim to buoys containing a lock combination which allowed the others access to a speedboat. The speedboat team would then use a map to navigate around the loch and find the bags. Meanwhile, once the other two contestants swam back to shore, they were given a second lock combination to solve via a riddle, obtaining a bonus map with the location of a fourth bag of money they then communicated to the speedboat team. | $68,000 out of $68,000 | $250,000 | N.A. |
Banished 3-2 | |
Quit | |||||||
 Finalist | |||||||
 Finalist | |||||||
Winner | |||||||
- ↑ Armoury visits actually occurred throughout the show, but were only shown on-screen from Episodes 6-8. No information is available for other rounds on who were eligible to visit or ended up winning the Shield.
Voting History[]
| Episode | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6-7 | 7 | 8 | 9-10 | 10 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traitors' Decision |
Reza | Bam | Azra | Ryan | Anjelica, Kate & Rachel | Anjelica | Arie | Stephenie | N.A. |
Finale | |||||
| Murder | Murder | Murder | Murder | On Trial | Murder | Recruit | Murder | ||||||||
| Banishment | Geraldine | Brandi | Michael | Kyle | Cody | Shelbe | Rachel | Christian | Kate | Banish Again | End Game | ||||
| Finish | Vote | 11-8 | 8-6-3 | 11-4 | 9-4 | 7-3-1 | 7-1-1 | 6-2 | 4-2 | 3-2 | 1-3 | 3-0 | |||
| 1 | Cirie | Geraldine | Brandi | Kate | Kyle | Cody | Shelbe | Rachel | Christian | Kate | Banish Again | End Game | Winner | ||
| 2-3 | Andie | Michael | Brandi | Michael | Kyle | Cody | Shelbe | Rachel | Christian | Kate | End Game | End Game | Finalist | ||
| Quentin | Geraldine | Kate | Kate | Kyle | Kate | Shelbe | Rachel | Kate | Kate | End Game | End Game | Finalist | |||
| 4 | Arie | Michael | Brandi | Michael | Kyle | Cody | Shelbe | Rachel | Christian | Quentin | End Game | Quit[v 1] | |||
| 5 | Kate | Michael | Michael | Michael | Kyle | Rachel | Rachel | Rachel | Christian | Quentin | |||||
| 6 | Christian | Geraldine | Brandi | Kate | Kyle | Cody | Shelbe | Rachel | Kate | ||||||
| 7 | Stephenie | Geraldine | Kate | Michael | Kate | Cody | Shelbe | Kate | Murdered | ||||||
| 8 | Rachel | Geraldine | Brandi | Michael | Kate | Cody | Shelbe | Kate | |||||||
| 9 | Shelbe | Michael | Michael | Michael | Kyle | Rachel | Stephenie | ||||||||
| 10 | Anjelica | Michael | Michael | Michael | Kyle | Cody | Murdered | ||||||||
| 11 | Cody | Geraldine | Michael | Michael | Kyle | Rachel | |||||||||
| 12 | Amanda | Geraldine | Brandi | Michael | Kate | Quit[v 2] | |||||||||
| 13 | Kyle | Geraldine | Michael | Michael | Kate | ||||||||||
| 14 | Ryan | Geraldine | Kate | Michael | Murdered | ||||||||||
| 15 | Michael | Geraldine | Brandi | Kate | |||||||||||
| 16 | Azra | Michael | Brandi | Murdered | |||||||||||
| 17 | Brandi | Michael | Michael | ||||||||||||
| 18 | Bam | Geraldine | Murdered | ||||||||||||
| 19 | Geraldine | Michael | |||||||||||||
| 20 | Reza | Murdered | |||||||||||||
| Key: | Winner | Finalist | Banished Traitor | Banished Faithful | Murdered | Quit | On Trial | Shielded | Recruited | Traitor | Faithful |
Viewership[]
Peacock does not release official viewing figures or ratings for its shows. However, the service announced that first season of The Traitors was its most watched original reality series to date.
Trivia[]
- Reality TV veterans known to be invited for the show but who declined include Angelina Cardona Keeley[18] and Rob Cesternino from Survivor, and Janelle Pierzina from Big Brother. Janelle however ultimately accepted to be a contestant in the second season.
- A civilian contestant by the name of Kevin Greene was originally part of the cast, but replaced after one day of filming due to a positive COVID-19 test. He was replaced by alternate Geraldine Moreno, and the entire first day reshot with her.
- Production is known to have been disrupted at least twice, with contestant departures and filming pauses after Kevin and Amanda contracted COVID-19.
- Even though the Armoury only appeared on the show from Episode 6 onwards, it was in fact a part of the game from the first day - just mostly edited out post-production.
- This is the first season internationally to have more female than male contestants.
- This is the first season internationally to have an original Traitor achieve a solo win.
- This is the first season where the Shield was shown to be won exclusively by one contestant.
- This season has the highest potential prize pot, highest prize pot achieved and highest winnings earned per winner internationally so far.
References[]
- ↑ Bell, BreAnna (February 2, 2023). ‘The Traitors’ Renewed for Season 2 at Peacock. Variety. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ Ramachandran, Naman (October 5, 2021). NBCUniversal, BBC Order U.S., U.K. Adaptations of Studio Lambert Format ‘The Traitors’. Variety. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ https://www.studiolambert.com/take-part-the-traitors-us.html
- ↑ White, Peter (April 29, 2022). Alan Cumming To Host Psychological Competition Series ‘The Traitors’ For Peacock. Deadline. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/12/arts/television/the-traitors-us-show.html
- ↑ https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/style/the-traitors-alan-cumming.html
- ↑ Cunningham, Kyndall (January 11, 2023). Alan Cumming Unleashes His Inner Bond Villain as Host of ‘The Traitors’. The Daily Beast's Obsessed. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ John Ritchie, Actor, Scotland. The Mandy Network. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ Palinkas, Lorianne (January 26, 2023). Amanda Clark-Stoner Reveals Why She Left The Traitors. ScreenRant. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ Holmes, Martin (May 23, 2022). Rumor: Cirie Fields & Stephenie LaGrossa Cast on Peacock Reality Show ‘The Traitors’. Inside Survivor. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ Tinoco, Armando (December 7, 2022). Peacock Sets Premiere Date For ‘The Traitors’, Reality Show Competition With ‘Real Housewives’ And ‘Big Brother’ Stars. Deadline.
- ↑ Rhymes, Shameika (January 4, 2023). Peacock Promises Betrayal & Alan Cumming's Best Highland Wardrobe In 'The Traitors' Trailer. USA Network. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ BBC acquires The Traitors US. BBC (January 12, 2023). Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ The Traitors US. 10 play. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/sharontharp/status/1626686649861128192
- ↑ Harp, Justin (March 1, 2023). The Traitors USA addresses two stars missing reunion. Digital Spy. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ Hatcher, Kirsty (March 2, 2023). Brandi Glanville Has Her Own 'Traitors' Reunion with Reza Farahan After Missing Peacock Taping. People. Retrieved on December 18, 2023.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/AngelinaCardona/status/1615211709417029632
| The Traitors (US) | |
|---|---|
| Seasons | Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 |
| Hosts | Alan Cumming • Andy Cohen |
| Filming locations | Ardross Castle |