On Wednesday night’s episode of The Traitors Australia, the game claimed its first murder victim and first banishment, with two familiar faces leaving Claremont Manor.
After Tuesday night’s premiere introduced viewers to the 22 celebrity players, Wednesday’s episode quickly shifted the focus to strategy, as host Gretel Killeen oversaw the season’s first murder and first banishment in her debut season at the helm.
The episode opened with the season’s first breakfast, where the remaining players discovered Kween Kong had been murdered after openly voicing her suspicions about Kirby.
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The RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under star wasn’t surprised by her fate, believing her willingness to speak up had made her an early target.
“I knew it! These people got rid of competition before it even started. How cowardly of you. This is just rude!”
Attention then turned to the first Round Table, where Shane Gould found herself under increasing pressure after taking Cam’s mansion key and carrying the reputation of a former Australian Survivor winner.
Despite downplaying that victory as one of her “minor achievements“, Gould became the first contestant banished by the Faithfuls, only to reveal they had eliminated one of their own.
Before leaving the game, Gould reminded the group they had made a costly mistake, warning they still had “lots of Traitors” sitting among them and leaving the remaining players to question whether their instincts had already let them down.
Set against the imposing backdrop of Claremont Manor, the game is already beginning to take shape, with early alliances forming, suspicions hardening and Kirby remaining firmly in the spotlight as the remaining players search for the Traitors in their midst.
Early reaction from viewers has been largely positive, with many praising the faster pace of the opening episodes and the cast’s willingness to make bold moves from the outset, while Kirby’s gameplay continues to divide opinion online.
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The latest episode comes after 10 launched the new season on Tuesday night, roadblocking the premiere across all four of its free-to-air channels. Network 10 is reporting the Season 3 premiere attracted 636,000 viewers across Channel 10, 10 Comedy, 10 Drama and streaming platforms. That was up from 316,000 for the 2023 season launch and 343,000 for the inaugural 2022 premiere (excluding BVOD figures).
According to Network 10, the premiere delivered the show’s biggest overnight audience and its biggest streaming audience to date.
Tamara Simoneau, VP Content at Network 10, said audiences had responded strongly to the broadcaster’s multi-platform launch strategy.
“The Traitors continues to prove why it’s one of the most compelling international formats on television – big personalities, suspicion, strategy and plenty of twists that keep audiences guessing episode after episode.
Gretel Killeen has brought enormous presence, wit and mischief to the show, and audiences are clearly loving every twist.
It’s also thanks to our brilliant production partners at South Pacific Pictures that the show comes to life so vividly.
We know viewers consume content across every screen, which is why we released The Traitors launch episode a few days early and made it a multi-screen experience – especially for the loyal fans of the format.
We are really pleased with the results of last night’s launch.
The Traitors Australia has delivered its biggest overnight audience in the show’s history, doubled its 2023 launch, and also achieved its biggest ever streaming audience.
It’s a fantastic result.
If the suspense of what happens next is too much, every episode will drop early on 10 Streaming.
We can’t wait for fans to see what we have in store.
It’s a wild ride!”
After returning to Australian screens for the first time in three years, the bigger question now is whether The Traitors Australia can maintain the momentum of its opening week.
The Traitors Australia continues Tuesdays and Wednesdays on 10, with episodes also dropping early on 10 Streaming.
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