Natalie Anderson Calls Out 'The Traitors' Cast for Caring More About Their Outfits Than Winning (Exclusive)
Natalie Anderson has officially been banished from The Traitors Season 4 castle, but she didn't leave without a fight. After a chaotic roundtable that saw the Faithfuls turn on one of their strongest assets, the Survivor winner found herself on the outside of a "clique" that she claims is more focused on aesthetics than the actual game.
The New Jersey native had spent the days leading up to her exit trying to play a "subtle" game to lower her massive target, but eagerly targeted Rob Rausch when Olympians Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski approached her with their suspicions. They later left Natalie out to dry at the roundtable when they backed off Rob and targeted her instead. "All of them are playing 'let’s last one more day' or 'let’s get to the fire so we can wear our cute outfits,'” Natalie exclusively tells Men’s Journal. “No. You have to win.”
Fresh off her banishment, Natalie opens up about the "adrenaline dump" of her exit, the shock of seeing how "calculated" Rob Rausch really was behind the scenes, and why she’d need to hire a stylist before ever stepping foot back in the castle.
Scroll down to read the full interview with Natalie.
Men’s Journal: So I know you've had a couple days to sort of process everything. How are you feeling today?
Natalie Anderson: I feel like I'm going through an adrenaline dump, because there's so much anticipation. This season has felt very different from my previous seasons. I'm also older, and I'm coming back after such a long time; I think I was really invested in making my comeback be amazing. And so, it has been a difficult process to kind of embrace losing. I've said this before: I think losing Survivor 40: Winners at War really changed the way I feel. It's like I still haven't fully forgiven myself for not going to fire. I think that pressure of not wanting to feel that again changes the way these games feel for me. They're still amazing, I still have a lot of fun, but the grieving process of losing is difficult and different. So I'm in a weird spot right now.
Men’s Journal: You lasted 39 days on Extinction though! You did amazing that season. But yeah, talk to me about Tara leaving you out to dry at the roundtable. How annoyed were you and did you have a conversation with her after the show?
Natalie Anderson: Yeah, I was super frustrated. I think the roller coaster that I went through—because if I had gone into that roundtable knowing it was me versus everybody, which how I felt on Survivor was me versus everybody—nobody knew it, but that's how I felt the entire time. I was fine because I was in that headspace. I think Tara and Johnny giving me this false hope of a possibility of being like, "We can do this," fired me up so much, and then having that rug pulled out from under me at the roundtable was very difficult. My emotion just went from being focused on getting out Rob to me versus Johnny and Tara. I did feel like they let me out to dry. I feel like there was this sense of them over Faithfuls. I think that sucks, because the only thing we have at that point is numbers as Faithfuls, because we're not privy to all the information. If we had just stuck to the plan, we would have been able to execute and do something. But this lack of just being like, "Oh, whatever, you can go today. We know you're not a Traitor, but who gives a... we can figure it out tomorrow. At least we're both safe." That was the most frustrating thing for me. If they had done it for gameplay, I would respect it 100 percent, right? But Tara knew I was not a Traitor. Girl, come on.
Men’s Journal: Why are they banishing women? There were already two female Traitors!
Natalie Anderson: What are we doing? Exactly, oh my gosh, exactly. There's already two women banished. And trust me, I could have said anything to them, and nothing would have stuck, because nobody wanted to jump onto my ship. They were just so safe, and all of them are playing "let's last one more day" or "let's get to the fire so we can wear our cute outfits." No. You have to win. So that was really difficult for me.
Men’s Journal: Obviously, Johnny and Tara had a built-in alliance. Rob had Maura Higgins too. Who was your No. 1? Did you have anyone looking out for you?
