I Watched ‘the Traitors’ US and UK — It’s Clear Which Version Is Better

• “The Traitors” is a reality game show with both US and UK versions — and one is clearly better.
• The British show is played by ordinary people, which makes you root for them more.
• The use of reality stars and overproduction on the US version distracts from the show’s spirit.

“The Traitors” is the best reality TV show ever made, hands down.

As a Brit, I’ve only ever watched the UK version. I avoided “The Traitors US” for no real reason. Maybe it’s a simple bias or the dedication Claudia Winkleman has earned from her constant presence on my TV since I was born. (She’s also the co-presenter of “Strictly Come Dancing,” the UK version of “Dancing With the Stars.”)

I will admit that I was a little skeptical of using reality celebrities rather than unknowns, thinking this would dull some of the magic.

But I wanted to give it a fair shot. In a matter of days, I binged both seasons that are available in the UK (both are available on Peacock for US viewers) took lots of notes.

Now that I’ve watched both, I can confidently say I know which one is better.

An immediate hit

The set-up of “The Traitors” is what makes it so special. It hinges on deceit and teamwork in equal measure against the backdrop of a gorgeous and secluded Scottish castle.

It’s loosely based on the board games Mafia or Werewolf and first appeared as “De Verraders” in the Netherlands in 2021.

The contestants have to work together to get the most out of the challenges and increase the prize pot. The majority of them, known as “the faithful,” also have to weed out any of “the traitors,” who are murdering them off one by one.

Every night, the contestants gather at the roundtable and banish the person they think is most likely to be one of the traitors. Later, the traitors meet and decide who their next victim will be. The faithful only know who didn’t make it when they don’t return for breakfast the next day, and their portrait is unceremoniously flung onto the floor.

Fans knew the UK version was a hit from the first episode on November 29, 2022. The US edition, while it’s still good, also suffers from wanting to dramatize the lightning in a bottle the show already achieved — something I think holds it back.

SPOILERS ahead!

Teamwork and deceit

The UK show is presented by Claudia Winkleman, who leads the players through the rules of the game and the various challenges. In the US version, it’s Alan Cumming. Both are excellent hosts and fashionistas, and I would love to see them team up at some point, even just for the beautifully rustic tartan outfits.

While the UK “Traitors” fills the castle with complete strangers, many contestants on the US version have already appeared on reality TV shows such as “Big Brother” or one of the “Real Housewives” editions. Admittedly, I only recognized Kate Chastain from “Below Deck,” and John Bercow, a former Speaker of the UK House of Commons.

I get the vision, but immediately, this made me a bit wary because reality show contestants already have an idea of how production works. They know how to get screen time and have their moment in the spotlight.

My worry was that in the US version, both the audience and the contestants have pre-judgments of one another. You also missed out on important context if you haven’t seen those other shows.

Having strangers take part, on the other hand, sets the audience up nicely for getting to know them as the game progresses.

Another difference was the players’ attitudes. In the UK version, there was a big emphasis on teamwork. The players all knew there were traitors among them, but their camaraderie as a team always came first.

In the US version, almost everyone seemed to have a secret. This made it hard for the players to trust one another.

This is actually a fate that season 3 in the UK, the finale of which airs on Friday, seems to be suffering from. The show depends on the delicate balance between trust and deceit. But a common critique this year is that the contestants aren’t playing as a team as they did in previous seasons.

Is this just the way reality TV goes when it is proven to be popular? Does it suffer from its notoriety and then attract a different kind of person?

You need to root for someone

In both versions of the show, there’s little evidence to go on, so the faithful are voted out at an alarming rate at the beginning. But in the US version, they would be weirdly candid about voting for someone else simply to save themselves.

This is a flaw in my view. It made them all pretty hard to root for. In the end, I sort of wanted Cirie to win, but I also didn’t really care.

In seasons one and two in the UK, Wilf and Harry, respectively, will go down as impeccable traitors. Wilf fell at the final hurdle while Harry played with all his fellow contestants like putty until the very end.

The UK contestants also just seemed to respect the game more. Whenever someone was banished, they would leave immediately. In the US, they all took advantage of their reality show moment, getting in the last word, swearing, throwing out insults, and more.

Other players also got up to say goodbye, which just felt a bit jarring and went against the escapism aspect. Respect the decorum of the game I say!

The US show definitely has its great moments. In season one, when the players voted Christian out after his chaotic gameplay, it was very satisfying. But that was nothing compared with Hannah, in UK season 1, flipping the script on her best friend and traitor, Wilf, right at the last second, throwing her pouch into the fire for it to burn red, revealing she was finally seeing him for what he was.

Reality stars bring their own drama, but no amount of needless cliffhangers will compare to Miles’s panicked reaction that Diane survived his murder attempt, or indeed, Ross throwing out a wink to the camera in plain sight while his fellow faithful knew nothing about Diane being his actual mother. Nothing, too, can top Harry ousting Paul because he became too big for his boots.

There’s also none of the glorious buffoonery that the UK is known for, like Meryl winning in season 1 completely by accident, or when Ross was recruited as a traitor only to fail spectacularly.

In the US, it all just felt a little too serious at times. When Cirie took all the money for herself at the end of season 1, it was bittersweet rather than electrifying, like when Harry betrayed Mollie in the final of UK season two.

Harry was correct in his exclamations after his win. “The Traitors” truly is the best game in the world.

But the normies who have no aspirations to be famous are an important part of that. It’s a dramatic, heartfelt, tense, and ridiculous game at its core — and there’s just no need to gild the lily.