of Peacock The traitors there are far more rules—and production secrets—than some fans might imagine.
Inspired by Dutch soap operas The traitors, The traitors brings together reality TV stars from various franchises – including Survivor, Big Brother, Real Housewives and more — as they compete in mob style game for up to $250,000. The series premiered in 2023, but has already gone through numerous changes.
“My first idea was to do it on a ship in Australia,” creator Mark Pos remembered for Diversity in January 2023 “And if someone had to exit the game, he or she would have to jump into the water and swim to an island, but then I thought that would be too difficult to create.”
For the American version, an actor Alan Cumming was chosen to host and has its own guidelines.
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“The host isn’t there much and has to be careful not to manipulate the game, influence the viewers, or put doubt in the minds of the contestants who are in their bubble,” continued Pos. “But when they’re there, they’re supposed to be kind of friendly but intimidating figures.”
Although The traitors relying on a shroud of mysterycast and crew talked about the rules and behind-the-scenes secrets fans aren’t privy to. Keep scrolling for a guide to all the surprising revelations—and maybe helpful answers to some hot ones The traitors questions:
What the cast members know about each other
Casting director Deena Katz confirm this contestants don’t know who else is on the show until they arrive in Scotland narrating time in January 2024, “You don’t want them to be able to explore each other or talk to each other or form alliances before then.”
Season 2 star Sandra Diaz-Tynemeanwhile, explained on the “Reality After the Show” podcast at the time that each player was later given photos and information about their fellow contestants to help them narrow down who might be a traitor.
Taking a personality test
During a January 2024 podcast appearance. Mercedes “MJ” Javid recalled taking part in a 600-question psychological assessment. Executive producer Mike Cotton developed to Diversity the same month how the tests allow the crew to “see attributes that might make someone a good liar or particularly deceptive.”
“It’s an interesting process. It’s a big group thing,” he explained. “We don’t really know who the traitors are until that choice where Alan walks up and taps them on the shoulder. We watch how they interact when they arrive at the castle. Alan does these chats with them, sits down and asks them if they want to be traitors and why. That really counts, as does Alan’s opinion.
Cotton continued, “Being a traitor is almost like a job interview, and we take all of that into consideration and decide right before the choice of who that will be. We want to make sure we have an interesting mix of characters who will bring their own unique skill sets.”
Arie LuyendykWHO appeared in the first seasonexclusively narrated Us Weekly in January 2023 about doing a “swim test,” adding, “(It was) to see if we were capable of completing the mission.”
The choice between faithful or traitor
It wasn’t until Season 2 that the players were able to make their case to Alan about whether they wanted to be a Traitor or a Loyalist. As long as viewers at home know who the traitors are (and how much they’ve been bugged), Season 1 is a star Cirie Fields revealed this other contestants are retained in the dark for important details.
“We knew there could potentially be three to five traitors in the game,” Ciri said And! News in January 2023 “That was explained to us from the beginning.”
The restriction of drinking
According to season 2 star Ekin-Su Küljulogluthe infinite drinks that are visible on the screen in fact, they come with strict guidelines.
“You could only have one drink a night anyway, it was pretty limited,” she said Entertainment Weekly in January 2024 “I remember everyone needing a drink from that round table, it was really intense.”
The shooting schedule
Ari remembered that he didn’t sleep more than six hours a night. “It takes probably an hour for your brain to kind of shut down,” he said us in February 2023 “You’re there for so long, and it’s one of those things where we probably started at 8 or earlier and were probably up until about 12 to 2 in the morning, depending on whether you’re the Traitor or not, because the traitors had to to finish their work after the end of the whole day.
In addition to the long hours of filming, the stars also give away their phones and all other forms of communication.
Accommodation in the castle
The hit racing series is set in the stunning and regal Ardros Castle – but do they actually live there while filming? In short, no.
“How glamorous – you come to Scotland and stay at the Inverness Airport hotel,” joked Alan The Daily Beast in January 2023 for the actual accommodations offered to competitors.
Meanwhile, Allen has a large dressing room that he sometimes uses as a place to nap during production. But in the end, even he cannot stay in the castle at night.
The situation in the castle as well created guidelines for players.
“You shouldn’t talk about the game when the mics aren’t ready or the cameras aren’t on,” Then Geesling from season 2 said Business Insider in February 2024 “Because if we say something that’s important and it’s not on camera, they can’t use it on the show.”
Finding a meeting place
After seeing the response to season 1, the makers decided to offer players more space in the castle, including the kitchen and outdoor terrace, in addition to the library, billiards room, bar and round table room.
“We have two new spaces this year,” said a producer Parade in December 2023 “We call one the scullery (basically the kitchen) and there’s a tiny little area outside that’s called the madhouse, which is a little rock-covered area. It’s great. You can get two or three people to sneak in there and get these brilliant conversations.
Chilling in the castle
Several players — including a Season 1 star Cody Calafiore — they mentioned how cold the castle was. “If they got the heat working, it would probably be a little better,” Cody joked to Reality Blurred in January 2023.
Restrictions on self-promotion
Simply because all of the The traitors is a reality show star doesn’t mean they can promote their brands. Sherry Whitfield from season 2 said people in February 2024 that she was not allowed to wear her own brand — SHE by Shereé — while on camera.
“They said I can’t!” she said of the contract guidelines. “You can’t wear your brand.”
Providing support
All seasons, Peacock has taken care of that each competitor has their own a member of the social care team.
“They check you all the time,” MJ said on the Just Sayin’ podcast in December 2023. “They are so cheerful and professional. I felt taken care of the whole time.” Meanwhile, in a separate interview, Ekin-Su said she once cried “huge tears” to a member of the welfare team.
Guards keep players in line
“It’s a massive military operation every night to get the Loyalists to bed in separate rooms and get the Traitors back to have a rendezvous,” said creator Cotton Diversity in January 2024 about the attempt to keep the “secret of the traitors”.
Kate Chastainwhich appeared in three seasons of The traitors in different capacities, he said Vanity Fair in January 2023 about how security guards were always around prevent players from leaving their hotel rooms.
“Once it became clear that I wasn’t getting the big bucks at the end, I was ready to go home because they were running a very tight ship. There was a security guard making sure you never left your room. And we had long days, from breakfast to challenge to banishment,” she explains. “By the time you got to your bed you just wanted to go to sleep and sleep for eight hours because I knew the next day was going to be the big day. The food in the Highlands of Scotland is nothing to write home about, but it was good enough. I really missed the martini. After a while I really missed a bit of freedom.”
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Duration of eviction round table
“It got really intense, you know, a lot of crying, a lot of finger pointing, a lot of stuff under the belt that they didn’t show on TV,” Arie said us in 2023 “I feel like they kind of kept it pretty cool on TV, but I felt like it was a lot more intense in real life. … I think if it got a little too raw or a little mean, they just let it go, you know? They kept it more for the game.
Admitting couples to the competition
Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan were the first couple to compete on the show when they joined Season 2. (They’ve since broken up.) But just because they were dating didn’t mean they were treated as a package deal by production, which meant they had to sleep in separate rooms and were not allowed to communicate with each other.
“Marcus asked me for a nail file and I put it in a paper bag – and they went through everything, you don’t have to send anything back and forth – but he wanted a nail file and I said, ‘I’ll just send him a nail file “, she recalls people. “And then I was like, ‘Oh, there’s a banana. He said he wanted a banana. So I (write) ‘I love you’ on the banana and send it to him with the nail file.”