Natalie Anderson: In my head, my No. 1 was Rob. That's all I had. All the people that I had connected with were taken away from me. If Mark [Ballas] was smart—and Mark never reconnected with me because his No. 1 was also in his head, probably Rob at this point, because he lost Kristen [Kish]—which speaks to how good Rob was playing his game. But at the end of the day, me and Mark should have connected. Like, listen, all these motherf--kers have paired up. We have to have each other's back. Let's do something, and let's stick together. But people always thought that I was somehow a Traitor. There was this feeling of them all not wanting to give me the authority to own being a Faithful because of this predisposed feeling of who I am. Then there's this notion that I have to be a Traitor, even though none of the shit I did at the end makes sense as a Traitor—like trying to fight for the potion and killing all the gamers. I could have said anything, and I would have never been able to convince them. So that was frustrating. I've connected with Tara; we are fine. I'm not holding anything against them as people, but I still have these feelings that get really ignited, especially watching the episode, because I'm so mad at myself. Why can't I be mad at you?
Men’s Journal: Totally fair. What was the most surprising thing that you saw in the confessionals that you didn't know?
Natalie Anderson: I think it was just who Rob was and how he was so calculated versus how he came across as being super nonchalant. I think I gravitated to him because he had this energy of being super chill. Meanwhile, we're all f--king batshit crazy out there, including myself. Stressed out all the time. Rob just had this super chill energy. That was awesome for me, because it made me feel less stressed out being around him. But seeing how much he's doing behind the scenes is probably the biggest. Obviously, I know he was the Traitor now, but watching is very different from how I experienced him in the castle.
Men’s Journal: Did you suspect him at all before that day?
Natalie Anderson: There were these random things that he would do that I would pick up on, especially towards the end, but part of me just didn't have anybody to pivot to. It was a really scary feeling of giving up somebody that I felt close to, because then I would be completely alienated in the house. I feel like that's how they made me feel at the end: I'm the outsider, and everybody else is on this inside clique. So giving up Rob was a scary feeling. But then when Tara said it, I felt brave enough to be like, "No, you're right. He is a Traitor." I would have been murdered. Nobody's saving me. Rob and me had this connection from the start, and I felt this friendship with him through the missions. We have similarities where we would always be talking about similar things. We're so different—Rob is super chill, and I'm not in this celebrity world—and he made me feel like I had a civilian with me, like a normal person. That's what I liked about him.
Men’s Journal: Originally I wanted you to be a Traitor. Have you thought about how you would have done in the turret?
Natalie Anderson: Yeah, it depends who you're with, right? As a Traitor, I feel like I would have had a really tough time, but I do so good normally at being a liar. I don't know why I messed that up, but I feel like I would have been able to disguise being a Traitor well if I had a really good teammate up there. If I was with Rob, I feel like we could have done something. I feel like at the end, we would have had to turn on each other, because we're both really strong personalities. But I would love to see myself as a secret Traitor or to see how I would have done in the turret.
Men’s Journal: You were labeled as aggressive in the castle. Do you feel like people understood you fully, or do you feel like some of it was a little unfair?
Natalie Anderson: I intentionally went out there thinking: you can't be yourself all the time. You can't be leading the charge. Obviously, sometimes I did, even though I was trying not to with Donna [Kelce], because I just didn't want Porsha [Williams] going home. So I spoke up for what I knew, but for the most part, I was trying not to be that person in the front, because I just can't afford it. Gamers come in with a target on our back. Imagine if I was Tara, walking in there with nobody thinking that I could do any wrong. That's not how I got to play. I had to play being who I am and having this target on my back. I feel like at the end, my true colors came out. But for the most part, I was playing a very subtle game purposefully, because I knew I couldn't afford to just be just balls to the wall.
Men’s Journal: Is The Traitors something that you would do again if they called you?
Natalie Anderson: Yes, I would. Except this time I would get a stylist, because people are obsessed with what I'm wearing. I had no idea. Of all the things I do, people would be most obsessed with what I'm wearing, which is really interesting and funny. I don't take offense to any of it. People are going in about my wardrobe, and I think it's funny, but I didn't give a shit. I just packed random things in my apartment. This time, if I go, I need a stylist to just arm me head to toe. I liked being on Survivor where I had nothing to do except show up in one outfit—no glam, no brushing my hair. So much more myself. I would totally return. I think that redemption is something that I crave when I mess up and I don't do as well as I want, so I definitely would. That's not even a question.