Two-time The Traitors alum Kate Chastain knows better than anyone that veterans of the Peacock show tend to inflate their achievements on the show. “A lot of people like to say, ‘I was calling those Traitors from Day One,’” the Below Deck star told The Daily Beast’s Obsessed during a recent (spoiler-filled) interview. Her general response? “Sure.”
Chastain doesn’t want to be one of those people, and yet the truth is the truth, and she did suspect both Dan Gheesling and Parvati Shallow—our two ousted Traitors—from Day One. The real question now is what she will do next week when our final undercover Traitor, former Real Housewives star Phaedra Parks, tries to recruit her into her treacherous ranks.
Naturally, Chastain kept her lips sealed about her future on the show when The Daily Beast’s Obsessed caught up with her ahead of this week’s episode. Still, when it came to sounding off on other people’s games, she did not hold back.
What did you think of Dan trying to throw Phaedra of all people under the bus a couple weeks ago?
I remember when I voted for Dan, I said to him, “Listen, you can’t be good at every game.” Because he was not good at this one. I think he was trying to play one game by the rules on another.
I mean, he kept getting feedback from other players and not taking it.
He was trying to apply his Big Brother strategy to the castle, and it’s a totally different game. I think he kind of rested on his laurels—like, “Listen, I’m not going to stress out. I’m not going to respond to this feedback because worst-case scenario, I’ll talk my way out of it like I always do.”
Yeah, and instead, at the roundtable, you set Phaedra up for her epic comeback, which has now gone viral.
I’m so all over the place. Listen, I did not want to interrupt. That really was not my fight, and I had just gotten there. But there was no way I was gonna let CBS Dan send my Bravo sister Phaedra home. No chance.
Phaedra also called Parvati out last week for acting like such an “ice princess.” Was that the vibe you got from her as well?
Oh, she was taking the game seriously. She has an intimidation factor to her that I respect very much, and I would love to hang out with her. But whether she was a Traitor or not, I was like, I need her out of the castle because she’s really trying to win this thing, and she will turn on any of us.
What did you make of Parvati’s headbands?
Well, I got there midseason, and I remember the first night, her headband had crystals on it, and it was shining under the lights. I told her, “God, your headband looks so gorgeous.” I didn’t know she’d been wearing them the whole time. I kind of like it. It’s like a fabric tiara.
I wondered whether she already had them or whether this was, like, a Traitors special.
I’m sure she purchased these special for the castle.
Obviously, she and Peter Weber had also been at each other’s throats for a while, and it seems like the house has started to turn on him. Do you think the traps and campaigns Peter was running turned out well? Is he good at this game?
I think Peter played a very, very good game for his first season. But I think he played it a little too hard. You know, I mean, his ideas were good, but his enthusiasm, he had no chill.
Like his sophomore year of The Traitors, I imagine he could win because he would still have the brain for it, but he wouldn’t be so blatant. When he started separating his group from the rest is when I think his strategy really went awry.
Meanwhile, your Bravo friend Phaedra has been making all kinds of friends on this game. Did you find her and Chris “C.T.” Tamburello’s vibe as cute in real life as fans have found it on screen?
Well, I personally hate manual labor, physical exertion, anything that gets my heart rate up. I was always thankful when Phaedra would hang back with me. So I really saw firsthand how much C.T. would help Phaedra, like, crossing a river, because he’s so strong.
I was actually a little jealous, though. We’re crossing that river. It’s like my first mission since I’ve been back. C.T.’s practically carrying her through the river. I’m alone. Like, what about me? And I was and that’s a tough river to cross!
What do you think Phaedra’s greatest strength was coming into this environment?
I think Phaedra is highly intelligent and charming. Even sitting next to her at breakfast, she is funny and gorgeous and she’s just a joy to be around. She’s queen of the castle. So I think that really is what her strength is. She’s the most popular, you know?
You can see that even from afar. Out of curiosity, how are those breakfasts? They look splendid.
I mean, anytime you walk into the breakfast room, it’s the best breakfast of your life, because you just realize you weren’t murdered. I mean, I’ve had better meals. But the feeling walking into that breakfast room is the best.
I wondered if it’s the same spread every week, or if it changes.
It’s pretty similar—a nice selection of meats and hard boiled eggs and pastries.
Other than the breakfasts, what do you think people miss about this game while watching at home?
It’s surprising to me how much they can’t show just because it’s only a 48-minute show once a week. There’s so much talking that goes on at breakfast and during missions. And after the mission before the roundtable. There’s just so much.
Are there any conversations that happened off-screen that informed how things went down?
When Trishelle [Cannatella] caught onto the fact that because Dan selected Phaedra at the roundtable, she’s like, “You know what I think? I think Dan was trying to tell us that Phaedra’s also a Traitor.”
Pilot Pete had said that at the roundtable, so it wasn’t like Trishelle had this solo idea.
That’s funny, because I was thinking that was the first time she’s been right. She was also really upset with C.T. after he lit Phaedra’s torch last week instead of hers. I was surprised how personally she seemed to take it.
I was surprised, too, because she had no problem being in the Peter Pilot group, where C.T. was more in our Sandra leftovers group.
Another thing that wasn’t shown was that Trishelle was not the only person that was very hurt that C.T. did not choose to light their torch. M.J. [Shahs of Sunset star Mercedes Javid] was, and M.J. and C.T. had a whole conversation, because MJ and C.T. have a very strong friendship that isn’t shown as much.
I hadn’t picked up on that.
I think that could be a very strong point—that C.T. is very good at a social game. So Phaedra felt like she had an emotional connection with him. M.J. felt like he was like a brother. Trishelle thought they had an emotional connection. So, C.T. is very good not only at the missions, but also at gaining friends and building relationships.
Who else do you think would be good at this game? Who would you cast in Season 3?
That’s a great thing about this show—I think that literally anyone would be fun to watch in this game, because what’s fun is how people react to being in such a pressure cooker.
I think anybody from the Bravo world would be great. I’m surprised Jax [Taylor, of Vanderpump Rules] has not been asked yet. He’d be so good. I always love to see [Real Housewives of New York City star] Sonja Morgan in anything. Somebody from the Southern Charm world hasn’t been yet. That’d be nice; Madison [LeCroy] would run the castle.
Before we go, I also have to ask, how much do you actually see of Alan Cumming in this game?
It’s just never enough. You know, you can never get enough of Alan. But no, he’s so in character that it’s just like you see on the show: He comes down, we’re all excited waiting with bated breath, he delivers our mission for the day with a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous grin. And he really makes us feel like it’s so real.
