The Traitors’ Shane Gould Reveals Why She Eliminated Cam Merchant
With 22 of Australia’s most infamous reality stars competing on the new season of The Traitors Australia, it’s no surprise that the drama kicked off within the first few minutes of Tuesday night’s premiere episode.
In case you missed it, Australian Survivor winner and Olympic icon Shane Gould was voted the “most virtuous” player by her co-stars and was subsequently tasked with either eliminating herself or choosing someone else to leave the game because there were too many people.
Shane Gould reveals how she made her decision on The Traitors
Fans and contestants alike were shocked when Shane “randomly” eliminated MAFS groom Cam Merchant — who, rather ironically, was the group’s original pick for the most virtuous player before they changed their mind.
Many viewers have complained on social media that she made a “terrible choice” — arguing that she should’ve taken out a strategic threat or chosen one of the twins, Luke or Josh Packham — and now Shane has exclusively revealed to PEDESTRIAN.TV how she made her decision.
“It had to be random. First, I asked, ‘Does anyone want to leave the game?’ — they decide they really don’t want to be here, so that can be their choice so then it’s not my choice,” she detailed.
“But then I just had to spin around — and they didn’t show it, I spun around three or four times — and then just pointed to someone randomly.”
Shane asserted that it was “not a conscious choice” to eliminate Cam, although she felt “terrible” for the MAFS groom because “he seemed to be such a nice guy”.
MAFS’ Cam Merchant speaks out about his brutal exit
Cam, on the other hand, told PEDESTRIAN.TV that he believes Shane’s choice was deliberate — but she just landed on the wrong person.
“I think she was actually going for Gamble [Breaux],” he said, pointing out how Shane asked the Real Housewives of Melbourne star before making her decision if she was “dressed for running”.
“I think she did spin around with her eyes closed and just landed on me and my velvet jacket — and it must have felt good. So I feel that she may have been going for Gamble, but she just landed on me, and she couldn’t renege.”
The father-of-two added that, despite Shane claiming she spun around more times than what was shown on TV, the real-life moment wasn’t too dissimilar to what aired on TV.
“She’s probably putting a bit of mayo on it, to be honest,” he laughed. “She may have spun around maybe once more than what it showed, but she was always in the vicinity of me.”
What decision would Cam have made?
The big question fans had after episode one was, had Cam been selected as the “most virtuous player” like his co-stars originally intended, would he have eliminated himself or another player?
Well, it seems like Cam’s fate was sealed either way, as he told P.TV he was prepared to self-sacrifice.
“If it was me in that situation, I was also going, ‘No, I’m happy to take my own place and let everyone else play’. I would have chosen myself anyway,” he revealed.
Cam said he was definitely “shattered” that his time in the game was cut short — especially because he left his wife, Jules, and two kids behind to fly to New Zealand — but he quickly accepted that “it is what it is”.
“I rebuilt my life from rock bottom to where I am today on those same principles and morals and values of just going, well, I can’t control it,” he said.
“I’d like that to be a good example for my kids and for the other cast members and anyone who was watching as well. That’s the message that I put behind it.”
Fans have already begun speculating that Cam will make a return to the game in some capacity later on in the season, so I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it all unfolds.
