Bob Harper speaks about the murder of his ‘allies’ and claims Boston Rob is unnerving his other allies: “He is exerting a lot of control over them”

Another week, another Bob leaves The Traitors castle. And again, it’s all thanks to “Boston” Rob Mariano.

During a heated argument in the turret after Nikki Garcia’s removal in Episode 5, Traitors Carolyn Wiger and Danielle Reyes decided to give up their equal power to Rob, also known as the “Rob Father” of reality competition shows. They agreed with his notion that it was time for The Biggest Loser personality Bob Harper to be the next to leave. Their reasoning stemmed from Harper and Real Housewives of Potomac star Robyn Dixon becoming suspicious of Rob, a two-time Survivor champion and strategic game player.

In a conversation with Decider over Zoom post the airing of Episode 6 on Peacock, Harper revealed his surprise upon discovering the shocking letter indicating his demise, despite his prior suspicions about Rob being a Traitor.

Harper admitted, “I’ve never been one to hold back, and maybe I shouldn’t have voiced my concerns about Rob.” He further suggested that Carolyn and Danielle might have felt intimidated by Rob’s dominating presence in the turret, which led them to fall under his influence and direction.

At the end of Episode 6, the Faithfuls came close to banishing Rob but ultimately voted to eliminate The Challenge alum Wes Bergmann, whose aggressive nature came off the wrong way to some players. It didn’t hurt that Rob was able to smooth talk his way out of banishment, despite being “so obvious” as a Traitor, according to Harper.

The good news about being murdered is that Harper told Decider he can now sit back and enjoy the show as a fan, including watching the “good tv” that the Traitors going up against each other is currently yielding. As for what else he thinks about his time in Scotland and how he thinks one famous Housewife would do in the castle (hint: think New Jersey), keep reading for Decider’s full interview with Harper…

DECIDER: We’re glad that you could resurrect just to go over your murder. I’m so sad to see you go but I do have to ask: were you really all that surprised that the Traitors were coming after you? 

BOB HARPER: Well, I mean, kind of a little bit. I was just thinking, “Aren’t we supposed to be playing the game or isn’t that what it’s about?” I’ve never been a person that can hold my tongue and maybe I shouldn’t have said what I said about Rob, but I was just saying what everyone was thinking. 

And you were right on Rob’s tail, you were gunning for him. Watching the Traitors implode in the turret right before you were murdered. Did that feel good or did it just feel like further justification that you should have gone after him when you could?

I’m just so shocked that Wes left the house — that Wes got banished and not Rob because it’s so obvious. And I think that all of a sudden, [just] because Wes [being] can I say, an asshole? It’s like he was just being such an ass in that roundtable and I think that really is what got him in the end. It’s like, “Don’t threaten me because I’ll put your name down” and I understand that. But like, the emotion shouldn’t have taken over at that point. 

No, but I was sitting there thinking, “That’s the last thing you would ever do as a Traitor, is say “Your name is down on my list,” because that immediately would point you out as a Traitor. Of course, a Faithful’s going to say it [in the heat of the moment]. But I feel like people aren’t playing as smartly as they could. 

And I will include myself on that too, because for the longest time, I was convinced that Ciara [Miller], who — she was my girl, I love, love, love Ciara — but there was so much footage of me just saying in my interviews that Ciara is a Traitor. I just knew it. I was obviously very wrong. But Rob was just so obvious. 

Rob was obvious. But then there’s Carolyn and Danielle. When you first opened the envelope, the letter that says “These are the Traitors.” What was your reaction? 

I was shocked over Carolyn, Like you could hear me — whenever they show the footage, when I find out that Carolyn was one of the Traitors — I was just screaming. I couldn’t get over it. But I will say. I’m more interested in what goes on in the turret, now more than ever. I mean, are they being bad Traitors? Maybe. But, man, they are giving good TV. 

Watching that play out on television versus, you know, being in the castle and seeing this fight. What did you think of that? Knowing now that you were murdered, but maybe you could have lived if if only Carolyn or Danielle had stood up for you?

