Parvati Shallow and Sandra Diaz-Twine are facing off on another reality show 14 years after they were at odds on Survivor. While Sandra, 49, narrowly beat out Parvati, 41, to win Survivor: Heroes Vs. Villains in 2010, they’re squaring off in a rematch on season 2 of Peacock’s The Traitors, which pits 21 reality stars/celebrities against each other in the ultimate game of deception.
In an exclusive interview with Hollywood Life ahead of the show’s premiere on Friday, January 12, Sandra and Parvati talked about their reunion and how RuPaul’s Drag Race star Peppermint convinced them to put the past behind them and focus on the game at hand.
“I was shocked when I saw Sandra there, and I think Sandra was also shocked to see me,” said Parvati, the winner of 2008’s Survivor: Micronesia. “It really was a stroke of genius on casting’s part, because I don’t think Sandra and I would’ve ever met physically face to face unless we had been put together on a debaucherous TV show like ‘Traitors’ and had to work together.”
“So we are very lucky that we had a gorgeous queen Peppermint bring us together and we could bury the hatchet quickly, cause we really needed each other in this crazy castle,” Parvati added.
Sandra, one of only two people to win Survivor twice, admitted that she “froze” when she saw her rival from the hit CBS reality series on the first day of filming The Traitors in Scotland.
“I immediately was like, ‘Oh my god.’ My smile quickly turned into a frown,” Sandra said. “And Peppermint was in the car with me, and Peppermint felt it. I think [she] kind of knew me and Parvati’s history from watching ‘Survivor.’ But I was like, ‘Oh my god. Not only do I have to contend with the game, now here’s Parvati.’ ”
“But like I keep saying, the minute Peppermint put us together we sorted it out very quickly,” Sandra revealed. “It was instant. And then we moved on from it. And that’s what I needed, because I don’t need distractions, I need to focus on what I’m doing at that time. It just happened so perfectly and so quickly and I was over it and I was moving onto the next thing.”
The first three episodes of The Traitors season 2 drop Friday, January 12 at 9 pm ET/6 pm PT. The cast also includes Janelle Pierzina and Dan Gheesling from Big Brother, Tamra Judge and Larsa Pippen from The Real Housewives, and more.