Ryan Lochte Makes Reality TV Return on Peacock’s ‘The Traitor’
Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte will make his return to reality TV with “The Traitor,” a “psychological competition series” on Peacock.
The show, hosted by Alan Cumming, will premiere on Jan. 12, 2023, with all 10 episodes dropping simultaneously on the streaming service.
From the press release touting the show:
Set in a remote castle in the Scottish Highlands and based on the wildly popular Dutch series of the same name, 5-time Emmy-nominated Alan Cumming plays host to twenty larger-than-life personalities (including reality A-listers and America’s best game players) who come together to complete a series of challenges with the objective of earning a cash prize of up to $250,000. The catch? Three of the contestants coined “the traitors” will devise a plan to steal the prize from the other contestants coined “the faithful.”
Photo Courtesy: NBC Universal
Celebrity contestants joining Lochte include reality TV stars Arie Luyendyk Jr. (Bachelor/Bachelorette), Brandi Glanville (RHOBH), Cirie Fields (Survivor), Cody Calafiore (Big Brother), Kate Chastain (Below Deck), Kyle Cooke (Summer House), Rachel Reilly (Big Brother), Reza Farahan (Shahs of Sunset) and Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick (Survivor). Ten other contestants will join them.
The show is produced by Studio Lambert Scotland, executive producers Stephen Lambert, Mike Cotton, Toni Ireland, Jack Burgess and Sam Rees Jones.
“Studio Lambert has truly captured lightning in a bottle with our latest competition series The Traitors,” Corie Henson, NBCUniversal’s EVP Entertainment Unscripted Content, said in a release. “We can’t wait for Peacock audiences to experience and play along in this epic game of manipulation and deceit, all while the iconic Alan Cumming pulls the strings of our incredible cast to create the ultimate ‘whodunit’.”
The 12-time Olympic gold medalist has partnered with Peacock before, on the “In Deep with Ryan Lochte” documentary project in 2020. He’s no stranger to reality TV, having starred in the short-lived “What Would Ryan Lochte Do?” on E! and as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars Season 23, Celebrity Big Brother and Celebrity Family Feud.
The 38-year-old is not quite retired from swimming, having missed out on a fifth Olympic Games in falling shy of qualification for Tokyo in 2021.