While the US version of The Traitors has become known around the world for its star-studded cast, this year marks the first time the Australian franchise has followed suit with an entire ensemble of celebrity participants.
The new season features 22 of Australia’s most infamous reality stars — from The Bachelor and MAFS contestants to Australian Survivor and Big Brother legends — as they play the ultimate game of deception and betrayal for the chance to win up to $250,000.
Naturally, with the Aussie reality TV space being as incestuous as it is, we thought it would be helpful to break down all of the cast connections before the new season kicks off and the backstabbing begins. Let’s dive in, shall we?
Which of The Traitors Australia contestants knew each other before filming?
Starting with the dating show crew, Alex Nation and Keira Maguire famously appeared on the same season of The Bachelor Australia in 2016, where they competed for Richie Strahan’s affections. Alex ended up winning Richie’s heart — although they called it quits almost a year after filming — and Keira became known as the OG Bachie ‘villain’ after she clashed with multiple women, including Alex.
“Alex and I met 10 years ago, and we had a disagreement, but I couldn’t even remember why we were fighting, so I was like, surely we can get over it,” Keira told PEDESTRIAN.TV about reuniting on The Traitors. “I love her, though, honestly. She feels like family.”
Alex also told P.TV that she was pleasantly surprised to see Keira on The Traitors, even though they hadn’t spoken in years — most likely because Keira joked about Alex’s relationship with a woman in 2019 and subsequently blocked her.
@pedestriantv It’s a full-blown diva convention on #TheTraitorsAU 🗡️ #thetraitors
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One person Alex did make an alliance with before filming the show, however, was Big Brother star Tully Smyth — who, ironically, had a brief fling with Richie before he was the Bachelor.
“So Tully and I actually did like an ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ retreat in Bali, and then we got asked three weeks later to be on The Traitors,” she revealed. “So we both told each other we’d been asked, and we did say that if we got on there, we would stick together.”
Tully told P.TV that she also knew Keira and a few other participants through the Melbourne influencer circle, but she was mainly relieved she didn’t have to compete alongside her former Big Brother co-stars Tim Dormer and Anthony Drew.
“I’ve done Big Brother twice, and both times they threw me in there with my ex-boyfriend and Tim Dormer, and I thought, I do not want to do another show with my ex-boyfriend. Let me play on my own!” she joked.
As for the other reality TV dating alumni, Love Island Australia stars Rachael Evren, Claudia Bonifazio, and twin brothers Josh and Luke Packham (who also competed on The Block) were all on different seasons, and Cam Merchant is surprisingly the only MAFS participant in the cast, so they will all have to fend for themselves in the manor.
Moving on to the Australian Survivor crew, Shane Gould and Henry Nicholson both competed on All Stars in 2020 and even voted together in the first episode before Shane was sent home.
Kirby Bentley and AJ Antonios also competed on consecutive seasons of Survivor, although Kirby admitted to P.TV she hasn’t seen any other seasons of the reality show and was largely unfamiliar with her Traitors co-stars.
“I was familiar with Shane because obviously, athlete to athlete, I knew who Shane was, but other than that, no,” she said.
Outside of dating and strategy shows, former Australian Idol judge Ian ‘Dicko’ Dickson was well acquainted with musician Cosima De Vito, as she finished third on the inaugural season of the singing competition, and also knew Rob Farnham well because of his famous father, John.
Meanwhile, Rhys Nicholson was a judge on Kween Kong’s season of Drag Race Down Under in 2022, where she finished in second place.
Krissy Marsh and Gamble Breaux also share a unique connection as they’re both Australian Housewives, although Krissy admitted to P.TV that they didn’t know each other well because they’re from different cities.
“I saw Gamble [when I got out of the car], and I was sort of like, I don’t want to associate with Melbourne Housewives, you know? But I love her, and we have so much fun in the manor house,” she teased.
Rounding out the cast is Alvin Quah from MasterChef, Manaaki Hoepo from Aussie Shore and Lawson Mahoney from Made In Bondi, who might have the ultimate advantage in the game as lone wolves with no obvious pre-existing connections or preconceptions.
The game officially kicks off Tuesday at 7:30pm on 10, and with a stacked cast full of reality TV icons, every elimination, murder and banishment is bound to shock audiences. Let the drama begin!
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