Why The Traitors is a Pop-Culture card collector’s dream
Reality TV doesn’t always scream collectibles, but The Traitors has quietly become an exception. Set in a gothic Scottish castle and built around deception, alliances, and weekly betrayals, the show doesn’t just feature celebrities, it reintroduces them. Contestants aren’t playing versions of their old roles; they’re revealing new ones under pressure, which is exactly where collectible relevance tends to spike.
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Airing on Peacock, this season’s cast leans heavily into that idea, blending Broadway prestige, NFL-adjacent pop culture, reality-TV veterans, outspoken commentators, and Olympic icons. For collectors, that mix creates fresh “eras” for people who already have memorabilia histories and gives newer audiences a reason to go looking.
Alan Cumming: The Ringmaster Who Sets the Tone
Alan Cumming feels less like a host and more like the embodiment of The Traitors itself. A Scottish actor with a career spanning Broadway, television, and both box office and cult-classic films, Cumming brings a theatrical, slightly sinister flair that turns each episode into a performance. His Tony-winning turn as the Emcee in Cabaret and Emmy- and Golden Globe–nominated work on The Good Wife make him uniquely suited to play a charismatic manipulator in a castle full of liars.
Donna Kelce: From NFL Sidelines to Traitor Status
Donna Kelce enters the castle as one of the most recognizable non-athletes in modern sports culture. Best known as the mother of NFL stars Jason and Travis Kelce, she became a pop-culture fixture as football, the Super Bowl, and the Taylor Swift era collided. On The Traitors, she initially leans into that warm, no-nonsense persona—until the game flips. For collectors, it’s a fascinating crossover moment: sports fandom, reality TV, and celebrity culture colliding in a way that gives Kelce standalone relevance beyond her famous family.
Lisa Rinna: Chaos as a Competitive Advantage
Lisa Rinna arrives as pure reality-TV royalty. A longtime Real Housewives of Beverly Hills fixture and former Days of Our Lives star, she’s spent decades navigating high-drama environments. On The Traitors, she’s refreshingly candid about having “no strategy,” but her instincts for confrontation, confessionals, and narrative control make her one of the castle’s most dangerous personalities.
Michael Rapaport: Built for the Roundtable
Michael Rapaport brings unmistakable New York energy to the game. Known for roles in Higher Learning and Beautiful Girls, he’s also spent years as a sports-obsessed podcaster and cultural loudspeaker. His blunt, take-no-prisoners style makes him a natural lightning rod at the roundtable. Whether he’s hunting Traitors or trying to survive as one, Rapaport’s presence guarantees friction.
Colton Underwood: Reality Vet With a Competitive Edge
Colton Underwood enters The Traitors with a résumé that blends sports credibility and reality-TV experience in a way that plays well inside the castle. A former NFL practice-squad defensive back turned Bachelor Nation breakout, Underwood rose from The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise to lead The Bachelor Season 23, before publicly coming out and documenting his personal journey with husband Jordan C. Brown in Netflix’s Coming Out Colton. His mix of physical capability and emotional openness positions him as someone who’s already proven he can navigate pressure-filled social games where trust, perception, and timing matter just as much as strength.
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Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski: Olympic Pressure, Social Strategy
Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski arrive with decades of experience performing under judgment and scrutiny. Weir, a two-time Olympian and three-time U.S. champion, brings analytical sharpness shaped by years in the broadcast booth. Lipinski, an Olympic gold medalist and former world champion, carries the calm of someone who has already delivered on the biggest stage imaginable.
Together, they add an athletic psychology to the game, reading people the way they once read programs and performances. For collectors, The Traitors reframes them not just as skating legends, but as strategic personalities in a completely different arena.
Lucas Mast is a writer based in California’s Bay Area, where he’s a season ticket holder for St. Mary’s basketball and a die-hard Stanford athletics fan. A lifelong collector of sneakers, sports cards, and pop culture, he also advises companies shaping the future of the hobby and sports. He’s driven by a curiosity about why people collect—and what those items reveal about the moments and memories that matter most.
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