9 Rules You Didn't Know The Traitors Contestants Have to Follow (Including Where They Stay — Hint: Not in the Castle!)

Traitors may be a game show full of famous TV faces, but that doesn’t mean the contestants get special treatment. In fact, there is a strict set of rules that actors must follow.

The Peacock series, hosted by Alan Cumming, began its third season on January 9 with the first three episodes. Its star-studded cast includes a mix of former game show contestants and reality TV stars Vanderpump Rules’with Tom Sandoval, SurvivedJeremy Collins and The The Real Housewives of New York’with Dorinda Medley.

24 celebrity players packed their bags in 2024 and crossed the pond to film in a Scottish castle with sprawling grounds and a quirky caretaker. However, as the audience sees them take part in a series of challenging missions for the prize and gather around a round table to share their guesses about who they think are the traitors in the room, the contestants experience a different reality behind the scenes.

During filming, the cast follows strict guidelines that prevent them from communicating with each other when the cameras are off or even connecting with people outside of the show. Even in post-production, players have to keep quiet about all the details — or they could be kicked out, per The Real Housewives of New Jerseyis Dolores Catania.

“There are no leaks Traitors”, she said joining in TwoTsCon: Two Ts in a capsule Live in November 2024, adding that the production company “doesn’t mess around”. She continued, “They’re going to edit you right out of that show.”

From their limited communication to where they can sleep, here are nine rules the contestants follow Traitors have to follow.

Players do not sleep in the castle

Carolyn Wiger, Robyn Dixon, Danielle Reyes, Jeremy Collins, Derrick Levasseur on Traitors Season 3 Episode 3 ‘The Traitors’.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

In each episode of the show, cameras follow the contestants as they seemingly get into bed in identical gothic-style rooms in the castle. However, the footage is deceiving: the contestants are actually sleeping in a hotel 45 minutes away from the set.

“They all stayed at the airport hotel at Inverness Airport,” Cumming told The Daily Beast in January 2023 of the first season. “How glamorous it is to come to Scotland and stay in an Inverness airport hotel. I stayed in a small house in Inverness.”

However, the host had his own room in the castle where he got ready, and did he sometimes take a nap there, he admitted.

There is a limit to how much I can drink

The cast sits at a round table in Season 3, Episode 1 of ‘The Traitor.’

Euan Cherry/Peacock

Although contestants are often shown with a glass (or goblet) in hand, they are limited to just one drink per evening.

“You can only have one drink a night anyway, it was pretty limited,” said season two contestant Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu Entertainment Weekly in January 2024.

There are a limited number of places I can go in the castle

Ciara Miller, Wells Adams, Chrishell Stause on Traitors.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

Not only are the contestants not allowed to sleep in the castle, but they also have a limited number of spaces they can explore in the rented space. For Season 2, the creators added a “laundry room,” which is like a kitchen, and then a “madhouse,” which is an outdoor, stone-covered area where traitors and loyalists congregate.

“We’ve always felt that the kitchen is where you go to have a cup of tea and it’s a real gathering place,” said producer Sam-Rees Jones during a panel in February 2024. “And while we didn’t miss it, we just knew we had somewhere else that space.”

There is security to ensure that the faithful do not see the traitors gathering

Phaedra Parks, Alan Cumming in ‘The Traitors’ Season 2, Episode 9.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

Every night, the Betrayers meet to decide who to eliminate from the show next—but it’s hard to make sure the other Faithful don’t see them sneaking off to do so.

“It’s a massive military operation every night to get the Faithful to bed in individual rooms and bring the Traitors back to their meeting,” said producer Mike Cotton. Diversity in January 2024.

The contestant of the first and second season Kate Chastain told Vanity Fair in January 2023 that the production even employed security guards to ensure utmost secrecy.

Cast members cannot discuss the game with each other in the hotel outside of filming time

Chrishell Stause, Sam Asghari, Carolyn Wiger, Wells Adams, Danielle Reyes, Dylan Efron, Britney Haynes, Tom Sandoval in ‘The Traitors’ Season 3 Episode 1.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

After a day of filming, cast members were no longer allowed to discuss any aspect of the game — including former couple Larsa Pippen and Marcus Jordan, who were on the show’s second season. The couple told PEOPLE they found a creative way to communicate at the hotel, including texting each other via fruit.

“Marcus asked me for a nail file and I put it in a paper bag – and they check everything, you shouldn’t be sending anything back and forth – but he wanted a nail file and I said, I’m just going to send him a nail file,” she said. “And then I thought, oh, there’s a banana. He said he wanted a banana. so me [write] ‘I love you’ on a banana and send it to him with a nail file.”

“You can’t talk about the match when the mics aren’t ready or the cameras aren’t on, because if we say something that’s important and it’s not on camera, they can’t use it on the show,” Season 2 Traitor Dan Gheesling said Business Insider in February 2024.

Cast members must give up their personal belongings

Tony Vlachos, Dolores Catania, Carolyn Wiger, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, Nikki Garcia, Danielle Reyes, Wells Adams, Sam Asghari, Bob Harper, Bob The Drag Queen, Jeremy Collins, Chrishell Stause on Traitors.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

Upon arrival in Scotland, the production takes many of the cast members’ personal belongings, including their phones and passports, the second season’s contestants and Sunset Chess alum Mercedes “MJ” Javid shared on I’m just saying podcast.

“When we got off the plane, I said, ‘Oh, now you’re taking our phones,'” she said. “You will take everything – they take your chargers, watch, passport, wallet, money.”

Players don’t know who will be on the show before they arrive

Alan Cumming in Season 3, Episode 1 of ‘The Traitors’.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

Before they arrive in Scotland, the contestants don’t know who else will be on their season to make sure they go in completely blind.

“Because it’s a game, you don’t want them to be able to explore each other or talk to each other or form alliances before,” casting director Deena Katz told TIME. However, there were exceptions such as Pippen and Jordan, since the two were a pair.

Celebrities cannot promote their brands

Derrick Levasseur, Danielle Reyes on Traitors.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

As part of their contract, contestants must agree not to promote any of their personal brands — which meant The Real Housewives of Atlanta star Shereé Whitfield couldn’t reproduce her ONA from Shereé in Season 2.

“They said they couldn’t!” Whitfield told PEOPLE in February 2024, “You can’t wear your brand.”

Cast members must pass a personality test beforehand

Bob Harper, Ciara Miller, Gabby Windey, Bob The Drag Queen, Nikki Garcia, Chanel Ayan in ‘The Traitors’ Season 3 Episode 1.

Euan Cherry/Peacock

Before filming, casting directors and producers conduct personality tests on potential candidates to determine whether their characters are a good fit for the show – and, more importantly, who can handle the role of traitor.

“We see attributes that might make someone a good liar or particularly deceptive,” Cotton said Diversity on the importance of personality tests.

Rees-Jones added during the 2024 panel that the test “gives us a kind of influence on personality strengths and what different attributes they can bring.”

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education