The Traitors Season 3 Reunion First Look: “People Are Going to Be Shocked”
Haynes predicted early on that Reyes was a Traitor, but didn’t bring those suspicions to the roundtable once she figured out that Reyes was protecting her. “I wasn’t getting murdered. I definitely benefited personally as a Faithful from the fact that she was a Traitor,” says Haynes. “So by the time I’m recruited, I knew one hundred percent, no doubt, that it was Danielle.”
Well, not with total certainty. Haynes denies that Reyes told her outright that she was a Traitor, a rumor started by Carolyn Wiger—another Traitor who was banished in this season’s penultimate episode. “I say unequivocally, absolutely, not. That rumor got started because Carolyn said on a podcast that I knew one hundred percent that Danielle was a Traitor, and people then interpreted that as she literally told me or wrote it down or whatever,” says Haynes. “She would tell you that’s not what she meant. She was not trying to insinuate that there was rule-breaking happening.”
What Haynes will say is that her alliance with Reyes was “very fragile,” and will “definitely be a discussion” at the reunion. “It’s really, really complex,” she says. “Because again, do you take something at face value, or do you really analyze it and see if there’s ulterior motives?”
Reyes, a dominant three-time Big Brother player turned divisive Traitor, knows you’ve been talking about her. “I’m this grandmother, being ruthless, cutthroat, and just playing an all-out, deliciously messy game,” she says of her supersize persona on the series. “I had to change the way I was perceived, because if I came in like myself—calm, cool—they would’ve automatically assumed I was a Traitor based on the fact that I was from Big Brother. I was going to have to play this crying, nervous Nellie.”
Not unlike Meryl Streep or Daniel Day-Lewis, Reyes stayed in character for long, “very exhausting” stretches of time: “I must’ve burned so many calories shaking.” Her newfound flair for the dramatic—bursting into tears, shuddering, then falling to the ground in utter anguish—has irked some Traitors fans. “It’s so cringey,” Reyes agrees, “but I’m just cracking up.” And the 53-year-old says she isn’t fazed by the criticism. “This is not my first rodeo. In 2002, I was, and I’m doing air quotes, ‘the villain.’ Of course we didn’t have social media as prominently, but I’m good,” says Reyes. “The fans are entitled to their opinion, and I appreciate their passion.”
Bob the Drag Queen is far more troubled by the backlash he’s received for being the first Traitor banished from the castle. “You don’t fall into being the last Traitor standing,” he insists. “Carolyn and Danielle were playing a really similar game, which is overacting. Me and Boston Rob [Mariano] had a very similar game, which was very dominating and alpha. But it’s really interesting how much criticism Danielle gets for playing a similar game to Carolyn, and how much criticism I got playing a similar game to Boston Rob. And I think I know why me and Danielle are getting the harsh criticism.”
