Rob Rausch was not sweating for much of The Traitors Season 4, well, except when it came to Candiace Dillard Bassett.
Chatting with DECIDER post-win, the Love Island USA alum spoke about feeling cool, confident, and in control most of the game, but worrying ever so slightly because of the Real Housewives of Potomac star having it out for him.
“I’m not gonna lie, a lot of the game I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m gonna win, I’ve got this.’ Probably the biggest moment that I was worried about was Candiace’s roundtable. I wasn’t worried about me and what I might say, but I was really worried about what she was going to say,” he explained in a recent sitdown over Zoom. “I knew she was going [home], based on the conversation that day, she was gone. But I was worried about what she was going to leave behind for the Faithfuls to latch on to. Luckily, it wasn’t too much.”
During the roundtable where Candiace was sent home, she railed against Rob, who she tried to throw suspicion on, unsuccessfully. To her own detriment, Candiace had thrown out Rob’s name the previous night while the Faithfuls were voting to banish Traitor and Real Housewives icon, Lisa Rinna. She had labeled her vote for Rob a “throwaway,” which made some in the castle scratch their head when she, the next night, started coming after him in a Traitor on Traitor crime.
Still, Rob said that he was just trying not to stress and just let her dig her own grave. Plus, the actual evidence she brought was a nonstarter, which only made him feel more confident about making it to the end. Really, she kind of helped his case, if you think about it.
“After that round table, I was like, ‘Okay, there was no strong evidence there,’ so I felt good about it,” Rob added. “And the decisions she was making prior to that reflected badly on other Faithfuls. You know, she was trying to get Johnny in the art challenge so he could get a shield. She really helped me out the way she was playing towards the end there.”
Check out DECIDER’s full interview with Rob below.
DECIDER: Rob, I have to ask, I saw a video a couple of weeks ago where Nick Offerman had a whole take on your gameplay in The Traitors. Have you seen that video and do you have anyone else who has reached out about your time in The Traitors?
ROB RAUSCH: Yes, I did see that clip. I commented on it, I said, “Great take, Ron Swanson.” Yeah, I love that show [Parks and Recreation] too, so I was excited about that, and I thought his take was good.I’ve had some random people, definitely. Some people I didn’t expect. The guy, Taylor Lautner, he told me, “good game.” He was watching, I guess. And that was funny, my sisters sure thought that was cool. But yeah, it’s been crazy.
So, is Rob not a Twilight guy?
I have never seen it. Obviously, I know it. It’s a very famous franchise. But no, I’ve never watched. I attempted to watch the first one like a long time ago and I didn’t get through it.
That’s okay, I get it. Well, turning back to Traitors, what a tremendous season to. I felt like I was watching a great game of chess. How much of your win do you credit to being underestimated vs. gameplay?
I feel like it was really a mixture of both. I mean, I was being underestimated, but I think at times like that, it was purposeful. Part of my gameplay was presenting myself as not the smartest person there and not really smart at all, just kind of just there for the experience. I was just like, “Yeah, I just came to check out Scotland, I never watched the show before,” which was true, and I just kind of played into it. I just kind of kept that facade up of just like, “Yeah, I’m just here for a good time.” I’m going to try my hardest in the challenges, do what I can for the Faithful team, but yeah, I definitely would not have gotten as far as I did without my strategic mindset, you know, and planning steps ahead. You know, I was trying to think far ahead and then at the same time, being able to make play call decisions in the moment to best suit my game.
You said you had never watched, gave you gone back and watched? Were you like, “Is it always this easy for the Traitors?”
Actually, yeah. When I got back from filming, I watched Season 3 because I just had no idea how it was going to be edited down and I was curious just how it was going to go. I mean, I had won the show, so I was like, “Let’s check it out.” And I once I got to like Episode 3, I really liked it. I thought it was a good show and I enjoyed that season. It really gets you locked in and you get curious about what’s going to happen.
Going back through the season, I realized that not a single faithful ever voted for you? What did that mean to you?
