The deceived party explains why he would have split the money at the end.

The Traitors star Eric Nam wants a Rolex from Rob Rausch: ‘This guy hasn’t even bought me a drink yet’

The deceived party explains why he would have split the money at the end.

By Dalton Ross

Dalton Ross is a writer and editor with over 25 years experience covering TV and the entertainment industry. *Survivor* is kind of his thing.

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March 2, 2026 2:45 p.m. ET

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Eric Nam on 'The Traitors'. Credit:

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

*“If I had done that, I just wouldn’t be able to live with myself in that way. It’s just a different line in the sand that we have. Money is great, but I think relationships are more important. And it doesn’t feel good.”*

That was Eric Nam after eventual *Traitors* winner Rob Rausch — the very man who had recruited him to be a Traitor — betrayed him at the last possible moment and banished him to keep the $220,800 prize pot all for himself. After being double-crossed, Eric tried his best to get Maura Higgins to look at her blindspot and banish Rob instead, telling her “I want you to think about why you have never questioned the other player in this game,” but the effort was futile and Eric watched his dreams of victory disappear.

Did Eric ever consider Rob might do that to him? What was their first conversation like after it all went down? And does he get a gift like Maura’s Birkin bag or what? We asked the deceived party all that and more.

Eric Nam on 'The Traitors'.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

**: Was there ever any thought in your mind leading up to that moment where Rob betrayed you that he might do that, or were you completely floored?**

**ERIC NAM: **At that moment, there was no doubt. I was genuinely floored. There's a confessional where I was like, "Would he do this? " And I was like, "No." And so there were a few times that crossed my mind, but I was like, no. Because off screen, he was the first person I met when I got to *The Traitors*. We drove in together. It doesn't show as much, but I felt like we had great friendship and we had a great rapport throughout.

It was a little more understated. We're both pretty quiet guys, and so we just chill, but throughout the season, he'd be like, "Hey, man, I listened to your music. I love this song.” We're both from the south. There were just things that naturally we just aligned on from a POV perspective. And so by that point, I was like, "We're good. We're fine."

**Take me through what it was like for you after you walked out of that Fire of Truth Ceremony, did you interview, and then the cameras cut off?**

I was like, “Wow, I'm an idiot and I feel really dumb. I also feel very sad, but also, thank God we're done because that was so long.” It was three and a half weeks and mentally, physically just really exhausting to constantly be on edge and constantly paranoid. It was a lot. So I was relieved to be done, but more than anything, I was like, "You know what? I had a really good time. This has been a lot of fun, but I'm so glad it's over."

Eric Nam on 'The Traitors'.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

**Tell me about your first conversation with Rob after all this happened and what that was like?**

[Looks up messages on phone] He DM'd me a few days after and his literal words were, "My fault, G." And I opened it and was like, "I'm not responding for a minute. I need it a few days." And then I said, "All good. Ha ha, all good. Where are you?" [Puts phone away] And that was it. And then we didn't talk for a long time until I guess recently because I was like, "What do we talk about?" [Laughs]

'The Traitors' star Maura Higgins has still not received her Birkin bag from Rob Rausch

'The Traitors' winner(s) revealed in super tense finale: 'You absolute a--hole'

**As you walked out of the Fire of Truth ceremony, I'm sure this was not at the forefront of your mind, but was any part of you thinking like, "Uh-oh, Maura's in for a shock?”**

As soon as I get out, they pull me into confessionals, like, "Okay, what's going through your head? Are you doing okay? Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." And I was like, "I genuinely just wanna see Maura's reaction. I don't care about me. I hope Maura's okay, and I really want to see her reaction because it's gonna be amazing." And, sure enough, that ending scene did not disappoint. My heart broke for her, but I also know she's such a good sport, she's hilarious, and she is smart. I felt for her though.

Maura Higgins, Eric Nam, and Johnny Weir on 'The Traitors'.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

**Maura is apparently getting a Birkin bag out of all of this. What about you? Any gift coming from Rob?**

I know! I need an AP watch or a Rolex or something. I'm gonna campaign for a Rolex from Rob. But yeah, I was like, "I'll take Birkin stock at this point — like, give me *something!*" [Laughs] We were out the other night at the *SNL* party and people came up like, "Did Rob get you anything? Did he buy you a drink?" I was like, "This guy hasn't even bought me a drink yet." Like, come on, man! But here's the campaign for Rolex from Rob as retribution or something.

**I feel like you could hashtag that: #RolexFromRob.**

**And how do you feel about Rob’s logic of “Would you give $100,000 to someone you met three weeks ago? I wouldn’t.”**

I mean, that's fair. On the flip side for me, I'd be like, "Yeah, I would." It's just different, you know? I think it's different justifications. I'd have been like, "Totally. We worked at it together.” People are like, “Rob played a great game.” I was like, “Yeah, but also, if it wasn't for me, there's a world in which he wouldn't have won,” you know? Like, that Shield. If he did not have that Shield, our entire strategy would have gone down the drain. At the very end, if it wasn't for me, I could have flipped on him and I could have handed it to the Faithfuls. I did not. And so, it is great gameplay from Rob. At the same time, he wouldn't have won without me, is what I believe.

Colton Underwood, Rob Rausch, and Eric Nam on 'The Traitors'.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

**And I’m sure you’ve thought about this: How do you think you would have done in the game had you stayed a Faithful? Do you think you ever would have caught on to Rob?**

He was on my list. When he recruited me, he asked me, "Hey, is anybody talking about me in the castle?" And I said, "Yeah, me!” And he was like, "Oh, well, thank God I recruited you!" I would bring him up, and Maura and Dorinda would snap at me. People were so defensive of Rob. They really loved Rob.

And so I was just like: *Okay, well, from a Faithful perspective, is it smart for me to walk around the castle and say who I think is a Traitor? No, I'm gonna get murdered.* And so you were stuck. As a Faithful, you're stuck between a rock and a hard place if you don't have people who are willing to see it your way. It was only afterwards where I questioned "Maybe it's Rob." And nobody backed me up.

So it was tough. I think to go back to your question: I think if I stayed a Faithful, I would have brought him up. I would have had to have brought him up, but then I would have probably been killed.

Tara Lipinski and Eric Nam on 'The Traitors'.

Euan Cherry/PEACOCK

**Would you do this show again if asked?**

I think I would do it again. It's fun. And hindsight is twenty-twenty. Everything is rose-colored glasses. People are like, "Why did you play the game this way?" But for me, my biggest point was this is my introduction to America. This is my first time for a lot of people to come across who I am and what I do. Most of these other people, they have cult fandoms and followings from their reality shows or whatever, and I didn't want my introduction to America to be a backstabbing, unhinged person.

Having said that, now if you walk me in, it's like, you guys all know that I'm a decent human being and that I do all these other things. I'm a fully formed human being. We're here to play a game and now I will play the game for real. So I think what people got on *Traitors* is a very reserved version of who I am, if that makes sense.

So I would do it, but I would play a different game, and it would be.... When I play Mafia with my friends, the first round is never fun. It's round two, three, four, where people are like, "Oh, I have a sense of how you're playing.” That's where it gets really fun, so I think it would be a lot more fun.

Eric Nam on 'The Traitors' season 4.

Sam McElwee/Peacock

**What other competition shows might you be interested in?**

Fans have been asking, like, "Would you do *Dancing with the Stars* or would you do *Masked Singer* or *Survivor*?" And I would never say never. I think it's a question of timing, and for me right now, my music and the acting is probably the most important to me. And so that's where the focus is, but I think at some point it would be fun to do some of the other ones.

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