Calling all Traitors fans—our favorite game of social deception is back early! As we wait for the next star-studded celebrity season, NBC has tapped into the franchise’s British roots with the first American non-celebrity season, titled The Traitors: New Blood.
The new spinoff—once again hosted by Alan Cumming and airing through November 19—tests its cast’s capacity for bargaining and backstabbing through several exciting twists, including new civilian Accomplices(!) for the Traitors. The lucky contestants vying for up to $250,000 range from everyday healthcare workers, teachers, and realtors to semi-famous podcasters and content creators. Wherever you land on the debate over whether someone with 1 million IG followers counts as a “normie,” you can’t deny this cast has some great potential for a good Traitors season.
Some of the Traitors: New Blood cast at breakfast, from left: Niyyah Hayes, Katie Fites, Madeline Kostopulos, Abby Lee, Michael Foote, and Ben McDonnell.
(Image credit: Euan Cherry/NBC)
Read on for everything you need to know about the inaugural cast of The Traitors: New Blood, from their game plans for the castle to their initial assignments of Traitor or Faithful.
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Abbey Benjamin
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @abbeybenj
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 37
Hometown: Mangham, Louisiana
Occupation: Nurse
Game Plan: “I love people, and I think that in the game of Traitors, where trust is currency, my biggest strategy is to be myself and to gain as much trust as possible with the Traitors and the Faithful so I’m able to stay until the very end.”
Abby Lee
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @abbylee_.7
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 29
Hometown: St. Paul, Minnesota
Occupation: Astrophysicist
Game Plan: “My role model is Tyrion Lannister from Game of Thrones, and I would love to play like him. There’s a lot of strategies I want to adopt.”
Arisa Thomas
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @arisathegroomer
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 36
Hometown: Los Angeles, California
Occupation: Dog groomer
Game Plan: “I think me working with animals will make people naturally trust me, and that’s what I’m banking on. They wouldn’t suspect someone like me, who has golden retriever energy, to be a naughty little chihuahua.”
Ben McDonnell
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @mcdonnellben
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 34
Hometown: Granbury, Texas
Occupation: Barrel racer, actor, and podcaster
Game Plan: “I’m gonna go in and probably be the girls’ gay best friend, and they’re gonna love me. And then the guys, they’re gonna see me as an asset. I mean, I’m a 6’3″ Sasquatch. So just because I might have designer shoes, I’m ranch-y as shit. So I can go out there…I think I’ll be an asset to both sides.”
Clyde Moser
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @astoldbyclyde
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 32
Hometown: Charleston, South Carolina
Occupation: Teacher
Game Plan: “My strategy going into this is to be as likable and as friendly as possible, because you want to keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.
Jay Vinnedge
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @wellroundedphysician
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 36
Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Occupation: Physician
Game Plan: “I’m willing to do what it takes to get to the end. I find that when I’m watching other programs, people sometimes don’t prioritize winning the way they should, and as somebody who loves things like this show, I can’t have that.”
Joe Vanella
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @thejoevanella
Affiliation: Traitor
Age: 44
Hometown: Wantagh, New York
Occupation: Funeral director
Game Plan: “I’m everybody’s friend until I don’t need them. And then that’s it. I’m not going to say I don’t care about them, but in the show, I’m going to be friendly to everybody…I’ll be on their side until the game dictates otherwise.”
Katie Fites
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @katie.fites
Affiliation: Accomplice
Age: 32
Hometown: Jacksonville, Florida
Occupation: Marketing manager
Game Plan: “I’m going to give them hell. I am ready to do what feels natural. I’m going to trust my gut going into this, and I think that I have the potential to make a really fun environment while also reading people, connecting with people, and then, if necessary, backstabbing people if it saves me.”
Kim Daly
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @iamkimdaily
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 37
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Occupation: Lawyer
Game Plan: “This is a game that requires massive amounts of adaptability. Adaptability is my strength. Adaptability is my skill. Once I get to know people, what their motivations are, what drives them, what their reasons are, I want to help them with their reasons as long as it helps me with mine.”
Kriste Lewis
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @kr1ste
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 52
Hometown: Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Occupation: Realtor
Game Plan: “I hope that they see kindness. That’s the first thing that I want them to see. So whether I’m a Traitor or a Faithful, I’ll definitely use my kindness just to get close with the other contestants.”
