While Season 3 of The Traitors is coming and fans are wondering when it will premiere, my mind is still on Season 2. The Peacock series’ second season was pretty wild, especially when some episodes ended on cliffhangers and fans on social media went nuts. Out of everything that went down, perhaps one of the best parts of the season was watching Real Housewives’ Phaedra Parks, and now, she’s revealing just how she manipulated people.
Parks was one of the Traitors, and she had to act like she was a Faithful, meaning she really had to play the part if she wanted to steal the prize money with her fellow Traitors. Overall, there were plenty of funny Phaedra Parks memes due to her behavior throughout the season, and it made the show incredibly entertaining. Even though she only made it to Episode 10 in the 12-episode season, she was the last original Traitor to be banished, which is still very impressive.
When it came to how she pulled this off, Parks told PEOPLE that players were suspicious of anyone who looked tired in the morning since Traitors would be up all night committing murder. So, she really had to dedicate herself to flying under the radar:
I was like, let me make sure I get up at 4 a.m. and have my eyes concealed and look absolutely amazing. Because people were looking so close at everyone in the mornings. When the girls would come in, if they looked a little haggard, they would say, 'She's got to be a Traitor. She didn't get any sleep. Look at her bags under her eyes.' So when they would say that, I was like, 'Oh my God, look, I'm so rested.’
I have to say, it’s pretty smart of Parks to put in that kind of work. Not only did she have to act like she wasn’t a Traitor, but she went to the lengths of getting up early and making sure she looked like she had a well-rested night, even though she didn’t.
Learning about this strategy does make me wonder what other tricks the Traitors had up their sleeves to make it seem like they were one of the Faithfuls. Having a good poker face is not the only thing you need, and I'm sure they all go to pretty serious lengths to keep their cover.
The cast for The Traitors Season 3 was an interesting bunch, along with Parks, it included Britney Spears’ ex Sam Asghari, the scandalous Tom Sandoval, Selling Sunset’s Chrishell Stause, and more. So, I'm sure they all had different strategies, and there is no telling what they came up with to win the prize money.
Phaedra Parks may not have been so lucky with The Traitors, but she has another chance to come out on top on a different reality show. The cast for Dancing With the Stars Season 33 was announced, and she will be among the celebrities vying for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy with partner Val Chmerkovskiy. There aren’t really any tricks that she can use on that show, other than being a good dancer, but she could totally dance her way to the end.
Those with a Peacock subscription can see Parks’ sneaky ways in Season 2 of The Traitors. Fans can also see her try her hand at dance when DWTS returns on Tuesday, September 17 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+ as part of the 2024 TV schedule. She probably has a few tricks up her sleeve for that one too, even if it doesn’t involve flying under the radar.
