Peacock’s The Traitors is a show that moves at a fast clip; every week, two stars from the contestant pool are eliminated by murder or banishment. (It’s an almost jarring number, especially when you compare it to E!’s similarly structured all-star competition show House of Villains which would often go a week or two with no eliminations at all.) But devilish host Alan Cumming has promised us one big surprise from day one: a secret player who would come in mid-season to shake things up, and this week we learned that the secret player was none other than Below Deck‘s Kate Chastain.
Kate Chastain is best known as one of the more chaotic stars of Bravo’s Below Deck, which she joined in the show’s second season in 2013. She remained on the show as the Chief Stew for six seasons, departing in 2020. Chastain appeared on the first season of The Traitors in 2023.
Chastain was revealed to be this season’s secret player on this week’s episode after the contestants completed their challenge but before they entered the round table to banish one of their peers. Upon her entrance to the castle, Chastain found her welcome letter from Cumming which explained that she’d be playing this game, once again, as a faithful. Chastain was a faithful last season, too, and she managed to avoid murder and banishment until the very last round table in that season’s final episode, when the remaining contestants ended up eliminating her. (It’s unlikely that she would have won even if she stayed in the game. Survivor alum Cirie Fields, a traitor, managed to fool everyone and won the whole thing.)
“I’m a little disappointed that I’m not a traitor this time,” Chastain said after learning she’d be a faithful once again. “Because I really want to see the turret, and I really want a special coat… and also, I’d really like the power to get rid of people I don’t like.” Valid reasons, all.
Chastain made it clear from the moment she showed up that she’s here to “f—k up some s—t,” and explained, “I’m sure the players have a preconceived notion about me, either that I’m either a bitchy person or a wild, unpredictable person, and all of those things are true.” Despite the fact that she had not taken part in any game play to this point, Kate was given a vote to help banish a player this week. “Tell me everything! Who do we hate?” she asked the group as she sat down. Ultimately, her decision was to vote with the majority and banish Big Brother star Janelle Pierzina.
It feels like Kate’s confrontational style may well replace Janelle’s own confrontational style, and though she only had a few minutes of screen time this week, she’s already drawn the ire of Bling Empire‘s Kevin Kreider who, in the midst of explaining his distaste for being interrupted and talked over, was interrupted and talked over when Kate asked MJ Javid who Kevin was. Despite that, Kate doesn’t seem threatened by Kevin or anyone else, and given the fact that she managed to remain in the game for so long on season one, she seems well-positioned to be a key player for the rest of this season, too.
New episodes of The Traitors are available Thursdays at 6PM PT/9PM ET on Peacock.