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If you\u2019re just like Us<\/em>, then you probably can\u2019t stop thinking about Michael Rapaport<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s rather unique eating habits on The Traitors<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot defend the shoveling technique,\u201d Rapaport, 55, told Entertainment Weekly<\/em><\/a> on Tuesday, January 20, after a clip<\/a> of him placing his mouth directly on the edge of his plate and scooping heaping spoonfuls of food into his mouth went viral after episode 5. \u201cI do the shoveling technique when I am alone. I do the shoveling technique at times when my wife is not looking, but when I am in public, I do not do the shoveling technique.\u201d<\/p>\n Rapaport declared he \u201cwill not defend, explain or make excuses for my now-iconic shoveling technique, which I never, ever, ever, in a million years, would\u2019ve thought people would\u2019ve been so fascinated by the way that I eat my food.\u201d<\/p>\n The actor reiterated he had \u201cno excuse\u201d for eating that way and claimed he was the only person in the room when the \u201cshoveling\u201d took place.<\/p>\n \u201cI was in that room alone,\u201d he told the outlet. \u201cThere\u2019s plenty of other times when I was eating, and I was not doing my shoveling technique. But because I was in that room alone, I was shoveling the food into my mouth at a rapid pace because I wanted to go out there and catch Traitors.\u201d<\/p>\n Many social media users reposted the clip, weighing in on the unusual scene.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way Michael Rapaport eats on #TheTraitors has lived rent free in my head for days,\u201d one person wrote via X, while another said, \u201cWhy does Michael Rapaport eat every meal like it\u2019s last one before being sent to the electric chair. He too damn grown for this #TheTraitorsUS.\u201d<\/p>\n His eating style wasn\u2019t the only controversial thing Rapaport did during his short but memorable time on the Peacock competition series. The podcast host came under fire after a tense roundtable where Rapaport accused costar Colton Underwood<\/strong> of being a Traitor, saying, \u201cNobody in this room would be better at holding a secret than you.\u201d The cast took it as a dig at Underwood\u2019s sexuality. (Former Bachelor Underwood, 33, came out as gay in April 2021 on Good Morning America<\/em>, saying he \u201cran from [himself] for a long time\u201d before embracing his sexuality.)<\/p>\n \u201cYou think it was fun for 29 years of my life?\u201d Underwood asked Rapaport, who denied he was making a dig at Underwood\u2019s sexuality<\/a>, saying, \u201cThat has nothing to do with it. I think you came into this game loving the idea of being a Traitor.\u201d<\/p>\n As the cast members chimed in, telling Rapaport his comments were offensive, he doubled down in defense, claiming, \u201cI\u2019m not talking about closets! His behavior is of a Traitor. His behavior is secretive, it\u2019s conniving, it\u2019s chirping, it\u2019s commiserating, it\u2019s cowardly.\u201d<\/p>\n