I think it really comes down to basic human connection. I was able to make connections with so many people in the castle. On a real level, you know, I mean, I got to know them and they got to know me, and I wasn’t faking that, you know? I was just being myself and being genuine when I asked people questions about themselves, and I would listen when people would talk to me. There are just a lot of people, you know, who just talk to talk and I don’t really do that and I feel like that was a big strength, because when I did talk with people, I felt like we did build a connection. It wasn’t everybody. I mean, especially early on, there were so many people in the castle, but those people that I did make those connections with, I kept them in the game. Strategically, the people who were kind of on the fence about me didn’t last long.
And I have to say, every Faithful I talked to this season said that they were rooting for you to win, especially Ron, even after finding out that you were a Traitor? Why do you think that is?
I think it’s a combination of them genuinely liking me, we have a connection, we’re friends and they like me. I mean, Ron specifically, I can definitely say is a good friend of mine. I think we’ll stay friends for a long time and then, you know, several others. I think it’s also like if you get beat in the playoffs, you want them to win the championship, right? If you’re going to get beat, you want to get beat by the best. So I kind of get that mentality of like, “Hell yeah, if you beat me, you better beat everybody else.”
You mentioned keeping people around and in the game. Some were sad to see you and Eric Nam murder Mark Ballas, can you walk me through how you landed on him?
Pretty much, that just came down to flexibility. He was not getting banished. There was no way he was getting banished, he was trusted by everyone. However, everyone else left in the game at that point could have been banished, including me. It was kind of up in the air. I felt like I had the best chances. But yeah, the reason I had to get rid of Mark was simply that he was not going to go. And I needed everyone at the table to have a better chance of going than I did. You know, I had I needed everyone to have a better chance of getting banished before me, and he was the only person left that I felt like was more trusted than I was. And then also like, I mean, he’s smart. Like, I know he didn’t suspect me that much in the game, but like, he’s smart and there’s only a few people to look at. And I think he would have come around to the fact that, okay, I am still here. I’m really close with Rob. He’s probably keeping me in this game. Like he would have come to that conclusion, and I think he would have probably listened to Tara and Johnny [Weir], especially after Natalie [Anderson] vanished.
And you and Mark had that moment where he even looked at you and said, “Tell me it’s not you.” There were moments, clearly, where you were a little nervous but prior to the finale, did you kind of just think, “I’ve got this.”
I mean, I’m not gonna lie, a lot of the game I was like, “Yeah, I’m gonna win, I’ve got this.” Probably the biggest moment that I was worried about was Candiace’s roundtable. I wasn’t worried about me and what I might say, but I was really worried about what she was going to say. I knew she was going [home], based on the conversation that day, she was gone. But I was worried about what she was going to leave behind for the Faithfuls to latch on to. Luckily, it wasn’t too much. I mean, the votes were pretty damning, but what she actually said made no sense. Like I dropped a fork and that was [her evidence], it was a big relief.” Like after that round table, I was like, “Okay, there was no strong evidence there.” So I felt good about it. And the decisions she was making prior to that reflected badly on other Faithfuls. You know, she was trying to get Johnny in the art challenge so he could get a shield. She really helped me out the way she was playing towards the end there.
Rob people are saying “Rob for Survivor,” people are saying “Rob for Dancing With The Stars.” Ezra Sosa from Dancing with the Stars even held up a “Rob for Dancing With The Stars” sign at one of the shows. Do you have any aspirations for another show? Are we going to be seeing you in tap dance shoes or anything like that anytime soon?
I’m not going to say it’s impossible, but I also wouldn’t count on it. I don’t know. My biggest aspiration in life is just to be happy and this kind of stuff really stresses me out, if I’m being completely honest with you. So we’ll see. If it seems worth it. We’ll do it. But I don’t know.
Yeah, I think we should focus on getting you on The Traitors all-star season first.
I don’t know about that. I don’t think I would do that. I feel like I had a great experience and I had the literal best possible outcome for a Traitor. What am I going to get out of that, I got a perfect record.
The Traitors Season 4 is now streaming on Peacock.
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