Spoilers for The Traitors season 4 below!
Two things can be confidently said about Monét X Change. The first is that he was made for the spotlight. And the second? Well, he knows a thing or two about competing and winning. So, when Mo (also known as Kevin Bertin) landed a coveted spot in Alan Cumming’s Scottish castle on The Traitors’ fourth season, only to be murdered five episodes in, it came as a total shock to everyone who had been following him since his RuPaul’s Drag Race days.
The Brooklyn-born drag performer and comedian (who uses she/her pronouns in drag and both she/her and he/him pronouns out of drag) made a name for himself when he came in sixth place on season 10 of RPDR in 2018. And apparently, nearing the finish line of the competition only made Mo hungry for more. He was determined to win the crown (and did!) when he returned for the show’s fourth All-Stars season later that same year. While we won’t get to see how Monét’s strategy would play out during the rest of his time on The Traitors, he still stands ten toes down on all his decisions—and, given his track record, is more than ready for an All-Star moment in the form of a second chance á la Dorinda Medley.
After confiding in Real Housewives of Potomac’s Candiace Dillard Bassett when he expressed his suspicion about Lisa Rinna potentially being a Traitor, she then pulled the ultimate betrayal, which led to his early demise.
Monét may have been booted from the castle too soon, but luckily for us, that means he had time to give Cosmo a ring and spill all the details from his time in the castle, including his sneaking suspicions, revealing off-camera moments, and, yes, even his dream casting for a future season of the show. (Spoiler alert: It’s damn good.) Ahead, find Monét X Change’s official exit interview for The Traitors.
First of all, I’m going to say it: You were gone too soon.
I agree. But that is the treachery and trickery of this game. You think you’re going in with a plan, and then one small thing can get you booted from the house. It’s crazy.
You’ve been a fan of the show for a while now, too. What initially drew you to the game, and what made you finally bite the bullet and go for it?
I love the concept. I do a lot of game nights at my house—Mafia, Secret Hitler, all those kinds of games. This is basically that, but a real-life version with a multimillion-dollar budget in Scotland, in a fierce castle you get to sleep in. I was drawn to it immediately, since season 1, when they had half civilians and half celebrities, because it added an interesting dynamic.
From the moment I saw the show, I was interested in the gameplay. I love strategy games like Survivor, so I was a big fan. And getting to do this with some of my favorite celebrities, like Porsha Williams—are you fucking kidding me? I’ve been watching Real Housewives of Atlanta since season one. I’ve been a fan of Porsha for a long time. Just getting to play with people like that, I was like, “Hell yeah. Sign me up.”
Was there anything you did to prepare?
I prepared by doing a lot of game nights at home. Lots of Blood on the Clocktower. I’m such a nerd. The roles in that game have powers—there aren’t powers in Traitors—but it was a good headspace to get into. I also decided I wasn’t going to get advice from people like Bob the Drag Queen, who’s also a loser of the show. I wanted to play my own game.
I prayed to God, lit a candle, and did some bath salts, hoping Alan would make me a Traitor. I wanted to be a Traitor so badly, but that wasn’t the hand I was dealt. I was destined to be a Faithful, and I wasn’t going to let that spook my game. I wanted to be a Faithful who made it to the end. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the cards for me.
Ooh, tell me more. What made you want to be a Traitor?
I love lying. I love gaslighting. I love the strategy of it. It would have brought me joy to walk through the castle, making things up every day. Being in the turret, devising plans the Faithfuls had no idea were coming—that spoke to me deeply. It didn’t happen for me, but that mentality definitely made me think differently as a Faithful.
You mentioned Bob, who played as a Traitor. Do you think that had anything to do with you being tapped as a Faithful?
He ruined it for me. If Bob didn’t do it, I was going to do it in an alternate universe. There’s always Traitors All Stars…Alan, bring me back. I was gone too soon. Bring me back and make me a Traitor, and everything will be right in the world.
And you have a great All-Star track record!
Exactly. History will repeat itself.
Bob has said he didn’t give you any tips going in. Did watching his gameplay affect how you moved as a Faithful?
Slightly. Bob was too loud and vocal, which is a telltale sign that you won’t last long in the castle. Initially, I wanted to go in super reserved, but that’s just not who I am. My strategy became finding people I trusted and riding it to the end.
That was Natalie [Anderson], for a while. Then Candiace—which was my biggest mistake. I had pulled Candiace aside and said, “I don’t know if you’re a Faithful or a Traitor. You don’t know what I am. But I trust you regardless. If I’m a Faithful, I’ll never say your name at the round table. If I’m a Traitor, I’ll never say your name in the turret.” I had bad intuition. I thought I could trust her, but I couldn’t. That little witch!
I also trusted Colton [Underwood]. I went purely by vibes and feelings. We talked on the way to missions and bonded. I trusted Rob because he was so quiet—I thought he was harmless. I was wrong.
Your mind starts doing gymnastics. You think, “If this person knows I trust them, they’ll keep me around because I’ll defend them at the round table.” That didn’t work out.
Did you have any other strong alliances that we didn’t get to see?
