‘The Traitors’: Cirie Fields on Cast Inequalities and Reza Called out for Designer Shoes
The Traitors started with a cast of 10 reality TV stars and 10 non-celebrities fighting for the same prize money. Cirie Fields talked to Showbiz Cheat Sheet on Jan. 27 over Zoom about the inequalities that came with that and how Reza Farahan of Shahs of Sunset was a target for wearing designer shoes.
Cirie Fields was surprised by her lying face on ‘The Traitors’
Q: We saw the Big Brother people face a stigma as schemers. Do you think the Survivor alums faced the same thing?
Cirie: Not as much as Big Brother. They mentioned something like very early on when we first all met, but I tried to kind of douse all of that and stop all of that. Especially when it came to me by explaining to them, you know, all of my seasons of Survivor, every person that aligned with me and was true to me won the game. That’s how loyal I am. So it’s no way I could be a traitor [laughs].
Q: You showed us your lying face at the beginning of the season, and it seemed like you stuck with it the whole time. Why do you think your confused facial expression worked on other people?
Cirie: I said that to my mother. I was like, ‘Why would I look like that the whole season?’ I don’t know. I think because what I’m trying to portray is, like, ‘What? I don’t even know what is going on here, right? So obviously, if I’m a traitor, I definitely will be in the know. So I had to, I don’t know, come across as I really don’t know what’s going on. I’m super, super shocked.
And that’s just what I would probably look the same if I was a faithful doing this game. Because that’s exactly how I would be and how the expressions would be. So it just was natural, I guess, for me [laughs].
Q: Did you practice in the mirror?
Cirie: No, if I did, I probably wouldn’t have had those.
Cirie would’ve fought tooth and nail to keep Andie Vanacore
Q: Kate [Chastain] said she wasn’t shocked and was happy that you won as a traitor. How did it feel watching Kate get accused for being a one all season to where she was OK with leaving and knowing she and her ally were right about the traitors?
Cirie: I hated that for them. I hated it for Michael [Davidson]. I hated it for Shelbe [Rodriguez]. It is so difficult to watch while you’re sitting there, knowing that you’re the one and these people are being accused.
And it was really emotional for some of–for Shelby. Oh my God. It was like heartbreaking for me. I had to keep focused on what the goal was in order not to say, ‘OK, stop, stop, stop. I’m a traitor.’
And poor Kate, poor Kate. In the beginning, it was like, ‘Oh my God, Kate.” But then, at the end, it was like, ‘Oh my God, I love Kate. I don’t want to keep doing this to her.’ So it’s difficult to watch other people be accused for something that you’re doing. Especially If you really like them.
Q: She also said that Andie [Vanacore] made it to the end because they kept their mouth shut. Do you think that was the case?
Cirie: No, because everybody loved Andie. Everybody loved Andie. We had when we did the wheel challenge, they asked, who would you want to be on a deserted island with? Or might have asked, Who do you trust the most? But Andie’s the answer for both. So. Absolutely not. Andie would have made it to the end regardless.
Q: You, traitors, made an effort to take out faithfuls who would’ve never been suspected or were quiet like [Robert “Bam” Nieves]. Why did you guys still keep Andie?
Cirie: So Andie was my ally, and I probably would have fought tooth and nail if Andie’s name ever came up. But it didn’t because people just felt the genuineness from Andie. Their energy came off as just trusting and loving. And so I didn’t really have to do anything to deter them from wanting to banish Andie.
For Bam, and then that was early on. So the relationships hadn’t been formed, but we had a plan to cause chaos. We wanted people to be like, ‘Wait a minute, what? Why Bam and why Reza?’ And it worked. So we were targeting those that would cause the most chaos, but not my allies.
Cirie says Reza was targeted for wearing designer shoes
Q: We heard that some cast members talked about people like Reza [Farahan] shouldn’t win the prize money because he didn’t need it. Did you have to overcome any assumptions about your lifestyle to the non-celebrities?
Cirie: No, no, not really. I don’t know. There was never. Well, one, I didn’t win. So I guess they just took that like, ‘Oh, she’s regular. She didn’t win a million, which helped me.’ So, no, I never even had to address that.
Q: Were you there for the Reza conversation, and how did you feel about it?
Cirie: No, I wasn’t there. But Reza, you know, Reza sharp, right? Reza’s always sharp. And Reza came with, you know, whatever Gucci, Louis, whatever he had on. And I don’t–Reza just exudes. You know what I mean? It’s written all over Reza.
So, no, I actually wasn’t there for that conversation. But I heard it was something about he might have had on some Gucci shoes or Burberry shoes or something like that, and they were like, ‘Wait a minute. That to the nines while you–you don’t need this.’
But it’s the game, right? So everybody needs something, and everybody’s there for something. So I don’t look at it like even though that was my speech for Arie [laughs].
That was my speech to Arie, you know. I don’t know what Arie has planned in his life. I don’t really know what Arie has, but I just knew at the time for us three, that would’ve worked.
But I think when people are playing a game is hard for you to say or compare their financial their finances in their life, right? Because even though Reza is probably well-off, he’s coming to do this. He’s putting in the time, he’s away from his family, he’s freezing, and we’re in Scotland just like we were. So who am I to say I deserve it more than Reza? I do, But I’m just saying [laughs]. I’m just kidding.
Q: I mean, to be fair, as a regular person, I’d be like, especially that we’re heading towards a recession. I’d be like, Yes, class war! But it’s like the behind-the-scenes things I also worry about is like, are the reality stars doing it for the same pay as the non-celebrities? Like, I would have stacked those things.
Cirie: I can see that. I can definitely see that. And then if I was on the–if I was just a non-reality person, I would have the question, ‘Are we all getting the same equally? Are what are they doing?’
Especially after we did the like when we did the premiere pictures, and it was just the reality people. It was kind of like, damn. So we just perpetuated any of those thoughts they might have had, but we didn’t really discuss it. We were such on an even playing field in terms of like emotional connection that those types of things went out the window because Andie was like my right hand, and I was their right hand. So the friendship and the love that was forming negated all that other stuff.
Correction 2/3/2023: This article previously used the wrong name for Andie Vanacore.
This interview has been condensed for this article.
Other ‘The Traitors’ exit interviews:
‘The Traitors’: Cirie Fields Reveals Finale Speech, ‘for Arie, It Might Just Mean Another Porsche’