Logan Smith
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @realtywithsmitty
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 26
Hometown: Gatlinburg, Tennessee
Occupation: Realtor
Game Plan: “I say all the time, ‘I’m a representative of your best interest. I’m not a salesman. I don’t sell houses. I make sure that you get what you need.’ I know how to negotiate, and I’m really good at getting what I want. So, we’ll see if I can relate that to this show or not.”
Madeline Kostopulos
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @madelinekostopulos
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 26
Hometown: San Diego, California
Occupation: Construction manager
Game Plan: “I want them distracted. I want them wondering where I got my outfit, not where I just was.”
Mark Zgoda
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @markzgoda
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 26
Hometown: Phillipsburg, New Jersey
Occupation: Personal trainer
Game Plan: “At some point, you got to step up, and I want to go down guns blazing. I would like to be the person making shots. If it comes down to five or four of us, split the group up and just take home the money.”
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @michael_foote__
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 38
Hometown: New York, New York
Occupation: Lawyer, podcaster, and influencer
Game Plan: “I think I’m great at deception and will be excellent in this game, because as a criminal defense attorney, I have to go to court every day and oftentimes represent people who are not innocent. I’m ready to put on that same performance that I have in the courtroom in the castle.”
Morgan Cook
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @morganevelyncook
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 30
Hometown: Midland, Michigan
Occupation: Content creator and influencer
Game Plan: “I think I’ve developed a bit of a knack for deciphering which ones are lying, overconfident manipulators, and which ones are truthful, overconfident manipulators. That’s not really something I want the Traitors to be aware of. I would rather everyone just think, ‘Morgan is a content creator. She makes videos of herself.’ And whatever they want to deduce about my intelligence from that, they are free to do so.”
Niyyah Hayes
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @niyyahx
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 29
Hometown: Indianapolis, Indiana
Occupation: Therapist
Game Plan: “I talk for a living, so one of my strategies is going to be to shut up because I tend to talk a lot. I plan to watch and listen and be a chameleon—to be whoever I need to be to get to the end.”
Shane Beatty
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @shanebeatty_
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 32
Hometown: Staten Island, New York
Occupation: Ironworker
Game Plan: “I’m thinking that introducing new names to a conversation might be the smartest move. I’m looking to just play my own game, but I don’t want to piggyback off of too many people. I want to separate myself from the crowd a little bit.”
Sherry Kuehl
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @snarky.in.the.suburbs
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 65
Hometown: Leawood, Kansas
Occupation: Writer and influencer
Game Plan: “I think one of the best things I have going for me is that I’m an excellent listener. I learned a long time ago: You learn more from listening than talking.”
Tomica Adams
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @ladyofthesky
Affiliation: Traitor
Age: 54
Hometown: Boston, Massachusetts
Occupation: Pilot
Game Plan: “I think being a mother will truly help me be intuitive about what’s happening in the game. I think that that’s a ninth sense. But then being a pilot, working with so many people and being very in control of things; being able to hold my stress level down will be an advantage for me in this game.”
Victor Vollbrechthausen
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @victorvoll
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 26
Hometown: New York, New York
Occupation: Business executive
Game Plan: “I think you have to build a tribe and really have them vouch for you instead of you have to vouch for yourself. I’m gonna—hopefully—find four or five people that are gonna be my shooters, they’re gonna be my ride-or-dies, and have them take me to the victory.”
Wyatt Gillespie
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @wyatt_gillespie
Affiliation: Faithful
Age: 26
Hometown: Ligonier, Pennsylvania
Occupation: Designer
Game Plan: “I think I plan to play a little bit dumb and run circles around people when they underestimate me because I will just over-deliver at the end.”
Xavier Scruggs
(Image credit: NBC)
Instagram: @xavierscruggs
Affiliation: Accomplice
Age: 38
Hometown: Wesley Chapel, Florida
Occupation: MLB analyst
Game Plan: “I think that’s where playing a long season in Major League Baseball helps you understand, there’s going to be certain highs and certain lows, and you have to be strategic about how you’re going to use your energy—exude your energy—at the right times.”
