Ever since one-time Bachelor — and famed “Kissing Bandit” — Arie Luyendyk, Jr. appeared on the first season of the Peacock reality series “The Traitors,” the show has been on our radar. We heard about it on social media and from friends; we heard that Arie showed a different side of himself in the strategy competition setting, and that the show itself was wildly entertaining.
Nevertheless, we resisted.
We are not competition reality fans, but relationship reality fans. We watch dating shows by the bushel and dabble in narrative shows rooted in the power struggles within friend groups. “The Traitors,” a classic competition game show, was uninspiring to our romantic souls.
This season, another former Bachelor, Pete Weber (aka Pilot Pete), joined the cast, but we stood strong. For about five episodes, at which point our friend informed us that Pete was in the midst of executing a dazzling strategic gambit. Now this, we had to see.
