Catching a liar has always been the point of The Traitors. On The Traitors: New Blood, NBC’s all-civilian edition of the franchise, catching one now comes with a cash reward. For the first time in the American series, every Traitor banished at the Round Table adds $15,000 to the prize pot, on top of the up to $250,000 the cast can earn through missions. Here is exactly how the new jackpot works, what it changes about the game, and what the winners will actually take home.
How the base $250,000 prize works
The base game is unchanged from the standard format (explained in full in our Traitors rules guide). The cast works together in missions that add money to a shared prize pot, and NBC describes the prize as “up to $250,000.” The key word is up. The pot starts empty and only grows when the group succeeds at missions, so a season can easily finish below the ceiling. Past U.S. seasons show how much the final number can swing: Cirie Fields collected the full $250,000 as the lone surviving Traitor in Season 1, Season 2 winners CT Tamburello and Trishelle Cannatella split $208,100, and the four Season 3 winners divided $204,300, per Betches.
Past U.S. season payouts
| Season | Winners | Final pot |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | Cirie Fields (lone surviving Traitor) | $250,000 |
| Season 2 | CT Tamburello and Trishelle Cannatella | $208,100 |
| Season 3 | Four winners | $204,300 |
The $15,000 Traitor jackpot, step by step
Host Alan Cumming announced the twist in the premiere: “for every traitor you root out and banish, I will add a further fifteen thousand dollars to the prize pot,” as recapped by Primetimer. Executive producers Sam Rees-Jones and Rosie Franks later confirmed the mechanics in an interview with Variety: the $15,000 is “in addition to the $250,000,” not carved out of it. When the interviewer suggested the bonus could decide whether a player speaks up or stays quiet at the Round Table, Franks replied: “Exactly!”
Here is how it works in practice:
- The pot begins at $0 and grows through missions, capped at $250,000 from mission earnings.
- After each Round Table banishment, the banished player’s allegiance is revealed. If they were a Traitor, Cumming adds $15,000 to the pot.
- Because the bonus sits on top of the mission cap, a perfect season could theoretically push the final pot above $250,000. Three banished Traitors would mean $45,000 in bonuses, for a theoretical maximum of $295,000.
What counts, and what does not
Only a banishment of an actual Traitor triggers the payment, and that distinction matters:
- Murders add nothing. The Traitors’ overnight kills remove players without touching the pot.
- Banishing a Faithful adds nothing. Madeline Kostopulos and Arisa Thomas were both banished and both revealed as Faithfuls, so neither vote earned the bonus. The group paid the usual price instead: one fewer ally and one fewer vote.
- Side deals do not interact with the bonus. In Episode 3’s crypt mission, Ben McDonnell and Michael Foote chose $5,000 plus a clue about the Accomplice twist over adding $15,000 to the pot, forgoing $10,000 in potential mission earnings. That trade affected only the mission earnings, not the jackpot.
Why the bonus changes the strategy
This is the first U.S. season where a correct vote has a price tag, and it rewires the incentives at every stage.
Silence gets more expensive
Round Tables have always rewarded caution. Naming a suspect early can make you look suspicious, paint a target on your back, or split the vote. Now hesitation has an opportunity cost. A Faithful with a plausible case can argue, correctly, that banishing a Traitor both improves the group’s odds and grows everyone’s potential payout. Rees-Jones and Franks acknowledged exactly this dynamic in their Variety interview, agreeing the bonus could tip the choice between speaking up and staying quiet.
The endgame math shifts
Every bonus dollar banked raises the stakes of the finale. If the Faithfuls banish all three Traitors, they split a bigger pot. But if even one Traitor survives to the end, the Traitors take everything, bonuses included. The jackpot therefore cuts both ways: it rewards correct Faithful detective work, and it fattens the prize a surviving Traitor can steal. It also complicates the Faithful endgame, where players have historically voted out fellow Faithfuls to shrink the circle of winners, as CT and Trishelle did in Season 2. With bonus money in the pot, every late cut is worth more, which could make the final votes even more cutthroat.
Traitors can bank the bonus too
Nothing stops a Traitor from leading the charge against a teammate. As Dork noted in its own rule-changes explainer, a Traitor who helps banish a fellow Traitor banks the $15,000 and buys credibility with the Faithfuls in the process. For a Traitor who suspects a teammate is doomed anyway, sacrificing them for cash and cover may be the smartest play in the castle. The Faithfuls should remember that the loudest correct accusation in the room is not proof of innocence.
Where the pot stands right now
Through Episode 4, the Faithfuls have banked zero bonuses, because they have yet to banish an actual Traitor. The running pot stood at $77,000 after Episode 4, per our episode tracker, built from mission earnings minus the money sacrificed for the Accomplice clue. The three active Traitors, Joe Vanella, Tomica Adams and Katie Fites (see our full cast guide), remain untouched, and Episode 4 ended with Jay Vinnedge publicly accusing Katie at the Round Table. The first $15,000 could land as soon as the next vote. (Episode 5 airs October 8.)
Pot status after Episode 4
| Amount | |
|---|---|
| Mission earnings banked | $77,000 |
| Traitor banishment bonuses banked | $0 |
| Current pot | $77,000 |
| Mission earnings cap | $250,000 |
| Theoretical maximum (cap + 3 bonuses) | $295,000 |
What winners actually take home
The payout rules are unchanged: if every survivor at the end is a Faithful, the remaining Faithfuls split the pot evenly. If at least one Traitor survives, the surviving Traitors take it all and the Faithful finalists get nothing.
Two practical notes. First, the money can be slow. Season 4 winner Rob Rausch told The Kelly Clarkson Show in March that he was still waiting on his $220,800 payout, per Primetimer, and Season 3 winner Gabby Windey said on Watch What Happens Live that she had not seen a dime of her $51,075 share, per PureWow. Second, nothing on the public record says whether NBC pays winners in a lump sum or in installments. On taxes, this is general information rather than advice: U.S. game show winnings are generally treated as taxable income, so winners should expect a tax bill and talk to a tax professional. No Traitors-specific tax documentation is on the public record.
FAQ
Is the $15,000 bonus on top of the $250,000?
Yes. Executive producer Sam Rees-Jones confirmed to Variety that the bonus is “in addition to the $250,000” earned through missions, which means the final pot can theoretically exceed $250,000.
Do murders add money to the pot?
No. Only a Round Table banishment of a confirmed Traitor triggers the $15,000. Murders remove players without adding a dollar.
Has anyone earned the bonus yet?
Not through Episode 4. Both banished players so far, Madeline Kostopulos and Arisa Thomas, were revealed as Faithfuls, so no bonus has been paid and no Traitor has been banished.
What is the most the winners could take home?
In theory, $295,000: the full $250,000 from missions plus $15,000 for each of three banished Traitors. In practice, the final pot depends on mission performance and how many Traitors are actually caught.
Who gets the money at the end?
If all remaining players are Faithful, they split it evenly. If any Traitor survives, the surviving Traitors take the entire pot and the Faithful finalists receive nothing.
When do winners actually get paid?
There is no public payment schedule. Past winners have said payouts took months: Rob Rausch was still waiting on $220,800 months after his Season 4 win, and Gabby Windey had not received her Season 3 share nearly a year after her finale, per their talk show appearances.
