TVLINE | How surprised were you that not one, but two Housewives were chosen as traitors?
I certainly thought one of the Housewives was a traitor, and Michael Rapaport did kind of eat with that, that one of the Housewives was going to be a traitor. I had no suspicion that two of the Housewives were going to be traitors, and I do think for the long-term health of the show, I think that they made a good decision in terms of mixing it up, where people can’t [figure] it out as much. I just wish that they might have tried that on a different season!
TVLINE | You’ve built an extremely successful podcasting empire where you break down strategy across a variety of reality shows. Did you feel any sort of pressure to win or perform well because of that?
On “The Traitors,” there’s so much variance in how it works out. There are people who are great at the game who go home early. There are people who are not that good at the game who win the show, and so, it’s not necessarily a show where it always logics out of who’s going to do well. Obviously I wanted to do well and show people that I still could do this type of thing after all this time, but I really just felt like this opportunity, as opposed to maybe even “Survivor,” I felt like this was all house money. To me, if I went on “Survivor” and I flopped, I think that people would be a little bit more critical in terms of like, “Why should we listen to him? Are we sure that this guy knows what he’s talking about?” And I just felt like with this opportunity, I didn’t feel like I was carrying that baggage.
TVLINE | We’ve seen so many reality TV competition series come and go, but why do you think “The Traitors” has resonated with people so deeply?
I think “Traitors” does so many things right, and I think one of them is that each of these different franchises that they pull from brings in the fans from those other shows. I’ve been exposed to fans who don’t really know anything about the CBS shows, and they watch it for the Housewives, and they’re really looking at it from a Housewives perspective. Obviously, in the “RHAP” world, we’re looking at it from the perspective of the “Survivor” and “Big Brother” people, but everyone brings in their own fan base, so you have this great pool of support. But the show I think tonally does so many things right where it’s camp, but there’s fashion, and then there’s also strategy, and there’s also a lot of conflict that happens. I think in modern-day “Survivor,” I think to its credit, wants to be a show that is about, “Oh, let’s take out the people who are the best players and not have it be about personal conflict as much.” Whereas I think that “The Traitors” and the way that the roundtable is sometimes like a car crash, and the way that that conflict really has to get brought to the surface, I think it gets back to the roots of reality TV in a way that some of the other shows have tried to shy away from.
TVLINE | You’re more than well-versed in the mechanics of these things, but was there anything that surprised you about your “Traitors” experience, either from a production or player’s perspective?
It was surprising to me just how fast-paced it goes, where you’re there and then very quickly there are traitors that are picked, and very quickly you’re going to roundtables and people are getting murdered, and it’s like, “Wait, already?” Whereas in “Survivor,” you could go a while where, if you don’t go to that first Tribal Council, it might be a week before you have to ultimately start making those types of decisions. And so, I do think in “Survivor,” you have more of an opportunity, even though it’s completely immersive, you have a little bit more of an opportunity to get your feet under you.
TVLINE | The “RHAP” fans, the “Survivor” fans… everyone was so psyched to see you back on our TV screens. You were ultimately taken from us far too soon, but are there any other shows out there that you’d consider competing on?
Listen, I loved getting to go back and be a participant in a reality TV show. I just think that there’s a lot of other shows out there that the physicality is just a little disqualifying for me at this particular station in my life. I loved doing “The Traitors.” It was so much fun, and I think that at this particular point in my life, I think that this is the type of thing I feel like I would have to be doing if I was going to participate in a reality TV show again.
TVLINE | We’re three episodes in. Who do you think is playing the best game, both from a traitors standpoint and a faithful standpoint?
I think all three of the traitors are doing really well, but I would say that the traitor that I think has been the most surprising has been Rob [Rausch]. I think that on paper, yes, of course, Candiace is going to be a great traitor. Of course, Lisa Rinna is going be a great traitor, but I think that Rob, there was a lot of variance of how it could go. He could’ve been way too much of a loose cannon. He’s actually been extremely collected and measured as a traitor so far, so I think that the traitors are doing a really great job.
And I’ll give some credit to Natalie, who I think is somebody we saw do a really good job in the challenges and has a really great social game. I think everybody loved Natalie. From my vantage point while I was there, she’s very easy to get along with. Monét is another person that everybody felt extremely close with. Monét, and certainly Tiffany, is somebody who I just bonded with so well on a strategic level.
TVLINE | Natalie was quite hilarious with her whole, “Pick it the f—k up!”, while pushing the cart!
Oh, Nick, I am so glad they did not show Natalie reaming me out in the boat for how bad I was rowing. Thank you to the editors of “The Traitors” for not showing me being embarrassed for getting yelled at for rowing the boat poorly, and I appreciate that. And Natalie, I promise I will row the boat better next time!
