The Traitors Australia Is Ready To Serve Fierce Camp Fun This Week

The Traitors Australia is just around the corner and is ready to launch onto our screens this Tuesday.

We got our first glimpse of the premiere episode at Meta headquarters this week, with the chance to meet some of the cast members and see exactly what the revamped series has in store.

And it is not going to disappoint.

The Traitors Australia delivers a fresh new take on the series

It was big shoes to fill for The Traitors Australia Season three after the somewhat lacklustre reception to Seasons One and Two.

Since then, The Traitors has become a global sensation, with both the UK and US editions captivating audiences, not to mention the recent UK Celebrity edition, which saw Alan Carr absolutely steal the show.

Hot off the heels of that international success, it was vitally important that producers came in hard and fast to deliver something capable of matching the global standard that fans have come to love.

With a cast of 22 dynamic Australian celebrities, ranging from reality television contestants to singers and more, the casting itself was already destined to be a success. Now the pressure has shifted to production to replicate something fantastic.

It’s easy to miss the sweeping castles of the Scottish Highlands that have become synonymous with the international franchise.

Instead, filming moves to New Zealand, creating a different feel. But that doesn’t detract from the season whatsoever.

The residence may be a little more demure, but our cast — and especially host Gretel Killeen — absolutely deliver.

For Gretel, it’s a performance in its own right.

Twenty five years after first stepping onto our screens as the host of Big Brother, she’ll forever be remembered for her quirky one liners, infectious personality and her remarkable ability to completely own every scene.

All these years later, Gretel brings that same energy back in spades.

Chatting with us before the show, Gretel explained that it was all about crafting a character, then building the incredible costumes she needed to tell that story.

“The thing I really loved about the chance to do this show is that I was allowed to create my character, give her a back story and really have fun with the wardrobe. Which some may remember, I do love a wardrobe!” she said.

We’ve already seen in previews that Gretel arrives to meet the Traitors carried in a coffin by four men before emerging in a blood-covered wedding dress, but that’s just the start.

“What I created was a scrapbook of the images that I would like to wear for the different missions. I knew I wanted to wear a bridal outfit and I knew I wanted to have blood on the bottom” she says. “Then later that white veil becomes the black veil. That’s what she wears for traitors in the enclave.”

These aren’t just costumes; they’re a dramatic story that she kicks off right from episode one.

But moving away from the outfits, there’s a game to be played and the game is afoot immediately, unbeknownst to the contestants.

We can’t give too much away, but we can say this: The game begins before the contestants even walk through the doors of their new residence and every single contestant arrives ready to play.

From the overly confident competitors to those already questioning themselves, every single cast member brings something unique to the game, from Big Brother, to MAFS, Housewives, MasterChef, Survivor and more; they all have a very different background in delivering drama and strategy on reality TV.

Speaking with us at the launch, Kirbie Bentley from Australian Survivor and Australian Survivor vs The World described it as the hardest experience of her life. So much so that she’d only ever consider doing it again if there was a Traitors Australia vs The World.

When asked what made it so difficult, she said: “In Survivor, you will have your alliances and people; you sort of know who people want to get out and their reasoning. Whereas in this, if you’re a faithful, only you know that and the Traitors know that about you.”

“So you’re second-guessing everything and you’re sort of looking at somebody to try and find evidence, and there’s actually no such thing as evidence. There’s none. But you’re right, it’s a complete mind game and you have absolutely no element of truth.”

Kirbie is one of several queer contestants appearing this season, representing a broad range of reality television personalities and sexualities.

Among them are Drag Race stars Rhys Nicholson and Kween Kong, Survivor star Kirbie Bentley, Masterchef season two contestant Alvin Quah , two-time Big Brother contestant Tully Smyth, Aussie Shore hottie Manaaki Hoepo and The Bachelor star Alex Nation.

True to form, our queer contestants quickly become some of the standout personalities of the series from the get go.

Each proves themselves every bit as entertaining as their international queer counterparts.

The hilarity Rhys Nicholson delivers during the missions, squawking and screaming across the property while contestants desperately race around searching for clues to increase the prize pool to $250,000, provides some of the first episode’s funniest moments.

Then there are the Housewives ready to butt heads and stars like Manaaki from Aussie Shore, who are simply there to enjoy themselves and enjoy the game.

Chatting to us before the show, Manaaki explained that unlike some contestants who arrive determined to create a television personality, he simply wanted to be his silly self and have fun.

“I just walked in there being myself, so how I am on Aussie Shore is exactly how I was on Traitors” he says, revealing he didn’t get to watch any of the show until he was on the plane to New Zealand.

But his time on the show won’t be without the drama of course “Yeah, getting myself in drama. The drama just loves to follow me apparently!”

And true to his word, Manaaki delivers a wild and infectious energy as he laughs his way through the days.

However, episode one also reveals he’s playing a far more strategic game than many viewers may expect and it’s clear he’ll be one of the season’s standout players.

We can’t reveal too much because you’ll need to tune in to discover exactly what happens, and who our Traitors are, when the first episode debuts this week.

What we can say is this: You will not be disappointed.

The first three Traitors chosen for the season are absolutely going to deliver all the drama and chaos we are so desperately waiting for!

The Traitors Australia airs every Tuesday and Wednesday night at 7.30pm on Channel 10 and streams on 10 Play.

Can’t wait til Tuesday? Channel 10 is streaming the first episode online now!

 

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