They may have just won the most competitive game on TV, but within the bustling backstage of The Tonight Show, The Traitors season 3 winners—that would be Real Housewives of New Jersey’s Dolores Catania, British royal Ivar Mountbatten, former Bachelorette Gabby Windey, and Dylan Efron (younger brother of Zac)—are all intensely vying for a hug with host Jimmy Fallon.
“Jimmy, will you say hi to Gabby again?” comedian Robby Hoffman says from just outside the huddle, eager to get a better snapshot of her new bride embracing the late-night host. As Mountbatten’s husband James Coyle circles with his own phone camera, the distant relative of Prince Charles declares, “You all gave everybody a hug except for me!”
Fresh off their split $200,000-plus prize and a tension-filled reunion special, the Faithful foursome have descended upon New York City’s Rockefeller Center to make their joint late-night TV debut. As you can see from these photos shared exclusively with Vanity Fair ahead of the episode, they’re here to spill secrets of their triumph in a high-energy victory lap during Monday’s episode of The Tonight Show.
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VF was on the scene before their appearance, where Fallon spent several minutes chatting up the contestants—and sharing a few of his unfiltered thoughts on The Traitors’ third season. The Challenge’s Wes Bergmann “scares me,” he said, while Survivor’s Boston Rob Mariano is “who we all just want to be related to.” Fallon even had kind words for once-disgraced Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval, who has proven to be the season’s comeback kid: “Who knew that he had that talent?” Windey quickly retorted: “Tom Sandoval, obviously.”
Before sprinting onstage, Fallon had a few more effusive words for the competitors, telling them that their show is “like watching a poker game being played live.” He then asked if any of the contestants would return for a potential all-stars season of the show. While Catania said she misses Scotland “every day,” Windey didn’t mince words: “No. Nobody needs to go to Scotland.”
In between Fallon’s interview with Snow White star Gal Gadot and a musical performance from j-hope of the popular K-Pop group BTS, featuring R&B artist Miguel, the Traitors winners delved deeper into the aggressive dynamics of Alan Cumming’s Scottish castle. As Catania previously told Vanity Fair in her first interview since winning: “Anybody’s capable of lying, of killing. In the real world, in real life, every single person is capable of doing anything to anyone.” Had she been named a Traitor, for instance, “It would’ve been very uncomfortable for me,” said Catania. “But maybe I would’ve liked it. Maybe I would’ve gotten into character. Maybe I would’ve been fucking great at it.”