Natalie, Colton, and Candiace were my main group. I wanted an alliance with Yam Yam, but he was so paranoid, like, girl, sniff some poppers and chill out! I started thinking he was a Traitor because he was so paranoid. But, he was one of the gays in the house, and I was also trying to form a Gay Straight Alliance—get all the gays together with one straight. Natalie was going to be our straight.
The concept of poppers in the Scottish castle…Is that even allowed?
Oh, girl. I'm sure Alan had a few bottles up in her room, okay!
Are there any players who caught you by surprise with their strategies?
I didn’t even think about Tara [Lipinski] and Johnny [Weir] knowing each other, even though they’re both Olympic gold medalists. That should have clicked. But they weren’t really strategizing, so I didn’t see them as threats. I also noticed Tiffany [Mitchell] and Michael [Rapaport] getting close. I didn’t care if Michael was a Faithful or Traitor—he was awful either way. He was distracting everyone. When Tiffany got close to him, that made me suspicious, so I voted for her.
A lot of the other players said you were “always vibrant” and the “best dressed” in the castle after you were murdered. Do you still keep in touch with anyone?
We have a Faithfuls-only group chat. I talk a lot with Natalie, Colton, Mara, Yam Yam, and Lisa.
Lisa is hilarious. At the premiere party at the Abbey in L.A., she told me, “Monét, I love you, but you shouldn’t have said my name.” I didn’t know her Housewives lore. If I had, I might have clocked her as a Traitor sooner.
You ended up being right, though. Was there anyone else you were particularly suspicious of? How does Monét clock a Traitor?
I thought Lisa, I thought Rob. I was suspicious of Donna [Kelce], which we were all right about eventually. If Michael hadn’t distracted everyone, we could’ve gotten Donna out earlier. I also thought Tara could be a sneaky Traitor, but she wasn’t a threat.
You wrongfully confided in Candiace that you were feeling sus about Lisa, and she revealed that she felt guilty about betraying your trust after that. Is there anything else that crossed your mind when you were murdered?
I was genuinely shocked when I found out. I trusted this girl, and the first chance she got, she took me out. I was really gagged. On that 13-hour flight home, lying in Delta Comfort, you replay everything in your head, but you can’t play the what-if game. I trusted a backstabbing housewife, which tracks. If I ever go back to Alan’s castle, I will hunt the housewives. Except Nene Leakes. If Nene is there, I’m protecting her at all costs.
We need Nene on The Traitors.
She would clear the Emmys!
In episode 2, you gave Lisa your shield during the chariot mission. Do you have any regrets about that, or anything else in the game, retrospectively?
No. I was building trust. Also, they didn’t need my big ass at the top of that thing. It made sense strategically. When we were all going back to the castle together, everyone in our car was like, “I got you. We'll look out for each other.”
It seems like the girlies and the gays were kicking their feet and giggling over Rob. Had you seen his season of Love Island before meeting him?
I knew nothing about Rob. If you put him in a room and told me to identify him, I couldn’t. After reading about his Love Island behavior, I was like, “This would’ve been useful information.”
Do you think his charms and good looks threw people off from his game as a Traitor?
Absolutely. A hot man in the Scottish Highlands? He could’ve asked for my last breath, and I would’ve been like, “Okay.”
Well, speaking of hot men, you’re engaged to one. Have you talked to your fiancé, Andy Short, about all this? What does he make of it?
He was like, “Babe, no—why would you do that?” And I was like, it’s easy to say when you’re not there. When you’re at that round table, under pressure, in a game built on deceit, you just make split-second decisions and trust your gut. He has his thoughts, but I told him, “You weren’t there—just watch, support, and be quiet.”
You two are looking at a 2027 wedding date, right? How’s planning going?
We’re looking at 2027 since he’s in grad school right now, and we didn’t want to juggle that with a wedding and honeymoon. It’s just too much. We’re slowly planning and debating whether to do something big or small. We started thinking 50 people, but then I realized I have 25 family members alone, so the guest list keeps growing. A big wedding sounds fun, but that money could also go toward our new gym, so we’re weighing our options and seeing where we land.
Another big plan you have coming up is your High Heels, Bad Knees Tour. Will any punchlines about your Traitors castmates make the show?
Absolutely—I have a whole section for Lisa and Candiace. I’m letting them have it because housewives have proven themselves untrustworthy. The tour is pure stand-up with jokes, stories, and chaos. I’m so proud of this material, and I’m recording a special this year. I’ve been doing stand-up for the past few years, and it’s the most fun I’ve ever had on stage: just me, a mic, a stool, and a sickening, tight, fully stoned outfit. I can’t wait to take it around the country and hear people laugh.
Final question for you, Mo: Is there anything you want to leave Traitors viewers with as they wait for the next episodes to drop?
All I want to leave viewers with is that Traitors was the most fun I’ve ever had filming a show, period. The cast, crew, and production care so much about the integrity of the game that it feels like a fully immersive, real-life experience. I used to watch and think, “Y’all are doing too much—no one’s actually dying.” Then I got in that castle and realized, Oh no… this feels very real. That’s why the stakes feel so high and the energy is so intense—it’s giving realness, honey.
Photographer: JJ Geiger. Stylist: Taylor Orear.
Parts of this interview have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Watch ‘The Traitors’ on Peacock
Buy tickets for Monét X Change: High Heels, Bad Knees Tour
