Even though this season of The Traitors is full of some serious stars, like the ex-husband of Britney Spears and several reality TV legends, The Real Housewives of Dubai alum Chanel Ayan shared that she only knew her fellow Bravolebrities and that she had no idea Survivor was a TV show.
While on an episode of the podcast Gabbing With Gib, Chanel Ayan revealed that she was unfamiliar with any of her competitors except her fellow Bravo stars, like Summer House's Ciara Miller and fellow Real Housewives stars Dorinda Medley, Dolores Catania, and Robyn Dixon.
Chanel Ayan says she took the term 'survivor' very literally
According to this Real Housewives of Dubai star, when her competitors on The Traitors introduced themselves as being from Survivor, she assumed they meant that they had been through things in their personal life that they considered themselves to be survivors of.
"I only knew people from the Bravo world. I didn't know the other people because they were all like, 'I am a Survivor. I personally thought they survived things like me," Chanel Ayan, who changed her name from Ayan Pillott when she started her modeling career, revealed on the podcast.
While Survivor is based on a Swedish reality TV series called Expedition Robinson, Chanel Ayan said that people in Dubai aren't super into reality TV -- or at least not Survivor. So, when her co-stars from that show like "Boston" Rob Mariano, Tony Vlachos, Jeremy Collins, and Carolyn Wiger introduced themselves to her as being from Survivor, she was curious as to what serious situation they had all survived.
According to Ayan, it wasn't until she was murdered early in the season and sent home from the castle that she realized that they were talking about the TV show they appeared on. She told podcast host Gibson Johns, "Even when I died, I still didn't understand them. I left and died and that is when I realized there's a TV show called Survivor."
Chanel Ayan says her co-stars take The Traitors more seriously than she did
The stark difference in genres of reality TV that she and her competitors came from might explain the fact that she was sent home so early, according to Chanel Ayan. She shared that while she felt like her co-stars on The Traitors were taking the game very seriously, she was just there to enjoy herself.
"Like for me, I wasn't thinking about money. I was just there. I wanted to be cute, be funny and try the game," she said after saying that she felt like The Traitors competitors that came from Survivor and Big Brother were a lot more focused on playing the game than she was.
According to Ayan, she's all about thinking and not beauty. The Real Housewives alum, who was the second person to be murdered by the Traitors, said of her time on the show: "I think I was killed because I am fabulous."
The Traitors streams every Thursday at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT on Peacock.