If we really break it down, most reality TV shows can fit into two categories these days: dating and strategy. While relationship-based shows like Married At First Sight, Farmer Wants A Wife, Love Island and The Bachelor franchise have been a mainstay on Aussie TV for well over a decade, competition series have had a recent surge in popularity.
The Traitors has had huge success in both the US and the UK, YouTube star MrBeast’s Beast Games is one of Prime Video’s most viewed titles, and Netflix has launched a string of new series in the format — shout out to Million Dollar Secret, one of my fave reality shows of 2025.
So, with the format’s popularity at an all-time high — and Channel 10 set to relaunch The Traitors Australia later this year — I believe it’s the perfect time for another show to return to Aussie screens: The Mole.
Why The Mole needs to make a comeback
What is The Mole, you ask? Well, if you never watched the show or have simply forgotten its premise, The Mole was a reality competition where a group of contestants worked together to add money to a prize pot while one secret saboteur worked to undermine their efforts and go undetected.
The contestants had to answer questions about the Mole in a quiz at the end of each episode, and the person who knew the least information was booted.
There are definitely some similarities to The Traitors as they’re both social-strategy games about people trying to identify the wolf in sheep’s clothing. However, The Mole was more of a whodunnit mystery as the saboteur’s identity was also unknown to viewers. Iconic, right?
To make things even spicier, contestants would often pretend to be the Mole to trick other players into failing the quiz. If you really think about it, The Mole was the blueprint for messy strategy TV. Total strangers would lose their minds over who they could and couldn’t trust in the ultimate game of deception, and I ate up every second of it.
A former winner weighs in
The Australian version of The Mole ran from 2000 to 2003 with host Grant Bowler – who went on to host The Amazing Race Australia – and returned in 2005, hosted by Tom Williams, and again in 2013, hosted by Shura Taft.
Despite its short run, The Mole helped launch the careers of several Aussie media personalities, including radio host Abby Coleman and TV presenter Liz Cantor, who currently works across both Channel 10 and Channel 7.
Cantor, who won the show in 2005, told PEDESTRIAN.TV that she wholeheartedly agrees The Mole should make a comeback, as “there’s a growing appetite for shows that are built on gameplay”.
“The human drama in The Traitors, Survivor and The Mole is built from the unique tension of ‘I need you, but I can’t trust you’ due to the format, not spectacles or conflict between individuals,” she points out.
“I think the show was cancelled in a wave of reality TV becoming about the contestants rather than the challenge. Winning became about being liked, loud or powerful, and reality TV shifted to big personalities and popularity — but I think it’s slowly circling back.”
What needs to change about The Mole
While it’s been over a decade since the last season of The Mole Australia aired, the US version was rebooted on Netflix in 2022 and became a huge success. Cantor believes that in order for our version to stay fresh and stand alongside the current slate of Aussie reality shows, there needs to be an added twist.
“I think there’s room for growth when it comes to audience involvement,” she told P.TV. “I love the twists and turns that have evolved in recent seasons of Survivor, and Big Brother 2025 even played with the unexpected, where the audience was surprised as much as the contestants themselves!
“I don’t think The Mole has done this yet — why not put two Moles in the game? Don’t tell the Mole there’s another Mole. Or what happens in a season if they play in pairs, such as Survivor: Blood V Water? Do viewers then hear the small behavioural tells and confessionals between teams? How does a pair work to be the Mole?
“The reveal of the Mole has to be satisfying for the audience. So how can we elevate this into a new era?”
Who should host a new season of The Mole?
As for who should host a new season of The Mole, Liz would arguably be the perfect person for the role as both an ex-contestant and current TV presenter. But would she be keen?
“Let’s be real… I don’t think any working presenter would ever turn down the opportunity to host a show!” she told P.TV.
“But outside of the honour of driving, I absolutely think there’s a real dynamic in the relationship between host and contestant when someone understands the game from the inside out! I’m really excited to see what David Genat does with Survivor — he in particular has lived every pressure point of that show format.”
I guess we’ll have to wait and see how Channel 10’s upcoming reboot of The Traitors rates with viewers to determine just how much of an appetite there is for strategy-based shows Down Under. But if any network is looking for a reality show to spice up their content slate, they know exactly what to do.
The post Why The Mole, AKA Reality TV’s Most Chaotic Show, Is Long Overdue For A Comeback appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
