‘The Traitors' EP On What Makes Format Dynamic & The Possibility Of A Non-Celebrity Season – Contenders TV: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety

Yahoo

26-04-2025

The Traitors continues to raise the stakes with every season, and the Season 3 opener of the Peacock reality TV competition series featured a twist that tested the format like never before to show how dynamic it can be.
During the premiere, the faithful were greeted with a decision as they arrived at Andross Castle. Survivor legend Boston Rob wanted in on the game, but only the faithful would decide if he would join them or be banished.
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Knowing the mastermind of a game player that Rob is, the faithful ultimately opted not to vote him in; however, he would later show up inside a cage and enter the game as a traitor.
'I think that's the thing about this show [that] there's such intricate planning that goes into all of this, and we've thought through every different scenario that could spread throughout it,' executive producer Rosy Franks said on a panel for Deadline's Contenders Television: Documentary, Unscripted & Variety event. 'What we really loved about it was this idea of cause and effect, and the idea that immediately any decision that any of the players made could affect the game. And it did, because they banished him, which then made him a traitor. Now that could have been someone else, but it so happened that it was Rob, and they sort of, in that way, sealed their own fate in that [decision].'
Franks, who was joined on the Contenders panel by series director Ben Archard and DPs Siggi Rosen-Rawlings and Matt Wright, explained that whoever the faithful had swapped for Rob in the opening would have ultimately become a traitor and 'completely changed the game,' adding, 'Boston Rob being a traitor was the thing that then catapulted the whole turret into this kind of chaotic betrayal that they ended up in. So it would have been a completely different season. And I think that's what's so exciting for us.'
The format of The Traitors is dynamic and changes depending on the moves the players make in the game. One of the exciting aspects of the show is the roundtable debates, where participants vote each other out in their quest to identify a traitor. Alternatively, if a traitor is feeling the heat, they have the opportunity to divert attention elsewhere. These deliberations go on for hours but are edited for their final presentation and producers don't think it would be a good idea to show extended cuts of these moments.
'We can't show everything that happens because we're filming like 12-hour days and we've got to get [the episode cut] down to an hour-ish, but I think [the roundtables] are very fairly represented,' Franks said. 'I also think that the cut really helps it. We built that in the edit, we score it … I don't know if that is something that would be interesting.'
Peacock's The Traitors split the cast between civilians and celebrities for its first season but leaned into celebrities for the two subsequent seasons. With the popularity of the format and viewers wanting more, Franks was asked if there was a possibility of a civilian series being produced.
'I mean, who knows, maybe one day that would be great, wouldn't it?' Franks said.
Check back Monday for the panel video.
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