Does The Traitors NZ live up to the hype?

Warning: some spoilers ahead.

Alan Granville is a Travel Reporter at Stuff, and is hooked on The Traitors UK reality TV show.

OPINION: It didn’t take long for my furrowed brow to turn into a wry smile. I had been worried that the New Zealand take on one of my favourite reality TV show concepts would suck. In the end I didn’t need to be concerned, because our version is a bit of a triumph.

I have written about my love of The Traitors UK. In that, 22 ordinary folks were whisked away to a remote Scottish castle and guided, with aplomb, by TV veteran Claudia Winkleman.

Our version is homed in a luxury lodge in Warkworth, is populated with a smattering of ‘celebrities’, and marks the return of the rather divisive Paul Henry to our screens. So expectations were set to ‘low’. The show even started with a bit of a fib as Henry’s voiceover called them a “group of complete strangers from across New Zealand…” except this being New Zealand, most of the celebs know or have worked with each other previously.

Still, The Traitors doesn’t take long to hit its stride as the 19 contestants arrive to be greeted by Henry and the first challenge is set before they have stepped inside. It leads to one cast member leaving before we had even got a chance to remember their name (RIP emmm, the gamer guy).

After mingling for a bit and getting to know each other, the cast is sat around a table and blindfolded, before Henry taps the shoulders of those who will be named the “traitors”. The chosen three have to “murder” the remaining contestants, who are called “faithfuls”, while avoiding being detected and voted out. Any traitor still standing in the finale wins the prize pool of up to $70,000.

Dare I say it, but Henry is far better than I was expecting. The fedora- and-cane combo brings a certain level of ‘camp’ (“time is up, darlings”), while his always filled glass of red wine should have its own drinking game for its many appearances.

He seems to relish his role as the strict ringmaster, barking orders while also taking the general mickey out of himself and the contestants. Will “lieblings” enter the Kiwi lexicon? Who knows.

Another thing we learnt about the contestants is they are pretty hopeless at playing pool. The traitors were tasked with a secret mission of potting one of the balls, earning $1000 to the prize fund each time. It was probably the most painful part of the episode. Another task for everyone to find coins in the lodge also helped p̶a̶d̶ o̶u̶t̶ t̶h̶e̶ e̶p̶i̶s̶o̶d̶e̶ earn the cast money. In general, the tasks are a bit of filler.

The group were then each forced to pour a green liquid into the cocktail of the person they trusted the least. They should have given poor hairdresser Robbie a pint glass considering how little trust the group had in her.

If you are not a fan of cliffhangers, then you are going to hate The Traitors as every episode finishes on one. In the opening show, the traitors have a chance to get rid of one of the faithfuls straight away, and the show amps up the stress levels as three of the cast are zeroed in on. I’ve only seen the opening two episodes and am happy to say the show keeps the tension ratcheted up.

Will The Traitors NZ become as much of a water-cooler topic as the UK version? I don’t know but I am sure Three will be doing everything in its power to make it one.

I can say though, for myself, I am very much a “faithful” for this version.

As Henry would say: “Toodles.”

New episodes of The Traitors NZ will drop on Monday and Tuesday on Three.