As ‘The Traitors’ season ends, host shares regret over Donna Kelce’s traitor role
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Host Alan Cumming says casting Donna Kelce as secret traitor was too obvious.
- Kelce drew attention, was banished in episode 3, then starred at reunion amid fan praise.
- Season 4 winner Rob Rausch claimed $220,800; Kelce faced heated postshow discussion.
Maybe, choosing the most famous mom in the NFL as a traitor wasn’t such a good idea after all?
“The Traitors” host Alan Cumming said as much in comments posted a few days before Thursday’s Season 4 finale.
In the post-finale reunion show Thursday, Kelce was center stage, sitting on a sofa next to winner Rob Rausch. The “Love Island USA” alum beat all the faithfuls to win the $220,800 prize.
Kelce didn’t hide her reactions as some of the post-show discussion got heated. Still fan-girling.
In the season’s first show, Kelce was tapped to be the first-ever “secret traitor.”
“It was fun. I got to go into the turret. I got to go into the dungeon. Got to walk around the highlands in a red cloak. It was a blast,” Kelce told reunion host Andy Cohen about the experience.
Cohen recalled Kelce’s reaction when Cumming surreptitiously revealed to her — in front of her competitors — that she would step into the new role of secret traitor.
Kelce said she told herself, “Don’t smile, don’t smile. Don’t say anything. Don’t do anything. Just stare and say, ‘Yes, I’m ready.’”
“Your reaction was great,” Cohen told her. He then turned to “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Lisa Rinna and asked her how Kelce did in that moment.
“Excellent,” Rinna said.
Cohen asked Kelce what “her kids” — Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce — thought of her short-lived time on the show. Her competitors easily and near-unanimously tagged her as a traitor and banished her in the third episode.
“They thought that I gave it my best shot, but they’re like, ‘You know, you were probably more treacherous than we thought you could be,’” she said.
Cohen also asked if her future daughter-in-law, Taylor Swift, watched the show.
“Yes, she’s a watcher. So is her family. They love ‘Traitors,’” she said.
Earlier in the week, the YouTube show “Hot Ones” posted a clip from an interview with Cummings. Asked if he could change any traitors on the show, he name-checked Kelce.
“Personally, I think Mama Kelce as the secret traitor was too obvious,” Cumming said. “She was so, sort of, oddball in the group.”
Early in the game, he said, “everyone’s looking for just anything that’s out of the ordinary, and I think perhaps she was ... I mean, she wasn’t great at defending herself.
“But I think that was maybe too obvious. And yet, as you could say the same thing about Lisa Rinna, but obviously ... that was like a double bluff.”
Kelce posted a reminder of the finale and reunion shows on her social media accounts Thursday morning. Her own fans, including Randi Mahomes, mother of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, complimented her time on the show and what she wore to the reunion.
“Best secret traitor there ever was,” her sons’ podcast, “New Heights,” wrote on her Instagram post.
Fellow “Traitors” competitor and former Olympic figure skating champion Tara Lipinski dropped a red heart on the same post.
(When someone commented on her weight, Kelce responded by saying she’s lost 30 pounds over about a year with intermittent fasting.)
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