Should ‘The Traitors’ Ban Housewives? Rob Cesternino Says They’re the Reason the Show’s a ‘Big Hit’

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2 hours ago

Is it time to ban Housewives from <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/the-traitors-season-4-rob-rausch-likely-victor-expert-predicts.html/”>The Traitors</a>? Some people think so.

Critics say including people from the Real Housewives franchise drags down the competition series. Many of the contestants on the popular Peacock show come from shows like Survivor and Big Brother, where strategic social game play is key to winning. Housewives come from a different reality TV universe, one where stirring up drama and maximizing relevance off-screen is paramount. They approach the show differently than other cast members, which was especially evident in season 4, which featured five different Housewives.

<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-it-s-time-for-a-no-housewives-season-of-the-traitors-some-say”>It’s time for a ‘no Housewives season’ of ‘The Traitors,’ some say</h2>

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“[T]he Housewives don’t want to play The Traitors. They want to play The Real Housewives of the Highlands and have arguments that spill out into social media, then meet up for a Housewives-style reunion with their patron, Andy Cohen,” complained <a href=”https://www.vulture.com/article/traitors-ban-housewives.html?utm_medium=s1&utm_campaign=nym&utm_source=threads”>Vulture</a>’s Joe Reid after the season 4 reunion. “…We need to put the Housewives in Traitors time-out; we need a no-Housewives season.”

But not everyone is in favor of booting <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/news/andy-cohen-rumors-lisa-rinna-1-million-return-rhobh.html/”>Housewives like Lisa Rinna</a> and Dorinda Medley from The Traitors. Rob Cesternino, who competed in season 4, recently told <a href=”https://sxm.app.link/PRlink-SiriusXMStars” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>SiriusXM’s Page Six Radio</a> that the Bravo alums were making the show.

“No, they shouldn’t [ban Housewives] because I really think that the Housewives put the asses in the seats for The Traitors,” he said. “I really think that Traitors became a phenomenon in season 2 and I really think a big part of that was Phaedra [Parks].”

“Phaedra brought in so many Housewives fans and she did such a great job and I think that she doesn’t get enough credit for helping to build the popularity of the show,” he continued. “Whereas I think that the game people really understand the inner workings of how to play The Traitors, but I think that the Housewives bring so much of the audience and the fanfare to The Traitors, and I think that they’re the biggest reason why the show’s a big hit.”

<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-survivor-alum-researched-the-housewives-before-appearing-on-the-traitors”>‘Survivor’ alum researched the Housewives before appearing on ‘The Traitors’ </h2>

The Survivor alum – who was murdered in season 4’s third episode – admitted that he knew little about the Housewives prior to filming. So before heading to Scotland, he did some research into which Housewives might be part of the cast, with the hope that it would help him build alliances.

“I had my sister Lisa, and also a friend of mine, Nick, and they went through and gave me a list of like, all of the Housewives to study, and so it was a pretty decent success rate,” he explained.

“I felt actually pretty prepared and I really wanted to work with the Housewives when I was on The Traitors,” he said. “I really feel like it is a mistake for the game reality people to not band together with the Housewives because you could have like a super majority going into The Traitors if you all decide to work together instead of going after each other.

The Traitors is streaming on Peacock.

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