Lisa Rinna on Colton Underwood Commentary, Rob’s Betrayal

SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers from the seventh episode of Season 4 of “The Traitors,” now streaming on Peacock.

Lisa Rinna made seven episodes as Traitor in Season 4 of ‘The Traitors’ – long enough to wear the dress she wanted to the Black Banquet and gather an impressive crowd. During her time in the game, the Traitors successfully killed “Big Brother” star Ian Terry, “Survivor” legend Rob Cesternino, “Real Housewives of Dubai” star Caroline Stanbury, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” winner Monét X Change and “Survivor” winner Yam Yam Arocho.

For fans accustomed to Rinna’s chaotic, scene-stealing antics on “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” “The Traitors” revealed a different side of her: a calculated, strategic and surprisingly low-key side. She stayed off the Faithfuls’ radar for weeks until Yam Yam, who she had just killed at the Black Banquet, screamed her name as he was escorted out and sealed the deal.

“I literally kill him, and as he’s being pulled out, he’s screaming my name,” she says Variety. “That’s good TV…he just sunk you.”

The “RHOBH” alum was selected as one of the original Traitors alongside Candiace Dillard Bassett and Rob Rausch. In Episode 7, Rob led the charge to banish her, vote against her and convince the House to eliminate her, despite her attempts to shift suspicion to “Survivor” star Natalie Anderson. Lisa admitted that she had no idea her Traitor ally was orchestrating her downfall until after the episodes aired.

The intensity of the experience required recovery time, but she has no regrets — and plenty of opinions about the Faithful players’ detective skills. “The Faithfuls are so bad,” she says. “They really are; they’re terrible.”

Below she spoke with Variety about Rob’s betrayal, that infamous Yam Yam moment, her dynamic with Colton Underwood and why she “liked to kill people.”

‘The Traitors’ seems very stressful to be a part of. Your daughter talked about it Variety that you needed time to ‘heal’ after filming. What did that process look like?

It took me a minute to recalibrate. It’s an intense experience and that’s why I needed some time. And now I’m great. My husband and I watched the show, and he watched the roundtable with Michael [Rapaport] and Colton, and he says, “Okay, now I understand what you’ve been through. There’s a lot of psychosis going around this table.” Finally you understand what I went through.

Rob voted against you and kind of led the charge to get you banned –

Sort of? Sort of? Hello!

Yes, it was him. When did you realize he was willing to sacrifice you?

I never knew. I mean, he voted for me the night before, so my senses were already awake. But I had no idea he was in charge the next day. That’s surprising, but that’s the game. He’s smarter than me, because everyone thought it would be me against the Traitors, and it wasn’t. I can’t blame him for it. It was sad, because I love my little Traitor group, my little Traitor family. It’s great to kiki and have fun, but at the end of the day it’s called “Traitors.” This always happens: crime from traitor to traitor. I happen to be the traitor-on-traitor crime. I’m kind of glad I didn’t. He gets a lot of shit for it, and I think he deserves it all.

Let’s talk about the Black Banquet and Yam Yam screaming your name. Did you actually kiss him differently than anyone else?

I kissed everyone in the air. If you watch the tape, he comes in to kiss me first. It’s not me. And I don’t kiss people – I kiss people in the air. He also has a beard. You don’t go in to kiss a beard. It was frustrating that it was all about the kiss, because we know it was about the amulet. But you can’t tell… The moment he screamed my name, I thought, “Oh, Rinna, you’re sunk. You’re sunk. That’s all.” No matter what happened, his conviction was so strong that I understand why Rob said, “Okay, she’s a sinking ship. I might as well literally sink her.” He’ll have a little karma for that, but that’s okay. He’s young. He’ll figure it out.

So what was your first reaction when Yam Yam called your name?

My first reaction was, “Did he just say your name?” And then I thought, “Oh my God, he just said my name.” Inside I’m laughing because you can’t write that. I literally kill him, and as he’s being knocked out he screams my name? That’s good television. The producer thing in my head says, “Wow, that’s really good.” My heart sank the moment he screamed my name with such conviction. No matter what happened, I was like, someone should just give me a cigarette and I’ll just leave.

You and Candiace almost turned the vote on Natalie. Do you think you could have survived another round if Rob didn’t come after you at the round table?

I do – I think I could have done another episode. It was already going towards Natalie, but Rob must want to keep Natalie. I’m not sure what his gameplay is, but there’s a reason he went after me, and I’ll ask him at the reunion. “Why did you ultimately make that decision?” Because I’m curious.

Colton was on you for most of the game and he has received a lot of negative attention online since the show premiered. You joked that he was a ‘stalker’, seemingly referring to his past, but you later apologized. How is your relationship with him now?

I knew nothing about his past. In his defense I will say he wanted a housewife so I gave him a housewife moment in my sassy response to a thread message. Then it was like putting gas on the fire, and I didn’t want that. It’s not what I want to do. Listen, he was a big enemy to me. I can see that, and I thanked him for it while we were playing. That’s why I saw it. It makes me sad that anyone is getting hate online, because I’ve experienced it, and I certainly don’t want to be part of anyone else’s online hate. So I didn’t like that.

Did you enjoy being a traitor?

I liked killing people. It was so much fun. I loved being a traitor. I enjoyed every second of it. I wouldn’t change anything. I had the best time of my life.

This interview has been edited and condensed.