‘The Traitors’ Season 3 Cast Pits Bravolebrities Against Survivors In The Ultimate Battle for Reality TV Supremacy

The cast for The Traitors Season 3 is officially here. As the third iteration of the show’s American version kicks off filming, the host of the hit Peacock show, Alan Cumming, appeared on the Today show earlier this week to announce the group of reality TV stars who are set to compete for the prize pot — and the cast is full of surprises.

While some of these names had floated around certain corners of the internet that tend to speculate about reality TV, this exact version of the cast was news to most people. Several reality stars who were heavily rumored to be taking part in this season didn’t end up on the cast, which can probably be chalked up to a mix of false rumors and people having to pull out for any number of reasons. Nevertheless, while it would’ve been an impossible task to match Season 2’s absolutely iconic list of names, Season 3’s cast as a whole feels like a worthy follow-up.

From the Bravo-verse, there’s Dorinda Medley (The Real Housewives of New York City), Chanel Ayan (The Real Housewives of Dubai), Dolores Catania (The Real Housewives of New Jersey), Robyn Dixon (The Real Housewives of Potomac), Ciara Miller (Summer House) and — gasp! — Tom Sandoval (Vanderpump Rules). Sandoval’s inclusion immediately raised eyebrows among fans, and it’s difficult to imagine that he won’t be an early, easy target just simply because his competitors won’t want to be aligned with him. In other words, there probably won’t be another full Bravo alliance again this season. Dorinda, on the other hand, will undoubtedly make a splash — the memes of how she could behave at a Roundtable are already incredible. Dolores and Robyn could prove to be crucial during the competitions, and Dolores’ ability to play both sides on RHONJ could also make her a force to be reckoned with overall. Ayan will provide comic relief, but to me the biggest sleeper pick here is Ciara. She’s hard to read, but still likable, and she could fly under the radar amongst biggest Bravo personalities early on.

The Survivor players on the cast are Rob “Boston Rob” Mariano, Tony Vlachos, Jeremy Collins and Carolyn Wiger, who are all proven competitors. Boston Rob appeared on the show six times and won once, Jeremy also won the show and Tony made history when he became Survivor’s second ever two-time champ after winning Winners at War. Carolyn came in third place on her season, but she won the hearts of the viewers. The men present an intimidating front and will definitely try to shake the table, while Carolyn’s irresistibly quirky personality will ingratiate her to many of her castle-mates.

Then there’s the duo of Big Brother stars competing in Scotland this year: Britney Haynes and Danielle Reyes, two of the most popular and skilled players to never win the game. Both have competed on the show multiple times, and both have made huge impacts on their seasons, but they might have a chance to avoid walking into the castle with huge targets on their backs because of how much their Survivor counterparts will likely assert themselves early on in the game. 

Bachelor Nation has two people in the mix this season, with Wells Adams and Gabby Windey both bringing off-the-charts levels of likability and charisma to the castle. They’re both huge stars in that world and beyond, so they were solid picks to join the cast this year. The same goes for Bob the Drag Queen from RuPaul’s Drag Race, who will most likely have a much better showing in the competition than fellow drag star Peppermint did. Another well-liked and popular reality star jumping into the mix this season is Chrishell Stause from Selling Sunset. While she tends to be earnest and sweet, she’s proven especially in recent seasons of her Netflix show that she isn’t afraid to call someone out, which will probably come in handy at the Roundtable.

Rounding out the cast on season 3 of The Traitors is a grab-bag of wildcard names. There’s Zac Efron’s brother, Dylan Efron, who appeared on Netflix’s Down to Earth with Zac Efron, but otherwise is a bit of a mystery to the general public (and likely his competitors). He’ll probably prove his worth in physical competitions. Former professional wrestler Nikki Garcia (nee Bella) is no stranger to reality TV and has an obvious competitive spirit. She’s low-key one of the bigger celebrities on this cast, too, which could hurt her or draw more people to her. Bob Harper, one of the original Biggest Loser trainers is also on the cast list, and it’ll be interesting to see him actually competing on a show this time around. Britney Spears’ ex-husband Sam Asghari unexpectedly made the show, too, and even though he’s seemingly trying to make a name for himself outside of being the former Mr. Britney Spears, he’ll surely be name-checking her every chance he gets. Lastly, there’s Lord Ivar Mountbatten (pictured below), a gay British aristocrat who’ll be gunning to be the John Bercow of this season. 

Coming off of its record-breaking, zeitgeist-dominating second season, The Traitors had to deliver a formidable cast of characters for Season 3 and, all in all, they were able to do so. (It’s worth noting there are NO Real World alums this time around, despite the fact that CT and Trishelle teamed up to win The Traitors Season 2.) It’s almost certain that a few of these picks were second choices to join the show, but that doesn’t make them any less worthy of being there. Part of what makes The Traitors such a compelling competition series is the bringing together of icons in their respective reality TV worlds, seeing who’s willing to get along, who proves territorial and closes ranks and which relatively unknowns emerge as breakout stars. It’s really all about balance and having enough big personalities to make entertaining television, and this cast has both. Surely fans will have their complaints, but if you were holding out hope that you’d see one of your favorite reality stars on The Traitors next season and they didn’t make the list, there’s always Season 4.

Gibson Johns is an award-nominated entertainment journalist, host, podcaster, and reality TV commentator known for his Bravo hot takes, celebrity interviews and prolific tweeting. His work has appeared in Esquire, Men’s Health, Betches, Yahoo! and more. He’s conducted hundreds of interviews with top celebrities like Khloe Kardashian, Matt Damon, Chrissy Teigen, Kate Hudson and Gabrielle Union, as well as interviews with over 80 “Real Housewives.” He’s appeared as a moderator at multiple BravoCons, hosted premiere panels for Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Potomac and Dancing Queens, and been a guest on SiriusXM’s Radio Andy.