During each season of The Traitors, things can go wrong or right for the reality show’s competitors in many ways. For example, something personal got Nikki Garcia “banished,” “Boston” Rob Mariano “murdered” his allies for an interesting reason, and Dorinda Medley’s bad odds inspired her “murder.” On the other hand, a member of the British Royal Family won The Traitors and Tom Sandoval lasted long enough to become popular with viewers.

During the fourth season of The Traitors, the first Top Chef star will be competing. After winning Top Chef, Kristen Kish will be entering Alan Cumming’s castle. With that in mind, it is fascinating to look at the reasons why Kristen could win The Traitors and why she could flop on the show.

Why Top Chef’s Kristen Kish Might Flop On The Traitors

When the cast for The Traitors Season 4 was officially announced, there were several names that didn’t necessarily make sense. After all, Season 4 of The Traitors will feature several players who, on the surface, don’t seem to have the experience needed to know how to compete on a show like The Traitors.

The two most obvious The Traitors Season 4 cast members that don’t seem to make obvious sense are Michael Rappaport and Donna Kelce. Both of those people are famous, but there doesn’t seem to be any obvious reason why they should even be interested in competing on The Traitors.

Another person who seemed like a really surprising inclusion in The Traitors Season 4’s cast is Kristen Kish from Top Chef. In Kristen’s case, her casting seems odd because there are reasons why Kristen seems like she could easily flop on The Traitors.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Kristen is now the host of Top Chef, after taking over from Padma Lakshmi.

The Traitors’ Season 4 Cast

• Donna Kelce
• Natalie Anderson
• Ian Terry
• Colton Underwood
• Rob Cesternino
• Dorinda Medley
• Tiffany Mitchell
• Yamil “Yam Yam” Arocho
• Monet X Change
• Mark Ballas
• Lisa Rinna
• Porsha Williams
• Candiace Dillard-Bassett
• Eric Nam
• Maura Higgins
• Johnny Weir
• Tara Lipinski
• Ron Funches
• Rob Rausch
• Kristen Kish
• Stephen Colletti
• Michael Rapaport
• Caroline Stanbury

Even though she has proven to be a wonderful Top Chef host, the way Kristen behaves as a host is the first reason to think that she might flop on The Traitors.

One of the things that has made Kristen such a wonderful Top Chef host is how she interacts with the show’s competitors. Even though Kristen’s reality show host peers hold themselves apart from their show’s competitors, Kristen clearly doesn’t believe that is a necessity.

Since Kristen took over hosting Top Chef, she has witnessed many emotional moments on the show. For example, during Top Chef: Destination Canada, Kristen learned that Chef Tristen Epps’ father passed away during the competition. Despite suffering that tragic loss, Tristen stayed in the competition at his mother’s urging.

After learning what Tristen was going through at the judges’ table, Kristen expressed empathy for him. While making that statement, Kristen’s voice noticeably cracked as she was clearly deeply affected by his suffering and tenacity to keep going.

While that is an extreme example of a highly emotional Top Chef moment, Kirsten has let her emotions show other times during her time hosting the show. In every case, it comes across like Kristen is an extremely strong and confident person who isn’t afraid to show her emotions.

The fact that Kristen has the strength to be that genuine while still remaining professional and willing to make the tough calls makes her a great Top Chef host. However, that attribute could play a huge role in Kristen flopping on The Traitors.

Even though Kristen always seems to carry herself with strength, fans have only ever seen her be true to herself. Before Kristen became Top Chef’s host, she competed on and won the show. When Kristen was competing on Top Chef, one of her greatest strengths was that she stayed true to her instincts as a chef.

Based on everything that Kristen has shown fans during her career in the media, duplicity on a high level doesn’t seem to be one of her skill sets. With that in mind, it is easy to imagine Kristen struggling in the world of The Traitors, since people on the show can’t trust anyone and may be forced to lie to win.

Kristen could also flop on The Traitors because she recently made comments about not wanting to compete at the highest level anymore. In June 2025, Kristen was interviewed by Cinema Blend about the latest season of Top Chef. After she spoke about how fierce the competition on the show has become, Kristen definitively stated she wouldn’t want to compete on Top Chef anymore as a result.

“No, Nope, nope, nope. [Laughs.] The good thing is that they probably wouldn’t let me. But no, I wouldn’t do it again.”

Why Kristen Kish Could Win The Traitors

Funnily enough, one of the arguments for why Kristen Kish may flop on The Traitors also cut the opposite way. Kristen appearing to be such a genuine person could also be exactly why she could win The Traitors.

During the first season of The Traitors, Cirie Fields got to the end and won the game by lying to and deceiving her fellow players. On the other hand, the winners of The Traitors’ second and third seasons all got there by being honest and convincing each other they were genuine.

If Kristen’s path to the end requires her to play like Cirie, she will likely flop during The Traitors. However, Kristen appears to be built to win like the genuine players have, assuming she can cope with other competitors lying to her.

As far as Kristen stating she wouldn’t want to compete on Top Chef again, there is a counterargument to that as well.

Even though Kristen stated she doesn’t have the drive to try to win Top Chef again, she obviously still has her fighting spirit. After all, Kristen agreed to go and compete on The Traitors.