Before there were four seasons, a UK sister show, and a rotating cast of Bravo and reality-TV royalty lining up for a shot at Alan Cumming’s Scottish castle, there was one experimental season that had to prove the format could work in America at all. The Traitors Season 1 wasn’t just another reality competition — it was the origin cast, the group that turned a Dutch social-deduction format into a genuine American hit and wrote the playbook every season since has followed.
What made Season 1 unusual in hindsight is how little anyone involved understood what they were signing up for. Unlike later seasons stacked with contestants who’d studied previous years, the twenty people who arrived at Ardross Castle in the Scottish Highlands had almost no reference point beyond the UK version. Ten were “civilians” recruited from everyday life; ten were reality-TV veterans pulled from shows like Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelor, Shahs of Sunset, Below Deck, and Summer House. Nobody had a scouting report on anybody else, which is part of why the season still plays as one of the rawest, most unpredictable in the franchise’s history — an achievement recognized with a Primetime Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Casting, a rare honor for a freshman season.
The Full Season 1 Roster (20 Players)
Names in bold have their own dedicated profile pages on this site.
- Reza Farahan — A Los Angeles real estate agent best known as a longtime main cast member of Bravo’s Shahs of Sunset.
- Brandi Glanville — A former international model turned reality star, best known for The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.
- Ryan Lochte — A 12-time Olympic swimming medalist and one of the most decorated athletes ever to join the franchise.
- Kyle Cooke — An original cast member of Bravo’s Summer House and founder of the canned-cocktail brand Loverboy.
- Cody Calafiore — A two-time Big Brother competitor (runner-up on Season 16, winner of Season 22).
- Rachel Reilly — A three-time reality-competition winner (Big Brother, Fear Factor, Snake in the Grass).
- Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick — A Survivor legend from the Palau and Guatemala seasons, later canonized on Heroes vs. Villains.
- Kate Chastain — The former chief stewardess of Below Deck for six seasons, known for her dry wit.
- Arie Luyendyk Jr. — A Scottsdale real estate agent who was runner-up on The Bachelorette before headlining a famously controversial season of The Bachelor.
- Cirie Fields — A four-time Survivor competitor widely regarded as one of the best strategic players never to win that show.
- Geraldine Moreno — A North Hollywood-based actress who joined the cast as a late replacement.
- Robert “Bam” Nieves — A tech sales executive from Rye, New York, and one of the season’s civilian contestants.
- Azra Valani — A Los Angeles yoga instructor and civilian contestant.
- Michael Davidson — A DMV office manager from Kentucky whose civilian instincts made him a frequent early target of suspicion.
- Amanda Clark-Stoner — An emergency room nurse from Pennsylvania who left the competition partway through the season.
- Anjelica Conti — A Staten Island hairstylist and civilian contestant.
- Shelbe Rodriguez — A public affairs manager from Texas who became one of the game’s sharper social players.
- Christian de la Torre — A Los Angeles-based contestant recruited mid-season to become a Traitor, and one of the game’s most controversial players.
- Quentin Jiles — A Houston-based political analyst and commentator whose persuasive ability made him one of the season’s most influential Faithful players.
- Andie Vanacore — A Reno, Nevada-based director of music services who made history as the first openly nonbinary contestant across the global Traitors franchise.
How It Ended
Season 1 closed with one of the more memorable finales in the franchise’s history: Cirie Fields won as the season’s original Traitor, having quietly protected her allies for most of the game before the endgame’s final twist worked in her favor. Because a Traitor remained in the final group when the game ended, Fields claimed the entire $250,000 prize rather than splitting it. Quentin Jiles and Andie Vanacore finished as runners-up, both having played the entire season as Faithfuls only to be edged out at the very end.
For the origin story of the format itself, see how The Traitors actually works. To see how the cast, twists, and stakes evolved in year two — including the surprise return of a Season 1 face — head to the Season 2 cast breakdown.