Fans of "The Traitors," rejoice! Reality TV's most murderous game is coming back this week, with a few twists. "The Traitors" Season 5 will debut this Thursday, Sept. 17, with 22 new gamers embarking on a game of blind trust, backstabbing and betrayal.
The catch? Don't look for familiar faces in this cast.
Not only will the hit competition show be making its network television debut, airing first on NBC instead of dropping straight to Peacock, but the cast is made up entirely of civilians instead of the usual roster of celebrities and reality TV stars.
"As the series makes its network television debut, a new name captures the essence of what this season is all about," a press release said.
"In lieu of celebrities and socialites, Emmy-winning host
Alan Cumming will open the doors to his now infamous Scottish castle to 22 everyday Americans, hand selected from a nationwide search resulting in more than 60,000 hopeful applicants."
To reflect the twist, this season of the show has been cheekily dubbed "The Traitors: New Blood." The cast list was revealed in August, and among the 22 contestants are two from Florida.
Here's what time "The Traitors" Season 5 premiere will air, when it will hit streaming, the cast list, how the game works and how to watch the show.
Watch 'The Traitors' with Peacock
Is there a civilian season of 'The Traitors'? New season drops this week
Yes! The upcoming fifth season of "The Traitors," which premieres this week, will feature an all-civilian cast for the first time. "The Traitors" Season 1 featured some civilian contestants, but the cast was a mix of reality stars and normal people.
"The Traitors: New Blood" will premiere this Thursday, Sept 17, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. The premiere will be a two-hour extended episode.
'The Traitors: New Blood' cast list, 2 contestants from Florida
There are two Floridians in "The Traitors: New Blood" cast: Katie Fites, a marketing manager from Jacksonville, and Xavier Scruggs, an MLB analyst from Wesley Chapel.
According to Fites' bio on NBC, she's also an actress and plans to use those skills to her advantage in the game.
"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," she told NBC.
"I'm [also] an actress. I think that I'm going to play into that just as much as I would any other strategy. So I think I can really lock in when I need to, and hopefully, people wouldn't spot it if they do."
Scruggs told NBC his strategy going into the game is to understand when to be more outspoken and when to lay low.
"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," Scruggs told NBC.
"Understanding leadership as well. Knowing who's the leader, who's the top dog at a certain point. And being able to insert yourself in that same type of role."
Here's the full cast list:
- Abbey Benjamin, a nurse from Mangham, Louisiana
- Abby Lee, an astrophysicist from St. Paul, Minnesota
- Arisa Thomas, a dog groomer from Los Angeles
- Ben McDonnell, a barrel racer from Granbury, Texas
- Clyde Moser, a teacher from Charleston, South Carolina
- Dr. Jay Vinnedge, a physician from Oklahoma City
- Joe Vanella, a funeral director from Wantagh, New York
- Katie Fites, a marketing manager from Jacksonville, Florida
- Kim Daily, a lawyer from Houston
- Kriste Lewis, a realtor from Hattiesburg, Mississippi
- Logan Smith, a realtor from Gatlinburg, Tennessee
- Madeline Kostopulos, a construction manager from San Diego, California
- Mark Zgoda, a personal trainer from Phillipsburg, New Jersey
- Michael Foote, a lawyer from New York City
- Morgan Cook, a content creator from Midland, Michigan
- Niyyah Hayes, a therapist from Indianapolis
- Shane Beatty, an iron worker from Staten Island, New York
- Sherry Kuehl, a writer from Leawood, Kansas
- Tomica Adams, a pilot from Boston
- Victor Vollbrechthausen, a business executive from New York City
- Wyatt Gillespie, a designer from Ligonier, Pennsylvania
- Xavier Scruggs, an MLB analyst from Wesley Chapel, Florida
How does 'The Traitors' work?
Based on the original Dutch show, the U.S. version follows the same premise — a group of contestants must work together on "missions" to add money to their overall prize pot, which can climb as high as $250,000.
However, hidden amongst the "faithful" contestants are the "traitors," whose goal is to eliminate the faithful and claim the prize for themselves.
Think of the party game "Mafia," but with a quarter of a million dollars at stake. In Peacock's version, contestants stay in an ancient castle in Scotland. Award-winning Scottish actor Alan Cumming has been the host of "The Traitors" since its American debut in 2023, and is also an executive producer on the show.
Every night, the selected "traitors" of the group meet in the castle's turret after all of the "faithful" have gone to sleep and choose one person to "murder." Each day at breakfast, the contestants who "survived" the night enter the room in small groups. As the contestants enter, each traitor tries their hand at keeping it cool and minimizing suspicion, acting as surprised as a faithful would when it is revealed who was "murdered" the night before.
Every night after dinner but before the traitors meet in the turret, the entire group has a roundtable discussion in which they attempt to reveal and banish a traitor by casting votes. The banished player reveals if they were a traitor or a faithful after they are banished.
What differs the upcoming fifth season from past seasons, though, is that the contestants are all regular people. Previously, contestants were celebrities, public figures or reality stars, with a significant amount of contestants coming from other gaming shows, like "Survivor" or "Big Brother." The first season of the U.S. version of "The Traitors" was a mix of regular people and reality stars.
What days do new episodes of 'The Traitors' drop?
New episodes of "The Traitors: New Blood" will air on NBC on Thursday nights at 8 p.m. ET and be available to stream the next day on Peacock.
Watch 'The Traitors' with Peacock
Lianna Norman and Samantha Neely are trending reporters for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida, covering pop culture, lotteries, rocket launches, Florida wildlife, breaking news and more. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY, at https://floridatoday.com/newsletters.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: 'The Traitors' is back with 2 Florida contestants. When to watch
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