Spy: Meet the 19 celebrity ‘backstabbers’ in Paul Henry’s new show, The Traitors

Society Insider editor·NZ Herald·

9 Jul, 2023 02:16 AM5 mins to read

From Left - Fili Tapa, Brooke Howard-Smith, Anna Reeve, Sam Johnson, Mike Puru, Julia Varhy, Vanda Symon, Brodie Kane, Colin Mathura-Jeffree, Kimberly Stewart, Kings, Loryn Reynolds, Justine Smith, Matt Heath, Sam Smith, Christen Oliveira, Robbie Bell, Dan Sing, Dylan Reeve with host Paul Henry seated in the middle.

Three’s anticipated new show The Traitors NZ, hosted by Paul Henry, has 19 intriguing competitors deceiving and lying to each other in an isolated luxury lodge, vying to win $70,000.

The group set to backstab each other and unmask the traitors among them are media personalities Brodie Kane; Colin Mathura-Jeffree; Matt Heath; Mike Puru; Brooke Howard-Smith and Dylan Reeve. Mixing up the betrayal with them are Kiwi rapper Kings; psychic Kimberly Stewart; comedians Sam Smith and Justine Smith; dancer Loryn Reynolds; hair stylist Robbie Bell; professional gamer Sam Johnson; professional poker player Dan Sing; crime novelist Vanda Symon; influencers Christen Oliveira and Anna Reeve; former police officer Julia Vahry and fitness guy Fili Tapa.

Psychic Stewart, 37, tells Spy that, unlike the other contestants, she went into the game with an idea of who some of the traitors would be before anyone had been selected and thinks this was a huge advantage.

“I’m not sure that I played up my ‘all-seeing’ character as I was trying to fly under the radar a bit,” says Stewart.

“I was watching and reading everyone a lot. It possibly went unnoticed by most people. I didn’t want to give too much away to others in case they used it against me as well.”

Stewart says she didn’t know exactly who would win before the show but some contestants were coming through as “prominent” players beforehand.

“Most of all I was trying to suss out who the traitors were first. If I didn’t have my psychic abilities, I would’ve gone into the game clueless and lost, but they helped draw my focus towards certain people,” she says.

Mathura-Jeffree, 51, says he loves murder mysteries, horrors, suspense, thrillers, Nancy Drew, Famous 5, Secret Seven. The Traitors is all those mixed with the bitchy 80s soap operas he grew up with.

“I’m naughty by nature but I have a huge heart. It was both exciting and dreadful being in the show,” says Mathura-Jeffree. “I didn’t know if I was going to live or die the entire time and I was living off that madness, being a s*** to everyone but also lovable. I thought I was being brilliant but the truth is you have no idea, you don’t know what’s going on.”

Mathura-Jeffree was also freaked out by his fashion limitations with a restriction of one suitcase only, but wanted to look ridiculously outrageous in a show that involves cloaks and gold masks. He wanted to compete sartorially with his host Henry, whom Mathura- Jeffree says is hilarious and very dapper in the show.

Anna Reeve, 36, who has been on the modelling scene for more than two decades and is a successful influencer says she likes to think she is a people person and generally has a good read on who people are and an ability to pick up on social cues.

“There are 19 people at the start of this game, so there is a lot to untangle, and you have to figure out the quirks and intricacies of how each person acts in a group or under pressure,” she says.

“My downfall in the game is that I am very trusting and loyal, so I always look for the good, or take people at their word.”

Although the nature of the game is brutal, Reeve says she never thought she would get as invested in the people, process and the show as she did.

“It definitely hurt at times because the line between reality and game blurs.”

Howard-Smith, 50, has been on TV screens hosting Target and Cadbury Dream Factory, so keep an eye on him and poker player Dan Sing, 48, as they are great mates and know how to manage people. They work together at talent agency WeAreTENZING.

The friends have played poker together often and Howard-Smith says his poker face serves him well on the show.

“The game puts you in some pretty crazy and sometimes stressful situations where you don’t trust the very people you are bonding deeply with.”

Howard-Smith says he made lifelong friends on the treacherous show.

“The entire cast is amazing, which again makes the game even harder. You are building these incredible friendships and trust, hearing about someone’s family but the entire time you are there to win. Some of it was heartbreaking,” he says.

Other players to watch as they use their talents to not get eliminated or murdered include comedians Justine Smith, 54, Sam Smith, 37, and Matt Heath, 51, who all know how to turn humour into a mask in gameplay. Broadcasters Brodie Kane, 36, and Mike Puru, 47, know how to talk and talk loudly, which is a super-power all to itself in a game of deceit.

And a dark horse out of the 19 is definitely writer Dylan Reeve, 43. This is the man who co-created the documentary Tickled and wrote the book Fake Believe: Conspiracy Theories in Aotearoa. If anyone knows about the dark arts in TV it’s Reeve.

· The Traitors NZ premieres on Three and ThreeNow on August 7.