SPOILER ALERT: This article contains major spoilers from “A Dysfunctional Family,” the sixth episode of Season 3 of “The Traitors,” now streaming on Peacock.
Wes Bergmann knows what it’s like to take over a reality show. He’s had two decades of experience on “The Challenge” franchise, and being the villain has often paid off. Case in point: he’s won three seasons.
Unfortunately, his “aggressive” behavior — his fellow faithful’s words, not mine — didn’t bode well in “The Traitors” castle and led to his banishment. After he attempted to point the finger (correctly) at Boston Rob Mariano as a traitor, the group turned on him. Chrishell Stause claimed she didn’t like their interactions and when he stated during the round table discussion that he would come for anyone who voted for him, he cemented his place as the next banished cast member.
On his way out, he flipped off the group and revealed he’s a faithful. So, does he regret coming in so hot? Not at all. He breaks it all down with Variety below.
You came into the show later with Derrick Levasseur and Rob, two other heavy hitters. Do you feel like that was a disadvantage for you?
Yes, a disadvantage — not my choice, but it is my fault. I was filming something else. I told him I couldn’t come. They called back, and I was like, “Nope, still can’t come.” And then on the third time, I told them the only way that I could come was if I came late. So it’s my fault, and it is obviously a massive disadvantage, because not only do you assume that one of the three cage boys is a traitor, but you miss out on the days of everyone essentially forming cliques, friendships and alliances before the game starts. On “The Challenge,” anyone who comes late, we vote out immediately. It’s just gamer 101, so I knew what I was up against, but it was either go in with that disadvantage or not go at all.
You’ve been playing a strategic game a long time though — not everyone knows how to do that like you do.
I think there was a sense that they knew better than me because I wasn’t there with them on day one. I know how I view people that come in late: They’re the scum of the earth, they’re commoners, they’re peasants; we get rid of them as soon as possible. I was that! I wasn’t even on the cast picture to keep it all a secret. They had formed their alliances then all the paranoia had set in, and then I joined the game. So it was an uphill battle to find my foothold. Plus, there’s four “Housewives,” three “Big Brother”, four “Survivor” players… zero “Challengers.” So it’s not like I had anyone that was of my ilk.
Derrick Levasseur, Wes Bergmann, Bob Harper and Rob Mariano
Euan Cherry/Peacock
Speaking of “The Challenge,” you retired in 2023 to focus on your business and family. You’ve done some other shows since then, including “The Traitors.” What made you want to go on this?
There’s nothing about “The Traitors” that I want to do any more than “The Challenge.” I want to do “The Challenge” more than I want to do “Traitors,” it’s just that “The Challenge” is three months long. It’s too large of an investment in time. And I’m not even necessarily telling them to shorten “The Challenge”. It’s one of the things that makes it great and hard. But other shows fit into little pockets of time and allow me to play these really crazy, cool games, meet these new people and travel to fantastic locations, all while not being gone for three months. There are all sorts of other advantages too, like breaking into other fanbases and diversifying who’s following you, diversifying what channels your face appears on. From a professional standpoint, it’s just good strategy.
So professionally, good strategy, but your strategy going in didn’t seem to be the best. What was your plan entering the show?
I make more money by being on these shows than anyone won in prize money for “Traitors,” “House of Villains” or “Worst Cooks in America,” And so I think that people need to start clocking that, if the idea is to win to get the prize money, then maybe the person that’s winning in life is the person that’s stealing the show. So I am always going to play aggressively, I’m always going to make jokes, I’m always going to create rivalries. I’m always going to be the star of the show, and that’s going to make me one letter grade of a worse player, but all your favorites are boring! I might not win at as high of a percentage as them, but I’m a lot more successful. So until that dynamic changes, it is the best game play. So there are certain cast members from “The Challenge” that I have chimed in and said I didn’t do the right gameplay. OK, coming from wallpaper, you’re never going to even get called. I’m getting called because of me playing like this, and me having stolen the show for two decades. Look how great of gameplay Ivar [Mountbatten] is doing and Sam [Asghari] is doing. No one is saying their names. Emily, do you want me to be Ivar or Sam?
Of course not — you’re great TV!
So would you like to retract your question? From a journalistic standpoint, I think you’re already off to a bad start. Before you ask your next one, make sure it’s a better question.
To put this into context, I’ve been interviewing you for a decade and this has always been the vibe so I appreciate that staying the same. Anyways, at the round table, it looked like your demise came the moment you said you were going to come for anyone who wrote your name down. Do you regret that?
No. Bringing context in. Derrick gave great arguments, Rob deflected to me. He gave two arguments. They showed one, which was him saying something like I was the only one smart enough to frame Rob, and that is true. I’m gonna let that argument stick. The argument that they cut out was that I was the funniest guy in the house. I had a custom suit made for the show that had the word “faithful” stitched into the collar. His argument was that I was using humor to deflect. After I listened to all this, I gave all my good arguments. Then I said, let’s talk about the other stuff. I am the smartest guy in the house. I am the funniest guy here. They were laughing with me, it was meant to be funny. 70% of the people were laughing, and then I said, “I just want to make sure that this is abundantly clear: No one’s going to vote me out, because I’m the funniest person here, are you?” They all said no and laughed, so I said, “But in the off chance that one of you does, I’m coming for you.” I said it in such a jocular fashion, at this string of joke, joke, joke, threat, joke. I was doing a stand-up routine because I was in the end zone dancing. I had just smothered this man, because he had no arguments. I think that when you cut out all the other jokes and you just show the threat, it makes it seem more powerful than it is. My favorite line actually got cut. I said, “I’ve got you right where I want you,” which is obviously funny, because I was in a lot of trouble. I’m dead!
So it was all in a joking matter.
Yes. There are definitely things that I could have done to make that round table go better. But let me tell you why it happened the way that it did. We were playing Go Fish every single day, and our cards are the people that trust us. Every single night, Rob goes into my deck and he takes one person out. Me, I’m sleeping like a beautiful little ginger. I don’t get to take out his deck. He gets to cultivate a group of sheep that love him or respect him or want to collaborate with him. The people that wanted to collaborate with me were just getting murdered or banished every night. Ultimately, I was going into this with too much confidence that I had the answer, and I should have been way less confident that he had a master group of sheep.
A great way to put it. Let’s talk about Chrishell. She posted on Instagram after you left, “Pro tip to future players: A good strategy in the castle is to NOT be bossy and condescending to women. Because then it’s it’s a win getting you out regardless.” She also told Rob she didn’t like how you spoke to her. What’s your reaction to that?
You’ve known me for a long time. I’m bossy and condescending to everyone. It feels a little bit more sexist to not be like that to women. Look how I’ve spoken to you. It’s playful, it’s jocular, and you deserved it. It was a horribly written question. This is how I talk. Obviously it is a little crass, but it’s not aggressive, and it’s not because you’re a woman. I think that it’s a dangerous rhetoric for her to put out there, one that I think is best for me just to ignore as much as I can. It’s dangerous and outright wrong. In the same vein of her wanting to make sure that she thinks that I’m aggressive, when she put something like that out there in 2025, that is its own form of aggression. Quite frankly, what she’s done there is far more dangerous than me rallying votes and trying to get rid of “Traitors” and flipping everyone off when I leave. It’s way more dangerous than being bossy and condescending. It’s a shame.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
