The Traitors Australia Season 3 is firmly in my top five of this franchise. Worldwide. Yes, including the UK. Yes, including the US. That is the claim. It is the correct one. The season wrapped September 9 with Kirby Bentley taking the full $200,600 prize pool, becoming the first original Traitor to win the Australian version, and doing it while crying most of the final day and making genuine human connections — which is either a masterclass in strategy or a very relatable disaster that somehow worked out magnificently. The Faithfuls were a collective catastrophe. AJ Antonios correctly identified all three original Traitors and still got voted out. And presiding over everything, from inside a coffin, in a blood-soaked wedding gown, never once making small talk with the cast: Gretel Killeen. Full spoilers below. You were warned.

THE HOST — Who Is Gretel Killeen and Why Did Nobody Warn Us She Was This Good.

Gretel Killeen is 63. She is a bestselling author, award-winning comedy writer, actress, documentary filmmaker, stand-up comedian, and one of Australia's leading voice artists — a woman who has performed stand-up for Australian troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, directed a documentary on AIDS orphans in Zambia, and been a UNICEF ambassador. She is also the woman who hosted Big Brother Australia for all seven original seasons from 2001 to 2007, became one of the most famous faces on Australian television, and was then quietly replaced by the network. She spent the next two decades doing essentially everything except host a reality show, while the TV industry moved on and forgot to wonder where she had gone.

Then The Traitors called. And critically: she almost did not say yes. She had turned down hosting offers for years. What changed her mind was the format — specifically the permission it gave her to be completely unhinged in an elegant way. She called the role "permission to explore an alternate version of myself in an imaginary place, full of challenging mischief." And she prepared accordingly, in a way no other Traitors host in the world has.

A scrapbook. An actual, physical scrapbook. For a fictional character. With a criminal backstory. And a trail of dead ex-husbands. No other Traitors host across 40 countries has done this — not Alan Cumming, not Claudia Winkleman, not any of them. Gretel sat down before filming and built a person. The result on screen was a host with a fully formed identity, a gothic manor-mistress energy, and the kind of menace that made 22 reality TV veterans genuinely afraid of her. She arrived to one challenge from inside a coffin in a blood-soaked wedding gown. Rhys Nicholson — who believed they would easily be the campest thing on the show — looked at that entrance and said: "Nup. Gretel Killeen went 'hold my earrings.'" Rhys Nicholson being out-camped is one of the most impressive achievements of 2026.

"SHE NEVER TALKED TO ME" — Good. That Was the Point.

Now, about the rumors. Chattr ran a post with contestants saying Gretel was terrifying on set and basically never spoke to them directly. One source called her flat-out terrifying. Is this a scandal? A diva crisis? An HR situation? No. It is genius, and Gretel herself would be the first to tell you so. For a full look at what was really happening behind the manor walls, read our behind the scenes deep dive.

She admitted to TV Week that she was probably the biggest diva on the entire set: "They all were divas — I was astounded. There was no humility. But I am the biggest diva; everyone else is a close runner up." The woman owns it completely and without apology. The contestants being terrified of her was not a mistake. It was the atmosphere. When you present yourself as a mysterious manor mistress with a backstory built on crime and manipulation, and you arrive to challenges from inside a coffin, you do not then wander over to craft services and chat about the catering. The distance was the character. The silence was the performance. Every second of it was deliberate.

This is also what makes her version of The Traitors unlike any other in the world. Claudia Winkleman is warmly theatrical. Alan Cumming is camp and conspiratorial. Gretel is cold and unknowable — a host who feels genuinely dangerous, which in a game built entirely on paranoia is exactly the right move. She did not imitate either of them. She built something new from scratch, with a scrapbook, on her own terms.

THE CAST DRAMA — Bali Alliances, Ten-Year Feuds, and Keira Maguire Being Blissfully Herself.

One of the better behind-the-scenes details of this season: Alex Nation and Tully Smyth had done an "Eat, Pray, Love" retreat together in Bali. Three weeks later, they were both asked to be on The Traitors. They confirmed to each other they had been cast, agreed upfront that if they both made the show they would stick together, and showed up to the manor with a pre-existing alliance nobody knew about. A secret pact born in Bali over green juice and what we can only assume was a significant amount of existential reflection. The producers did not know. The other contestants did not know. Respect.