Danielle, I know in the beginning she really had my back because I believed that she was a Faithful. I trusted her. And it was good for me to stay in there because I would have unconsciously protected her. But I think that they were just intimidated by Boston Rob. He’s in that turret and he is really dominating them and trying to keep them, quote unquote, in line. And I mean, if I was one of those Traitors, that would not have worked well for me. And I think that it wasn’t working well for Carolyn either.

But when Carolyn voted for Danielle, I know everyone’s like, “These traitors are so terrible,” but man, I was living for this whole experience. But now I can’t wait to see next week. Like, I’m sitting there going, “Can I please get a copy of the next episode? Because I just need to see what’s what’s going on.” I think the producers really know what they’re doing. 

You and me both. I am banging down their door. In your exit interview, you said that the Traitors are playing a really ballsy game. Is there a specific action either looking back on your time in the game or watching the episodes that you can really point to and say like, “Oh, I think that was really just really smart of them.”

I think Rob going after Bob the Drag Queen was a very powerful move because you have to think about it. Rob has this reputation of being, you know, the master gamer of all time in all of these competition shows. So it just made sense for him to be like, “I’ve got to show the audience that I’m in control. I’ve got to show the other people around that roundtable that I know what I’m doing.” And that’s why I made that comment, because he was so sure. He was just so sure. And I was sitting right next to him and I was just like, “Something is fishy here, people. And why is no one seeing this other than me?”

Now, this season has been known to spark a few memes. We’ve got some impersonations of Gabby and Carolyn. We’ve got Tom Sandoval’s pits. There’s the whole thirsting over Dylan [Efron]. Have you seen any of the memes and do you have any favorites out there? 

Well, the one that keeps getting sent to me is when I say, “I want to be a Bambi,”  which makes me laugh. But I think that Gabby [Windey] always made me laugh when she was talking about, “I love salmon and pickles.” Just her just talking like that because you would think that she was a flighty girl, but she’s not. Gabby is a smart and powerful woman, but I loved her just talking like that. And I think in last night’s episode, for me, Dolores had the line and she just kind of looked at Sandoval and was just like, “Go ahead and say whatever you’re going to say, because it’s not going to make sense anyway.” I thought that was great because it’s so true. He would go on in those roundtables and it would get to the point of like, “This girl, come on. Let’s move on.”

As opposed to someone from Big Brother, Survivor, or The Challenge, you did not have that game play experience? What was your strategy going in on day one?

I knew a lot of the Bravo girls. I knew the Housewives and I really bonded with them. And at one point they were just like saying that I was an honorary Housewife. And then when all of a sudden those Housewives were getting murdered left and right, I was just kind of like, “Yo, I need to kind of back off.” They’re like, “Bob’s like a Housewife.” I’m like, “No, I’m not. No, I’m not. I’m not a Housewife.” I think everyone liked me, I think that people really trusted me. And  I feel like in the real world, that’s a that’s a good thing. But I think that maybe I should have kind of leaned in a little bit more with Dylan because Dylan still didn’t trust me. Dylan felt so bad when I was murdered. Because he even said, he was like, “Bob, I just knew that you were a Traitor.” And so I should have leaned in with him a little bit more. 

Speaking of the Housewives, I know you know Teresa [Giudice], and I’ve seen some people say that she should be on a future season. How do you think she would fare in The Traitors? 

At this point, she would really have her work cut out for her because I think that anybody coming in after seeing this season that I’m on, any kind of ruthless player like that, they’re going to have a target on their back from the jump. 

Last question for you: our looks were unrivaled this season. Aside from Alan, though, who came in a close second for you when it comes to castle fits?

I think that yes, you’re right, I was the best dressed. But I thought Chrishell [Stause] did such a good job. She really brought in that pink, but made it not like a Barbie, but just a little stronger. I really liked her. But one other one, I really thought — and I told Britney [Haynes] this — I thought Britney did a great job. She pulled these really strong looks and she even said — she’ll tell you — they were on a budget. She was working with a budget. And I thought she did a great job with her fashion.

The first six episodes of The Traitors Season 3 are currently streaming on Peacock. New episodes drop on Thursday nights.