“The Traitors” Season 2 concluded with a surprising ending startling outcome, which has already caused criticism aimed at winner Trishelle Cannatella — and she's resisting anyone labeling her a villain.
“I don’t see it,” Cannatella tells TheWrap of being called a “villain.” “No one with intelligence that I know sees [it] because we’re watching a show. It’s a game called ‘The Traitors.’ The tagline is betrayal and deceit.”
During the Thursday finale, loyalists Cannatella, CT Tamburello and MJ Javid voted betrayer Kate Chastain out, and were set to divide the $208,100 prize fund three ways when both Cannatella and Tamburello voted to expel another player. While the first vote ended in a tie, the second attempt resulted in the “Challenge” vets eliminating the Bravo star at the last minute.
“CT and I both played a really good game and everything that I said and did was strategic and gameplay,” Cannatella said. “I never personally attacked anyone, I never said anything mean, nasty or bad, I never called anyone a b—h, or a name on the show at all. It was all just a game. I think 'villain' is unwarranted, but if you want to call me a villain, so be it, here I am.”
Cannatella added that much of the online negativity is coming from younger viewers, to whom she responds, “You don’t know my path, you haven’t been following me for two-plus decades, you don’t know what I stand for.”
“I don’t really care what a 20-year-old thinks about me, to be honest,” she added.
Below, Cannatella and Tamburello reveal where they currently stand with Javid, why they think they didn’t “bamboozle” her out of the prize fund and which players from “The Challenge” they would love to see on the next season of “The Traitors.”
TheWrap: CT, you seemed pretty blindsided when Trishelle wrote your name down to be banished in the finale. How and why did you forgive her?
CT Tamburello: When you come from the world [Trishelle and I] come from, you develop a tougher skin — you get chewed up and spat out from “The Challenge” over so many years. It was on par with that relationship … It’s easy for people to watch us on TV when they have all the answers, but you had to constantly adapt every time someone got sent home because it changes the dynamic of the house … We were so burnt out here — there’s just so many twists and turns all the time. You don’t know who’s what and, at this point, [I said] I’m gonna pick one person that I’m willing to take a chance on compared to everybody else and see where the chips fall.
Trishelle, you ultimately changed your vote to MJ, resulting in her banishment. Did you feel like voting her out was the only way to win the game?
Trishelle Cannatella: At that point, we couldn’t re-throw in our pouches to end the game or to banish again, we had already made the decision. I had to, at that point, vote for MJ because when I saw CT’s face when I showed him that I wrote his name, I was like, “I made a massive mistake, he’s probably not a traitor, and if he is, congratulations, take all the money, you have played me successfully.” I wasn’t gonna write his name down again, I couldn’t.
The meeting was quite intense and MJ said she felt tricked by your decision. What is your current relationship with MJ?
Cannatella: It would be good to check her Instagram, but she blocked both of us so I don't know how she's doing. I hope she's well.
Tamburello: I can empathize with her because she's upset. We understand how it feels while on “The Challenge” to support someone who doesn't win. You feel upset about it and want to share it with the world. You weren't tricked — it was simply a matter of chance, with many factors at play. That's how it unfolded… It's okay to be upset about something, but I don't like the idea of gathering people to personally attack others and try to harm them in their personal life. Not that it's happening to me — I have been doing these shows for a long time and have a strong tolerance, but I know someone who has been facing a lot of criticism and I don't think it's fair.
Did you ever think about sharing some of the money with MJ?
Cannatella: Yes, that's why I initially voted for CT — I was going to. In the end, we had to vote again. If CT and I were given another chance, I believe that he and I would have split it three ways.
Tamburello: There has been a similar situation on “The Challenge” where a pair of two people won a final, and then one partner took the money from them. This wasn't like that — this was more like we made it to the final, you can see the money. But it wasn't really ours, we hadn't won yet.
Trishelle, what did you learn from Peppermint’s remarks at the meeting, saying she was targeted based on preconceived biases?
Cannatella: I wish that Peppermint had stayed. When she spoke up there and explained how she intended to educate people about the transgender community, I loved that. I felt really bad that I was one of the 16 people that voted her out, but I blamed myself because I was so focused on the game, and I saw everyone as competition, and I wasn't considering platforms or anything like that when I entered the house. If I participate in another competition-like show, I would take that into consideration, I wouldn't come in as aggressively as I did on this show.
Who from your “Challenge” colleagues do you think would excel on “The Traitors”?
Tamburello: I'm gonna choose Aneesa [Ferreira]. I think she would be great on it. I think Aneesa would be really entertaining to watch on this.
Cannatella: She's really good, but she's hilarious. I think that's something you don't often see on “The Challenge” — that Aneesa is so funny. She would be really good at “The Traitors” game.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Seasons 1 and 2 of “The Traitors” are available to stream on Peacock.