Meanwhile, the other Bachelor Australia reunion unfolding in the manor was considerably more loaded. Alex Nation and Keira Maguire competed on the same season of The Bachelor back in 2016. They had not spoken in years — most likely because Keira made a pointed joke about Alex's relationship with a woman in 2019 and then blocked her. They then had to share a castle in New Zealand for the duration of filming, which is either a great therapy exercise or a producer's most inspired casting decision of the decade. Keira, to her credit, was surprisingly zen about the whole thing: "Alex and I met ten years ago and we had a disagreement, but I couldn't even remember why we were fighting. I love her. She feels like family." Personal growth! In a game about lying! From Keira Maguire! Genuinely stunning.

THE FAITHFULS — A Certified Disaster and an Absolute Joy to Watch.

Let us be honest about one of the defining features of this season: the Faithfuls were some of the worst Traitor-hunters in franchise history, and it was an absolute pleasure to witness. These were not hapless civilians stumbling into a format they did not understand. These were reality TV veterans — people who had competed on Survivor, Big Brother, The Bachelor, Drag Race — who signed up fully knowing the game and still showed up to the manor seemingly more interested in the drama between themselves than in, you know, finding the Traitors. They had one job. They treated it as optional.

The most extraordinary moment of the entire season — and possibly the most extraordinary single moment in the history of this franchise across 40 countries — was AJ Antonios. AJ worked out, correctly, that all three original Traitors were Kirby, Alex, and Alvin. All three. Correctly. In a game where most Faithfuls struggle to identify even one. He had the information. He had the names. He had what amounted to a full map of the enemy camp. The Faithfuls voted him out anyway. AJ Antonios correctly identified every Traitor in the game and was sent home by the people he was trying to save. This has never happened in any version of this show anywhere in the world. It is an all-time franchise moment, it is deeply painful, and it is also extremely funny. We wrote about it in full — read the piece here.

Then there is what happened to every Faithful who got close to Kirby. One by one, anyone who pointed a finger in her direction ended up voted out or murdered before the next round table. Quietly. Methodically. Without the remaining Faithfuls connecting the dots. If they noticed she was the problem, they somehow became the next person to leave. It happened so consistently that at some point it stopped looking like coincidence and started looking like a masterclass in threat elimination — which is exactly what it was.

KIRBY BENTLEY WON — Cry About It.

Kirby Bentley is an AFLW player and two-time Australian Survivor veteran. She was selected as an original Traitor by Gretel on day one. She then spent twelve episodes nearly being banished every single day. "I just won The Traitors when I nearly got banished on day two, day three, day four, day five — in all the days, I nearly got banished every single day," she said after her win. She walked away with the full $200,600 prize pool. She is the first original Traitor to win the Australian version. She cried most of the final day, questioned every decision she made, said she was exhausted and was not sure she could have gone another day — and still won.

Her win was not particularly controversial. Viewers were largely on board with Kirby, who played a smart social game rather than relying on obvious deception. She built genuine connections. She was emotional and human. She also quietly dismantled every threat around her without leaving a trail anyone could follow. She also said, after winning: "This is massive, not only for my family, but for Aboriginal people, and women as well." The criticism — such as it was — landed squarely on the Faithfuls. Specifically on Keira, who chose to banish Krissy at the final fire pit instead of Kirby. Keira chose to trust the woman who had been systematically eliminating threats around her for weeks. Keira. Trusted. Kirby. It is either devastating or poetic, depending on your feelings about Keira Maguire, and honestly it is a little bit of both.

TWO MORE SEASONS — We're All Simply Going to Have to Deal With This.

Channel 10 agreed with the audience: The Traitors Australia was such a success that two additional seasons were ordered before the finale even aired. Two. More. Seasons. The show that was quietly cancelled after two civilian-cast seasons with underwhelming ratings came back, went fully camp, cast reality TV veterans who did not bother finding Traitors, hired a woman who built a character scrapbook and arrives to challenges from inside coffins — and it worked. Completely. The franchise that ranked as the top-selling new television format of the decade now has an Australian version that can hold its head up alongside the UK and US editions without any asterisk.

The Traitors Australia has officially joined the top tier. Claudia Winkleman, Alan Cumming — you have company. And she's wearing a blood-soaked gown, she built a fictional criminal backstory, and she is absolutely not going to talk to you. 🗡️