'The Traitors Canada' Season 2: 'Naked and Afraid' star is the first Faithful murdered by the Traitors
"I would have liked to have seen a breakfast," Chris said
The Traitors Canada Season 2 on CTV is off to a tense start, with Naked and Afraid star Chris the first person murdered by the Traitors. Chris called it "bittersweet" to be eliminated so early in the competition.
"I got to go in and experience the manor and meet some really amazing people, relatively stress free," he told Yahoo Canada. "However, I do wish that I was still in that manor a little bit longer than one night."
"I would have liked to have seen a breakfast. But, you know, it is what it is. Somebody had to be taken out first and I almost take it as a bit of a badge honour that A, I didn't have any suspicion on me. And B, they thought I was a big enough threat to get rid of."
Catch up on The Traitors Canada Season 2 Tuesdays on Crave, with subscriptions starting at $9.99/month
As we found out in the first episode of the season, fitness YouTuber Kyra, Big Brother Canada alum Neda and ex-professional wrestler turned paranormal enthusiast Michael were selected as the Traitors by the show's host Karine Vanasse. Chris shared that he was suspicious of two of the three Traitors, Michael and Neda.
"Michael John just [because] he was moving a little bit differently. He was a little bit more shifty, and ... he was very vocal in a lot of different ways," Chris said. "That poor guy was fighting an uphill battle right out of the gate.
"Neda is a strategic mastermind, so I thought if anybody was going to be able to kind of fly under the radar, it was going to be her. So even though she didn't give me any indicators, just based solely on her capabilities and her abilities in games like this, I was keeping a good eye on her."
While some people like Michael and Cedric raised suspicions among many for their body language and being particularly chatty, Chris didn't anticipate the group would think Rabecca, a cheerleader from St John’s, was a Traitor.
"Rabecca, I had zero suspicion on her," Chris said. "We talked quite a bit during our cannonball challenge ... and she was just a very pure person."
"I know a lot of people were saying that her conduct, or her entire being somewhat changed, and I didn't see that with her. ... It's intimidating in this show and these sort of social experiments, and I think it might have just been [that anxiety.]"
'The Traitors' and 'Naked and Afraid': Different kinds of survival challenges
Looking back at his reality TV experience, Chris said Naked and Afraid and Traitors are difficult in their own ways.
"On Naked and Afraid I've ended up with a blood infection, ... could have lost my foot. Ended up with two different types of dengue after my 40-day challenge in Colombia," Chris recalled. "[Naked and Afraid] is very physically taxing, whereas The Traitors is very mentally exhausting."
When it came to what made him interested in trying his hand at Traitors, Chris wanted to try a different kind of survival challenge.
"I've been on three continents trying to survive with very minimal tools or interaction with people, or anything along those lines, and I've been successful in it," he said. "This, to me, is survival on a whole other level."
"I'm not sitting there trying to not get run over by elephants or bit by spiders, or anything along those lines, this was trying to survive people, and I wanted to kind of test that survival skill of mine. Obviously I have some improvements to make in that regard, but it was something that I thought was interesting. I'm a huge fan of the franchise and the show, and I just thought it would be a great getaway, albeit a little bit of a shorter one for me, I probably could have just stayed in the airport. But at the end of the day, it was a great experience."
Reflecting on his experience in the manor, if Chris had the opportunity he would have wanted to play the game as a Traitor.
"Looking back at it now, I have some unfinished business and I would love to go in as a Traitor if I was to do it again, just for the fact that I would be safe for at least one night, and I'd get to see at least one breakfast," he said.
Being a reality TV star on 'Traitors Canada'
Something that makes Traitors Canada unique from other shows in the franchise, particularly the U.S. version, is that some contestants have had notable and public careers, and have been on TV in the past, while others have lived completely private lives in Canadian cities.
As someone who has one of those notable careers, Chris said it does put a "target" on a player's back coming into the competition with that experience.
"I do think it does kind of somewhat put a target on all of our backs, a little bit, going into it as the known personalities that go in," he said. "But in the same breath, it works in a lot of different ways because of that as well."
"In Naked and Afraid or The Bachelor, or celebrating a Grey Cup victory or a wrestling championship, or an Amazing Race win, whatever it may be, people have already seen our genuine personas, and people have already seen our genuine reactions. So it's tough to fake that when we've already been seen, and that just paints us in another negative light if all of a sudden we start faking it."
