Much like her Instagram presence, The Traitors: New Blood contestant Morgan Cook exited the game quietly rather than going out with a bang.
**Spoiler alert: This article contains details about Episode 9 of The Traitors: New Blood, now streaming on Peacock**
In the latest episode of NBC’s reality competition series, the social media creator—who has 1.4 million followers—was summoned to a talking-head interview after discovering that the show’s Traitors, Joe Vanella and Katie Fites, had poisoned her chalice during host Alan Cumming’s toast. Cook had kept a remarkably low profile throughout the season, which may have helped her survive as long as she did. But in an exit interview with DECIDER, she revealed that she was only beginning to make her move and planned to target Vanella, who now appears to be dangerously close to banishment.
“I know exactly what my plan would have been; I was ready to go for Joe the next day,” Cook says. She adds, “I had a six-point speech ready to go at the roundtable, memorized. I had receipts. I was ready to go for Joe.”
As for the evidence she believed pointed to Vanella, Cook said she and the other Faithfuls had begun questioning why he repeatedly described himself as competitive while retreating from conversations in which Faithfuls were expected to speak openly.
“I mean, the first thing that was glaringly obvious, I think, to me and everyone was that Joe was always like, ‘I’m so competitive, I want to win, I hate losing,’” she says. “And then you’d ask him who the Traitors were, and he’d be like, ‘I don’t know.’ I was just like, ‘How do you not know if you’re this competitive?’”
Cook also jokes that although she was preparing to confront Vanella over several other details—keep reading to learn what she viewed as evidence against him—none of her arguments had anything to do with #FruitGate, a reference to Victor Vollbrechthausen.
Read DECIDER’s full interview with Cook below.
DECIDER: It’s never fun to talk to somebody who’s been murdered. But I have to assume that you feel pretty good about how far you made it in the game, right?
MORGAN COOK: Absolutely. I made it to Episode 9. I honestly think I packed about that many outfits, so I have no idea what I would have worn if I had lasted longer. I was shocked that I made it that far at all.
You were going to be a Lizzie McGuire outfit repeater at that point.
Yeah, 100 percent.
Take me back to the night that you were murdered. Aside from being a Faithful and knowing that you’re always potentially on the chopping block, did you have any reason to suspect that they were coming after you?
I really didn’t think it was going to be me. I was standing at the table thinking, “If I were a Traitor right now, who would I get rid of?” In my mind, it would be somebody they couldn’t easily deflect attention toward—someone who was very clearly a Faithful. So I thought Abbey [Benjamin] was at risk, and Clyde [Moser] was at risk. I also thought Victor had a good chance of being murdered that night because, by that point, I think most people believed he was a Faithful. And I thought Joe was a Traitor. If I were Joe, getting rid of Victor would point to me, but keeping him would also point to me.
You just threw out a couple different names. Why do you think they ultimately chose you?
I think they chose me because they knew I was onto them. During my last two days in the game, I was focused on Katie and Joe. I had said that to both of them, as well as at the roundtable. My strategy was that if they knew I suspected them, they wouldn’t murder me. But maybe I didn’t make it public enough for them to feel that my suspicions would clearly lead back to them.
If you were still in the game, what do you think your next move would have been?
I know exactly what my plan would have been. I was ready to go after Joe the next day. I had a six-point speech prepared for the roundtable, and I had memorized it. I had receipts. I was ready to go for Joe.
Wait, I kind of want to hear some of the six points.
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The first thing that seemed glaringly obvious to me—and, I think, to everyone—was that Joe was always saying, “I’m so competitive, I want to win, I hate losing.” But when you asked him who the Traitors were, he would say, “I don’t know.” I was thinking, “How do you not know if you’re being this competitive?” Another point was that he spent a lot of time with Xavier [Scruggs] the night before Xavier was murdered. I actually suspected then that Joe might have been recruited. He wasn’t; he was just babysitting his potential recruit. But that was still something I noticed. Then there was his vote for Wyatt [Gillespie]. He said, “I’m doing this with the confidence of the first time I kissed a girl.” I thought that was funny, but why would someone so competitive cast what seemed like a throwaway vote for Wyatt? It didn’t make sense. None of my points had anything to do with the apple, though [laughs].
So do you see Joe’s game as inevitably bound to end sooner rather than later?
At that point, I think we were all pretty convinced that Joe was a Traitor.
But if Joe does go, Katie will ostensibly get to recruit. Who do you think she should recruit? Who, if you were in her position, would you bring into the turret?
That’s such a difficult question. The obvious answer feels like Victor, but do you really want to choose the obvious person? You’ve seen how hard he goes after people, so bringing him in could be risky. Could you trust him not to turn on you? I would probably choose someone quieter who hadn’t attracted much suspicion. The risk, of course, is whether that person could handle the role. But that would probably be my move.
When I spoke with Michael [Foote], who was banished rather than murdered, he was on a warpath. He was mad at everyone. Do you have any ill will or ill wishes towards those in the game?
None at all. I love everyone in the cast, and they’re all good people. We knew we were playing a game. Michael has a flair for the dramatic, so take what he says with a grain of salt. He loves stirring the pot. But no, I don’t have any ill will. Everyone was playing a game, and that’s it. There isn’t anyone in the cast I wouldn’t answer the phone for or meet for a drink. They’re all great.
Going into the final episodes: who are you rooting for in the game?
I’m definitely still rooting for the Faithfuls. Abbey B and I had become pretty close during the last few days before I left. When we were leaving the drink situation, we had a sweet moment where we said, “We want to get to the end together—two blonde girlies at the end.” Of course, I was gone the next day, but I was still rooting for her. I’m also cheering for Shane [Beatty]. Shane is such a big teddy bear. We’re very different people, but we’re also similar in certain ways. We’re both a little quieter and tend to speak when we feel we have something worth saying. I really enjoyed being around Shane, and I thought he was playing the game well. So those are the two people I’m really behind.
If you ever got the call to come back and do it again in a redemption season or an all-star season, is it something you would consider?
Absolutely. It would definitely be a redemption season—no one is calling me for an all-star season—but I would love to do it again now that I’ve experienced the game once. I’d be thinking, “I learned so much from that. Give me another shot.”
What changes would you make? What would you do differently in a second round?
I don’t want to tell you, because what if they call me and I give away my strategy?
I understand that. But what would you tell someone else who might go into this game? What advice would you give?
You need to be more aware of your blind spots than you think. One of my biggest mistakes was assuming that anyone who was especially nice to me must be a Traitor. In real life, I’m suspicious of people who are extremely nice to me. But Michael and I had a great relationship, and I thought he was simply a cool guy who wanted to play the game with me and was being friendly.
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