Summer House star and The Traitors contestant Ciara Miller certainly stepped out of her comfort zone by joining season three of Peacock’s hit competition series.
The question of whether or not the 29-year-old reality TV personality was a Faithful or a Traitor was a topic of discussion for more than one episode. Miller was part of a trio of contestants put in coffins during an early episode, meant to act as a device for the Traitors to publicly make their kill of the week. She, and pro-wrestler Nikki Garcia, survived but instantly became targets in the game.
After Garcia’s banishment from the show, Miller found the heat off of her, if only for a moment. But as is common in the Emmy-winning series, the theory she might be a Traitor never died and she found herself banished during a round table. Spoiler alert, she was a Faithful.
“I don’t think I would be a good Traitor,” Miller tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m a little bit too much of a straight shooter. I’d probably tell on myself.”
The reality star says she wasn’t surprised by her banishment, it was something she saw coming. Below, Miller discusses the coffin theory, how she reacted when she discovered the real Traitors’ identities and that moment with Boston Rob.
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You said in your exit interview that the show was more emotionally draining and taxing than you expected. Can you share more about that?
It’s long days. I think on average, we film an episode a day. We’re also doing the challenges and then getting dressed and going to round table, and then having to plot and scheme in between these times. There’s a lot going on. You’re having to stay abreast of what’s happening. There’s 20-something people. You are always conscious of what you’re saying around certain people and watching your back. You are just so hypervigilant throughout these filming days and playing this game. That level of hypervigilance and cortisol — it is exhausting.
The coffin theory was brought up so much. It looked like in the beginning both you and Nikki [Garcia] were the targets of everyone’s suspicion, and then it went away for a bit. Were you surprised that it came back up, or were you expecting it?
I definitely was expecting it. I knew I wasn’t gone forever. I think I did a great job of getting out of it for a few round tables, but I definitely knew that it was going to come back up, especially because it had Danielle [Reyes]’s name and Carolyn [Wiger]’s name all over it. I knew the Traitors weren’t going to let it die fully. I wasn’t shocked and at that round table, I kind of knew people were kind of gunning for me. They wanted to move on with this theory per se. I definitely saw it coming.
Before you found out that Carolyn and Danielle were both Traitors, you were saying how both of them are Faithfuls. Can you take me through your mindset when you found out?
Carolyn, I thought that she was a Faithful, and this might be mean, but it was giving unstable, and I was like, she’s probably a Faithful — no one’s really even looking her direction. And then Danielle, I thought she was a Traitor initially. Because after we had been put in the coffins, Nikki said something to me where she was like, Jeremy [Collins] named Danielle as a Traitor, and then he ended up dead, and that’s when we all should have looked Danielle’s direction. Nikki kind of turned on me, and then it was us against each other when we should have been focusing on Danielle. At some point, there’s less numbers in the house and you’re having to talk to people more and more, so then she kind of convinced me that she wasn’t a Traitor because I told her to her face at one point, “I thought you were a Traitor. I still think you’re a Traitor.” She was like, “I’m not.” I think I got got by the mixture of tears and behind the scenes things.
You’re spending so much time with these people. It’s not like I’ve ever watched any of these people on different shows too, so I’m also getting to know them for the first time. Maybe had I seen some of them on previous seasons, I could have been more privy to what they were capable of. I always thought Danielle was kind of strange, just the game playing, also she was never going to pull enough numbers to [be eliminate[d] at a round table, at least when I was there.
You’re familiar with reality TV on Bravo, but it’s a different kind — not like some of the gamers familiar with these crazy challenges. What were those like? I have to imagine the bug one was the worst of it all, but how did you try to prepare for something you really can’t prepare for?
The first challenge that we did, I just remember thinking, “I’m so out of shape. This is so difficult,” especially the challenge when people were in cages, and we were running. I don’t even know how I would’ve prepared for that unless I just was normally in shape, but the bugs, no way. There was nothing that could have ever prepared me for that. The only way I got through that was literally me closing my eyes and Boston Rob, thank god for him, but also, he was a Traitor. I don’t even know. There’s nothing anyone could have told me to prepare for that.
That moment you had with Boston Rob went pretty viral online. Obviously, he was a Traitor, but it was a sweet moment to see on TV. Did that really help you through the challenge?
During that challenge, obviously, Chrishell [Stause] and Dolores [Catania] pulled their hands immediately. I was like, “OK, we’re good. Let’s pull our hand out. We don’t need to keep going. We already got the shield.” That’s all I cared about. As far as the money in the pot, we don’t need that. Who cares? I was kind of like, let’s pull our hands out. This is crazy. He was like, “It’s eight minutes, we can do this. We can add money to the pot.” I don’t want to be a game player. I don’t want to be a good sport. This is not the sportsmanship that I’m into. I had to close my eyes. It was just insane. He’s like, “It’s eight minutes. You’ve done harder things for eight minutes.” Him just kind of distracting me, and I had my eyes shut tight. He’s asking me all these different questions. I would not have made it through that challenge if it wasn’t for him. I definitely was down to screw the money. We got the shields already. I felt like our work was done after a minute.
Who do you want to win it all?
I’d like to see a Housewife. Dolores is left, so I’d love to see a Housewife and probably Dylan [Efron], just because he worked so hard and was really out of his comfort zone. He’s arguing with people in round tables, getting into with Housewives, and just definitely stuck his neck out a few times.
Do you have regrets from the game or anything you would’ve done differently?
I don’t think I have any regrets. It was my first time playing a game like this. I didn’t really know what to expect, and it’s a lot of personalities and dynamics. I think if I were to play it again, I would definitely be more vocal and maybe be even more disruptive than I was. I think I would go a little bit harder.
If they were to ever have an all-star season, would you do it again?
Oh my god, of course. I really would do it again. One, I just feel like the outfits were so fun. That type of show, those outfits, I just feel like the drama of it is perfect. I also think it would be fun to go round two and see how they switch up the game. I definitely think reading some of the comments online and people suggesting you should be able to use a shield for banishment. There’s so many different tactics and ways that the game can be twisted and turned for these next upcoming seasons. That would be kind of fun.
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The Traitors streams new episodes starting Thursdays at 9 p.m. on Peacock.