Rhode Islander Shares Experience on ‘The Traitors’

Hit Peacock show The Traitors is wrapping up Season 3 this week. The award-winning show has captivated audiences from the jump and if you're looking for something new to watch, I personally recommend it.

Famous Faces Compete on 'The Traitors'

The show brings together reality tv stars from some of your favorite shows like Survivor, Big Brother, The Challenge, The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, various Real Housewives franchises and other Bravo shows.

The binge-worthy show even features names and faces of those unrelated to reality TV. This season, British royal Lord Ivar Mountbatten, Britney Spears' ex-husband Sam Asghari, and Zac Efron's adorable brother Dylan joined the cast.

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Big Brother Winner Competes This Season

Among the competitors on Season 3, is a former Big Brother champion who played one of the best games in history. Back in 2014, Rhode Island native (and detective) Derrick Levasseur used his skills, ingenuity and personality to win the game, taking home the one million dollar prize.

Since then, Levasseur has stayed busy being a dad, working, starting his popular Crime Weekly podcast (a great listen) and more. One thing we haven't haven't seen from Levasseur is an appearance on another reality competition show – until now.

Returning to Reality Competition TV

Levasseur made his entrance on The Traitors a memorable one as he, "Boston" Rob Mariano (Survivor) and Wes Burgmann (The Challenge) arrived together in Episode 2. So why now? What was it about this show that pulled Levasseur back into the competition?

"It's been a long time, but a lot of variables in play when you do these types of games and fortunately, Traitors finally checked a lot of those boxes," Levasseur said. "Being able to do it, having the time to get out there and actually invest in the game, that was number one, but then also just the actual game itself, right? Big Brother is a much different game."

"It's not necessarily representative of who I am as a person in my own life, but Traitors, being a former detective, it did kind of have that theme to it where it was an opportunity to catch the killer, go after the bad guy, and to do it in a beautiful place like Scotland," he said. "The stars aligned. It was a short duration. You're still able to have contact with your kids, and it was an opportunity to play a really cool game."

What Is It Like to Compete on The Traitors?

Former competitors from previous season have mentioned the long days that take place while filming and competing, which Levasseur confirmed.

"You're talking 12 to 13 hour days of just filming because without giving too much away, you're seeing us talk to each other, but there's a lot of downtime throughout the day where you're setting up new scenes," he said.

"You start early, and you don't end until after the round table. Then even after that, there's some game talk as well. So you're in it for the long haul for sure," he said. "It's not the longest shoot as far as days are concerned, as far as how many days are out there, but yes, you're filming all day long. It's a real deal production."

Competing with Reality TV Legends

Levasseur's castmates/competitors included many strong game players including Survivor's "Boston" Rob.

"He knows what he's there for and if anything, I learned from him a little bit as far as how to put on a good show," Levasseur said. "With Big Brother, I was low and slow and methodical and I was there to win. I needed the money, so I really wanted to win even though that can be boring, winning that way. In this game, if you watch The Traitors, I go after Rob."

Levasseur was quick to detect a traitor and though he made a solid argument, the votes fell short to get Mariano out. His shot missed and he paid for it, being "killed" by The Traitors shortly after.

No bad blood, however. Levasseur said "off camera, we're friends."

"Even on camera, we were friends, but as far as the game was concerned, he was doing some things that stood out to me," he said.

And the Winner Is...

The show is now down to the final six. The penultimate episode ended with a cliffhanger as viewers awaited another roundtable elimination.

The remaining contestants will have one more episode on Thursday, March 6, where viewers find out if the prize money goes to the traitors or is split amongst the faithful.

You can see Levasseur and other former contestants during the reunion special. The finale and reunion will air back-to-back Thursday, March 6 at 9 p.m. on Peacock.