Traitors 'essential' rule justified after Friends star Michael Rapaport left US version in disgrace

Despite what those steamy shower, knitting in bed, and press-ups in the bedroom scenes might try and make us believe, the castle of The Traitors is a bit of an illusion.

Well, obviously it exists, and they all knock about in there trying to catch each other out. But the idea that they actually all sleep and shower in there waiting to be murdered isn’t exactly the truth. Instead, as most fans of the BBC show know by now, the contestants get in those blacked-out cars and go back each night to a nearby hotel where they rest up in between the long filming days.

And that seems to be the same rule for contestants of other iterations of the show, like the US version which is currently airing in the States.

Judging from Michael Rapaport’s explosive exit from The Traitors over there, it really does seem that the rule is as ‘essential’ as stars have claimed.

The contestants don't actually stay over at the castle (BBC)

The Traitors lodgings

The celebrity and regular versions of the show, both UK and US versions, take place at Ardross Castle in Inverness, Scotland, but the contestants typically stay at a hotel by the airport, the Courtyard by Marriott. Host of The Traitors US, Alan Cumming, explained that even he doesn’t get the luxury of staying in the fancy castle.

While he stayed in a ‘little house’ nearby, he previously explained to the Daily Beast: “[The contestants] all stayed in the airport hotel in the Inverness airport. How glamorous—you come to Scotland, and you stay in the Inverness airport hotel."

There's no denying that things get pretty fiery in the castle (BBC)

‘It’s essential’, according to UK star

You might feel torn on whether it seems like a good idea to be essentially leaving the game each night to go and sleep somewhere else, but according to someone who has actually been in it, it’s vital. Star of this year’s series Harriet (who famously set the cat amongst the pigeons, Roxy), told LADbible that having the chance to be ‘in and out’ of the immersive nature of the game is ‘essential’.

“I think it's absolutely essential. I think that if you were constantly to be there, it would become like Squid Game,” she explained.

Harriet added that everyone in the castle is ‘tired’ and ‘operating at a high level of intensity’, so having somewhere else to go and decompress at the end of the day is ‘essential’.

“It is a lot when you're there,” she said. “I think if we lived in the castle in some sort of dormitory arrangement, you know, there'd be blood on the battlements.”

Rapaport's outbursts have been a major talking point of the US series. (Peacock)

Michael Rapaport’s exit

Well, while this year’s UK series has had its fiery and explosive moments, it seems as though the US contestants really did need that chance of a break. Friends actor Rapaport left the show in disgrace in a recently aired episode in a bit of a Traitors first.

He was banished at the roundtable by his fellow contestants despite much of them actually believing he was a Faithful. Instead, it was his controversial remarks and comments labelled ‘nasty’ by viewers that saw him voted out. Having already faced backlash for his comments and behaviour, Rapaport came under fire when he accused Colton Underwood of being a Traitor.

“I’m angry, I'm p**sed off and I'm isolated because of him,” the actor said, pointing across the table at Underwood. “And nobody in this room would be better at holding a secret than you.”

Underwood appeared on The Bachelor in 2019 before coming out as gay in 2021, and it was interpreted that Rapaport was making a dig at this, as he responded: “You think it was fun for 29 years of my life?”

The actor claimed his comments had ‘nothing to do’ with the star’s past, but plenty of people disagreed and his fiery time on The Traitors came to an end when his castmates banished him – ignoring any sense of gameplay.

Yeah, Harriet’s ‘blood on the battlements’ comment checks out, right?

The Traitors UK continues on Wednesday 21 January at 8pm on BBC One.